Trojan65

I know the questions is almost impossible to answer & the expected advice will be - whatever works best for you etc

But it would be interesting to get some basic metrics together , and score say /10 across a few different parameters , has any one put anything together here ?

Such as

Pay: Upgrade: Bases: Lifestyle: Equipment:
Travel Benefits: Standards: Flow: Financials(of Airline): Extra Benefits

Thinking endeavour would lead with Pay , others having bonuses which can be withdrawn - though not likely in current climate. Bases Skywest likely the winner with variety , this is more an eye of the beholder ie: if you don't want the NE don't apply to PSA. Equipment , well newest gear would likely rank higher , likely the heavier the better if you want to try your like in Asia , also a lot more ERJs outside North America if you want to try you hand offshore. Lifestyle , days off per month - who has SAP ?

bonanza

I am sending in apps now and keep asking the same question. Most of the answers seem to be base it on your base not communiting.

Maybe after the interviews the answer will come

IDIOTPILOT

You can rank this stuff as it is today. But, things at every company change. You’ll probably be at a regional for a number of years and there’s no way to know what things will look like.

When Endeavor was still Pinnacle, no one wanted to touch them with a concessionairy contract. Mesa had 9 year upgrade times not too long ago. Pay is going to go up at other regionals and will probably surpass Endeavor soon. Comair was wholly owned by Delta and they didn’t last.

rickair7777

It's widely variable and dynamic. Things are changing so fast today, that I'm not sure any one person could answer that.

It would also depend on your personal needs, location vs. money vs. schedule vs. career progression, etc.

DownInPetaluma

kazansky or maverick

Otterbox

The very last thing you should be basing choices on is the they type of equipment...

Bases, pay, qol, flow, should all be considered before type of equipment. Those with SJS cheapen the pilot profession and allow companies to get away with paying less than market rate for longer periods of time because they’re willing to fly the aircraft cheaply in order to get the opportunity to fly it.

Atlas is a great example of this... you can make just as much, if not more, flying E/Crjs around as you can flying 767s and 747s with them yet they still fill classes because folks dream of flying the whale around internationally and will do it at whatever cost to the industry.

Outside of that, everything changes every 6-12 months so you can’t get an accurate comparison unless you narrow down to 2-3 choices for a direct comparison at the time.

Trojan65

Come on guys who is going to come up with a list here

I am thinking the bottom 4 might be Mesa/Compass/ExpressJet/GoJet (am I being unfair on Compass here) , the dollars are modest at Horizon also

The top cohort Endeavour/Skywest /Republic/ AA- WOs

Mid Range: TSA , Commutair , Air Wisky

Agree equipment doesn't matter if you want to stay Stateside, but what about if you are open to the OS thing, do you think ERJ 75/95 time might be better , more modern gear , thinks more like an Airbus. Also the fact that no so many CRJs outside Nth America

Notice some of the Chinese airlines hiring ERJ Capts (75/95) for $300KUSD , upgrade to A320 LHS after two years - why stay at home ?

Or join Cathay as an DEFO , sure the guys there no longer get driven to work in a gold plated Rolls & don't have butlers & footmen at their house anymore, but it ain't so bad

Poser765

I get really uncomfortable when people try so hard to rank regionals. For one thing, they all suck. You are going to deal with the same kind of crap whether you are at Skywest, Envoy, or Mesa.

Now the problem is there is no "best" regional that will be best for everyone. There is a best regional for me, and there is best regional for you. They could likely be totally different. You want a list of low/mid/high tier companies, but there is no real objective way to do that that is good for all of us.

An example. You list Compass as low tier (that's fine, I aint hurt). Now I wouldn't recommend compass to a lot of people, but I just talked to a guy on the phone who should totally come here. For him and what he is trying to do, Compass is pretty high tier and some place like Endeavor is pretty low tier.

It just all doesn't matter either way. Today's darlings will be tomorrow's bottom feeders in a few years anyway.

minimwage4

Nobody dude. You sound like a typical arrogant new comer ready to put their dues in at a regional for 18 months and think Delta is waiting for them. Everyone is telling you all Regionals suck and you still want a list cuz you know better.

DarkSideMoon

It's impossible to make a list because it entirely depends on people's priorities. It's arrogant to think otherwise.