Take a look at this press release from Piedmont Airlines, a subsidiary of American Airlines. In my career I have never seen regional pay this high, the days of the first few years being tough for new airline pilots are coming to an end.
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It really is an amazing time to be starting a career in aviation! I’m jello!
Adam
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Not sure if this has been mentioned before, but PSA has also announced a very similar program.
http://www.psaairlines.com/psa-airlines-announces-industry-leading-pay-for-new-hire-pilots/
Eric,
Thanks for the link, Envoy Air just announced the same thing. As you may know Envoy, Piedmont and PSA are all subsidiaries of American Airlines, apparently they chose to standardize their new hire pay rates and raise them across the board. This is great news for the whole industry.
Chris
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This is awesome news ! Piedmont has been my top choices since I made the decision to start this journey. I know with school debts and the desire to get your foot in the door, I have been told to accept any job offer that comes to you. With that said I really hope this opportunity is there when I get thru ATP.
With the lower supply of pilots,the regionals are obviously having to make it more attractive to become a pilot. With pay increases at these American Airlines subsidies, do you guys think Skywest and ExpressJet will raise their pilot’s wages to be competitive anytime soon? Skywest and ExpressJet are what I would really like to get on with, because their domiciles are in locations I would love to live in. Do you also think they will offer the same bonuses these other airlines are offering?
One other side question that may be really hard to answer. If you guys could take a guess, how long it would take to go from a first officer to captain? I’m sure it varies from airline to airline, but is there like an average number of years it usually takes? And from Captain of a regional, to first officer at a legacy?
You are all soooooo great! Thanks!
Cameron,
It might be a little harder for non subsidiary airlines like SkyWest to raise their pay as they are not directly part of the larger airline like Piedmont, etc, are. That being said, if they want to continue to attract new pilots they will have to increase their pay or they simply will not be competitive.
As to upgrade time, it can vary widely and your mileage may vary, but I think five years is a safe bet. And to the majors, ten years total from when first being hired at a regional seems like a good average. Again, these are really just educated guesses, there are so many variable involved with this.
Thanks for the compliment, I am glad to know that you are finding this forum helpful 
Chris
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