Chris, I thought I saw the term related to flow on another forum. I’ll look it over and see if the verabge was what I used. Again, sorry for all the redundant questions that I might have. I’ll keep trying to do my due diligence.
Anthony,
No need to apologize, we are here to answer questions 
A “line” refers to having a set schedule as opposed to being on call, usually known as “reserve”. I just wasn’t sure what you were asking about it.
Chris
Tory,
Can you elaborate on the bump in pay for being a check airman or working in the training department? Do FO’s have opportunities such as recruitment to make extra money? I assume that is a catch 22 because you would get less hours and therefore longer time to upgrade to Captain?
Jason
Jason,
You are correct. If you are an FO and also, say, a ground school instructor, you would receive more money per hour as an instructor, but this means that you would be flying less. These positions pay $10-$15 more than regular FO pay. I turned down an offer to be a ground instructor for this reason. It was more important to me to get my part 121 time and upgrade faster. Now that I’m there I will submit an application to be a check airman.
So, how does check airman pay work? I’m sure the pay structure varies, but at my airline it’s like this: a check airman receives an annual override of $3000, plus an additional $15/hr for OE/Line Checks.
Tory
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Jason,
As Tory said you definitely will fly less so that’s the trade off. The bonus however is since you’re flying AND training. With that you can go well over the FAA limit of 100hrs per month (pay wise). When I was an instructor 120+ hrs a month was the norm.
Adam
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Adam,
Wow! That is a lot of pay hours. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
Jason
Tory,
As Adam said, you can certainly get a lot of pay hours. I would definitely be interested, but I would follow your route I believe and wait until upgrade to do that so I would get the pay bump faster. Thank you!
Jason
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Jason,
Agreed. There’s other ways to make more money AND build flight time. Bid for max credit, pick up open time, pick up premium pay, swap a trip for higher credits, etc.
Tory
Mentors, do you see the pilot shortage ending anytime soon, especially at regionals. I read somewhere else that the applications are already getting fat tat that this shortage should hit a peak around 2023. Does that mean if you haven’t started the training by then that you’re out of luck getting on with regionals? Or do you all see this shortage lasting for a while?
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Anthony,
We are seeing some signs of the pilot shortage easing a bit, but that just means a return to normalcy. This fighting over pilots that are not even eligible to fly for the airlines is a bit much in my opinion, although it has really helped to drive pilot wages up and that is a good thing. I think we are seeing the easing of the shortage because the word is out that pay has gone up significantly. I would not let a slight easing change my plans if I were you.
Chris
But if my plan was to not start at a regional for say 6-7 years or to have the hours required for a regional then would you let it slight my plans then? Would 6-7 years lead me to not even being hired by a regional since the shortage is gone. I know y’all aren’t crystal balls, but y’all are the closest thing I have at the moment😉
Anthony,
I know this is not the answer you are looking for, but there is really no way possible to tell that far out. 6-7 years is a really long time in any industry, especially this one. I will say that pilots turn 65 and retire everyday, so there is always turnover in the industry.
Even before the “shortage” pilots were being hired, it just wasn’t the feeding frenzy that we have seen the last few years.
Chris
Thanks again Chris for an honest reply. As mentioned before I’d be completely happy at a regional for the rest of my life. And if that’s what starting at a regional at 45 years old requires me to do then that’s what happens in life. 20 years at a regional can’t be that bad I imagine as long as you’re doing what you love.
Anthony,
As Chris said there’s no way of knowing the future. That said both Chris, I and hundreds of other pilots were hired when there was no shortage. Sure the competition was greater but if you were a good pilot with a clean record and a solid resume you did fine.
I think you’ll find many industries aren’t suffering from shortages and people still enter them. It simply raises the bar a little.
Adam
Thanks Adam for this reply and putting my fears to rest. Hopefully in 7 years I’ll be able to land at a regional, shortage or not. If there for 20 years I’m ok with that. If I can’t land with a regional at least I’ll always have a job to fall back on. By the way if I ever land a gig and run into run of y’all in 7-10 years dinners on me.
Anthony,
2020 is the estimated peak of the shortage. From there it will slowly taper off until 2035, according to what I’ve read online.
Tory