Drewm

Quick question for anyone willing to help out. If an airline such as UA or DL is your ultimate goal, is participating in the Bridge Program from UND, flying for Sun Country then trying to advance to DL or UA a good idea? Or do most people prefer going to a 121 and trying to go to UA or DL before upgrading? Thanks in advance!

AlikesitR

You just asked the million dollar question. As a general rule, you do not want to work for a regional which feeds the airline you wish to work for. By a 121, I am assuming you mean regional. And for most people this is a far more common route. Bridge programs are a new thing to get first officers who will work at your company longer. For many people, bridge programs don't give them the base they want that they could get at a regional. The list goes on.

Here's the pro's of a regional route:

You will have a generally easier training program designed to help new pilots through their first type rating. At the right regional, you can see people get to majors without upgrading. It is not a very common thing to see, but it does happen. But a captain at a regional opposite their carrier has a very good pathway to get there.

The Bridge Program route appears to be a decent one. But it does come with some risks. The Sun Country Training program has gone a long way to help people new to 121 and jets get through training, but there is still a higher washout rate among bridge kids, and those who do get through sometimes rack up a reasonable amount of failures which hurts their resume. I am not saying it is guaranteed you will generate a failure in your training, but bridge kids are a bit more failure prone. The 737 is a lot of plane for a CFI. Get through training and you will have a much better experience on the line than your regional brethren. If your goal is to come to Sun Country and go to a major, that is a very reasonable path. If you come to Sun Country and stay for your career, you will be in a great spot as well.

But, the big takeaway here is you are asking for some pretty tough advice. There are a million ways to go about your career and where you want to be. I will say, by leaving my regional and going to Sun Country, I positioned myself very well to go to our airport neighbors this fall. Do what you want to do, but don't get too focused on your path to the majors. Take everyone's advice with a grain of salt, and get your ATP as fast as you can from whoever will give it to you. You will eventually end up where you want to be.

YerOnGuard

If you have the ability to skip the regionals and go straight to SY, you go for it. The music is beginning to slow at the regionals. When it stops, you don’t want to be stuck there, you’d much rather be stuck here.

Drewm

Thank you for the advice, I appreciate it! I love to hear someone else’s thoughts on certain situations.