rightseat

This isn’t really a decision in my book. Look at your entire earning capacity and benefit package and compare that to Southwest (and it is only going to get better with a new contract).

As others have said, the music is going to stop at some point. I would rather be at ANY of the majors than a regional when it does stop.

My personal belief is the regional model’s days are numbered. We have hired dozens of guys under 25 in the last couple of months. As the well goes dry, the regionals are going to be hurting even more for new hires.

Run don’t walk to SWA if you have a CJO. Many of the regionals will take you back without a loss of seniority for a year. So go back if you are unhappy. You will go back with a 737 type rating. You can also shop UA and AA if you don’t like it here. Take the leap now while the music is playing and get some seniority before it stops.

KC135

If this isn't a troll post then it's shocking you're considering staying. What do you get for 401k/DC vs WN? Getting a CJO from WN might be extremely easy to get right now but whenever they get a TA and their rates top out at 380/hr CA 260/hr FO with 17/18% DC, it will become highly competitive again to get on there. You would regret staying at your regional when you will find out it would be challenging to make under 300k as an FO at WN after a few years with a new contract.

NotMrNiceGuy

I remember working at ASA back in the mid-2000’s. I was just hired on and speaking with a youngish (early 30’s) Captain I was flying with. He had been with the company nearly 12 years which gave him some decent seniority. Three days trips Tu-Th and holidays off. Loved his schedule. Not a lot of folks were hiring at the time, but I asked him if he wanted to go to DAL since we were ATL based. We were owned by DAL at the time, so there was a semblance of stability. He said he liked his schedule and didn’t want to start over. Money wasn’t a big motivator for him. Shortly after, turmoil started. Skywest bought ASA and gradually wiped them and ExpressJet off the map. Ultimately, COVID put them out of their misery some 14 years later. I think about him being in his mid to late 40’s and having to start the job search process now. On the back end of hiring waves with a lot less financial stability.

Regionals are not in charge of their own destiny. SWA is in a rough patch. But those can be temporary when you’re in charge of your own flying. But a rough patch at a regional can be fatal.

Hobbit64

I can understand the comfort you feel right now and the lack of desire to ‘pay your dues again’, but … BUT you need to look at the history of the regional segment of the industry. ACA, Comair, ASA, CoEx(ExpressJet), Air Wiskey (Pre USAir), CCAir, PinaColaba…. the list goes on. As the former Cheif Pilot of Midway Express said to us in basic indoc at ASA; “…regionals are like a Phoenix. They get built up, get expensive and die. Then another one is built on its ashes”. He was going through indoc at a new regional after his folded. Get in, get your resume built and Get OUT.
Theres a term for what your going through. ‘Golden Handcuffs’
Good Luck. It’s not easy. I get it.

CA1900

Well said. If you're flying an airplane painted in another company's colors, you're on borrowed time. How much time is anybody's guess, but a regional is merely an outsourced part in a major airline's product.

Look at your car. It's a collection of parts, many outsourced to other companies. Do you know who makes the seatbelts in your car? If the carmaker decided to end its contract with DENSO and go with Autoliv, as a customer, would you care? Would you even notice? That's the position the regionals find themselves in. They supply a commodity, and if they get too expensive or don't do it well, the buyer (the major airline) will simply shop around for a better deal. The end user (the passenger) doesn't care which RJ they end up on.

I experienced this first-hand when US Airways dropped my regional in favor of another. It was not a good time.

thrustisamust

Truly shows how the potential applicants think of WN at the moment if they’re considering staying put at a regional over coming here lol. Just a few years ago this thought would be blasphemy.

shortspatula

This is what I was thinking, are they just fogging mirrors over there at the interview? The applicant hire is not sure if he wants to be there even as his only major CJO option

Excargodog

Or, it may reflect the ignorance of the newbies on just how tenuous the life of a regional airline can be. And unlike major airlines, who are generally too big to fail and will just be merged into another major, regionals do go away altogether, often during recessions or other events when nobody else is hiring either, leaving even their senior people with no place to go when the music stops.

https://www.airlinepilotforums.com/retired-regionals/

Grumpyaviator

I came from a pretty good regional and my worst day at SWA was better than my best day at xjet.

That said, I would come here and keep applying to the legacies. I don’t miss the regionals but I miss being connected to a network carrier that has its act together.

Mozam

I do not think the mgt even wants this place to be a destination Airline anymore . The only way SWA pilots are going to get a decent contract is to stick together and show unity with the SAV. All eyes will be on the SAV in May .