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Expectations of Regional Airlines

What Does Life Flying For The Regional Airline Look Like?

Please review the Expectations of the Major Commercial Airlines before reading this. The Regionals are very very similar to the Majors but are not at the level of the Major Airlines.  Most Regionals are essentially subcontractors to the Major Airlines and they fly the narrow body aircraft such as the CRJ 550 or Embraer 145/170.  They are flying the Major’s passengers and may have the Major’s names on the side of their aircraft, but are operating at much lower costs then the majors.  Their entire business model is intended to be cheaper to operate.

To begin, your standard non-military pilot attaining their rating and building their time, will more then likely fly for the Regionals at some point because it builds hours and teaches them how to fly the same way that the Major Airlines fly.  Coming from the military, it may not be necessary if you have attained the required hours and experience that the Majors are looking for.  If you are coming from a Rotary Wing, the Regionals might be a good place to start to build your time and experience in the fixed wing community.  There are other tracks to go as well, such as Corporate flying, to get your hours and experience to build to the Major airlines.

Training

Training for the Regionals is typically done via a Part 142 school such as Flight Safety or CAE or could be done via AQP at the company headquarters.

Training is typically takes 1-3 months to complete.  After training, you will bid initially for your preferred base and receive your initial seniority number.  It is likely that you may not get your first choice for your initial base, which may lead to commuting the first year until you gain seniority and are able to move.  NOTE: In the current market, pilots are seeing their preferred domicile right out of training, or they are reassigned within only a couple months.

Next, you will likely complete your Initial Operating Experience (IOE) which is a minimum number of hours, 25 or so, with a Line Check Airman (LCA).

The Flying Machine

Based on all the feedback I’ve received, most things are accomplished in the same manor as the Major Airlines but the Quality-of-Life (QoL) is less then the Major Airlines.  This may be changing with the current economy and need for pilots.  Recently a lot of Regionals have renegotiated their contracts to improve the QoL for their pilots, to include greater and more competitive pay, greater benefits and more scheduling control.  The Regional Airlines of the past were the last place most people wanted to end up, but in the current market, the differences between the Regionals and the Majors has shrunk so that the Regionals can keep a hold of their pilots longer.  Overall, QoL at the Regionals is good, not as good as the Major Airlines, but its probably as good as its going to get in our lifetime.  A great breakdown and comparison of the Regional and LCC airlines can be found Here.

In the past, Regional pilots would work harder (more legs flown in a day and then doing that 4-5 days in a row), they would have less days off, the pay would be less, the hotels might not be as nice, the aircraft might be older, and in general, the QoL was poor.  Today, the work may be the same, but the scheduling, pay and benefits have greatly been improved to hopefully increase the QoL.

Networking with current pilots at the Regional you are looking at is the best way to determine the current Quality of Life at that company. Aviation Career Mentoring via Facebook is an excellent source for this kind of knowledge.

The Flow Program

Most Regionals have a program that will flow the pilot from the Regional Airline to the Major Airline it is associated with.  An example of this could be GoJet Airlines that has a United Aviate Program that flows the individual directly to United when it is time.  Here is a list of many of the flow programs available.

Here is a list of many of the flow programs available.

Regional Airline

  • Air Wisconsin
  • CommutAir
  • Endeaver Air
  • Envoy Air
  • GoJet Airlines
  • Horizon Air
  • Mesa Airlines
  • Piedmont Airlines
  • PSA Airlines
  • Republic Airways
  • SkyWest

Major Airline

  • United Airlines
  • United Airlines
  • Delta Airlines
  • American Airlines
  • United Airlines
  • Alaska Airlines
  • United Airlines
  • American Airlines
  • American Airlines
  • Delta Airlines
  • Southwest Airlines & Delta Airlines

PROS

  • Regionals often offer hiring bonuses
  • May pay for your ATP-CTP for new hires
  • Incorporate flow programs to the Major Airlines
  • Have domiciles all over the country
  • In the current market, pay is pretty good and getting better.  It compares to the Major Airlines first year pay as equal or even greater.
  • Pilots are awesome to fly with

CONS

  • Long days with multiple stops
  • May require a training contract (BEWARE!!)
  • Overnight accommodations at lower cost hotels
  • Lacking crew meals
  • Previously (1+ year ago) Quality of Life was seemingly poor
  • Fully dependent on the parent organization (i.e. the attached Major) for work and thus if the Major needs to cut costs, it may begin at the Regionals.