Roper92

When you guys lost flying from your respective major, I'm guessing everyone thought there would be freeze in movement. Upgrades were going to take a lot longer than you thought they would. I'm sure some of you were junior FO's maybe 6 mos. to a year and a half and were contemplating on whether to stick it out at your current company or go somewhere else. AWAC and Comair are good companies with good pilot groups.

Did you stay or go and what do you think of your decision looking back at it?

RJtrashPilot

I've been here at Comair for 3 years now. Of course, hind sight is always 20/20, so they say. But who would have known how things unfolded. Sure, some people say the writing is on the wall, but the fact is that anywhere you go is a big gamble. It truly is a roll of the dice and a lot of it happens to be luck and timing. One day the best regional is the worst out there and vice versa.

Take Mesaba for instance. Two years ago, noone ever thought they would be here today and now they are growing quickly relative to other regionals. Comair used to be the place to be until just recently, however, I have a feeling that things are about to pick up around here again. I can't say that I regret staying here at Comair, but I can say that if I had to do it over again, and if I knew then what I know now, I probably would have went elsewhere. In the end, staying here is just as risky as going elsewhere. The only difference is if I stay here at Comair I have seniority under my belt and if I were to jump ship right now and go elsewhere, I'd be at the bottom of the list and that is prime furlough fodder territory. Ultimately, you need to weigh your options and do what you think is best for you, your family and your career. What is good for me may not be good for you.

So in the end, you can't really second guess yourself in this line of work. Doing so will only lead to tons of undue stress.

saab2000

I stayed at AWAC but I should have left at the 1-year mark for Skywest. I would have upgraded sooner and I would be living and working where I want to live and work.

But hindsight is 20/20 and there have been some advantages to having stayed at AWAC. I earn more. My resumé is 'cleaner', I didn't have the risk of changing companies and philosophies.

But I admire Skywest and how they seem to be more proactive in how their business is run.

Bloodhound

I think I know why you're asking the question and my first suggestion is to stay off the crackpipe. I don't read it but I'm assuming it's doom and gloom.

I once had a jumpseater who had been around a while tell me, "You'll never out-guess this industry." If you want to work at Skybus because of no other reason than the uniform, go ahead. Or if you want to work for XYZ Airline because of [insert personal preference], then go ahead. Obviously you need to look at many factors but you'll never out-guess anything and upgrade isn't everything.

I personally think changing regionals accomplishes very little in most cases. There are exceptions, of course. Throw out upgrade time... if jumping ship improves your QOL and you're in he bottom 1/3 on the seniority list, then it may not be too bad. But chasing a quick upgrade isn't always the smartest thing to do - especially if you're "age challenged." I think the only good reason to chase a quick upgrade is if you have connections, i.e. family member, at a legacy or cargo company that requires PIC turbine.

For example, I was 23 when I was hired at XJT and my plan was to be at a major in 5 years. That didn't happen and I'm still here 8+ years later. I'm not a lifer - I'm working on a few options but I wouldn't change anything from the last 8 years, except 9/11, which is why my 5 year goal didn't come through.

Just a few things to thinks to think about.