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Originally Posted by jonnyb The "regionals" are not the only CHOICE! There are jobs that pay enough to survive. The "regionals" are not the only option! Do I need to say it again? I don't understand why some people think this is the only route. Know one should need a side job when they're flying a 90,000lb. jet! That's ridiculous. Get the point now? |
Of course it's not the only option. But for some people, it's the
best option.
Example: If you don't have a family, don't mind loading your own cargo, sleeping during the day in lousy hotels, working the back side of the clock and flying equipment and avionics form the Carter administration, you can make plenty of cash flying jet cargo! And good upgrade time too!
Further, if you don't mind never being home, having little to no job security, no union representation, being a personal servant as well as a pilot, can tolerate a decade to upgrade, as well as spending 2 more years of your career flight instructing to get the mins, by all means go fly corporate or fractional!
Or you can make peanuts your first year, a livable wage your second, good pay as captain after a few years, have a good QOL, nice benefits, union representation, 121 time, sleep in a Doubletree Sleep Number bed with your warm cookie on the overnight, and take your wife to Paris, 1st class, for FREE. That's the choice I had, and I took it.
I'm not trying to bag on cargo or fractionals-- some people have different experiences and for some people those are better options. Good on them. My point is that at the 1000-2500TT level, you can't have it all. You have to sacrifice in some areas to make good in others. If the options were all so great, why would anyone apply for the Majors? The best you can do is make the best choice, with the best information you can get, at the point in time you have to make the decision.
If you decide to go regional, great, but remember: "Boycott the bottom-feeders; apply for the top regional jobs and we all win."