Very helpful information, Adam.
As a follow up to Riki’s earlier question and your response (and maybe this is best directed to the admin), would one still be eligible for the full $11k from the tuition reimbursement program later on (i.e., once closer to reaching the 1500 hour mark or even upon actually being hired at a participating regional)? In other words, do you have to apply for the program at or around 300 hours? The reason I ask is, I imagine to many one of the key factors in choosing a regional is the upgrade time, and that might fluctuate wildly between signing on with the airline only 300 hours into your training and when you actually start working there, and by that time if you’re locked in to that airline it seems you might regret the decision if upgrade times at that airline have gone through the roof for whatever reason. If you have the benefit of maybe having a clearer picture of upgrade times closer to your actual DOH it seems like that could be a big deal. If you could still be eligible for tuition reimbursement later on in the process while keeping your options open longer that would be a plus of course.
I understand there’s something to be said for having the peace of mind early on of knowing you have an offer waiting for you, especially in a volatile industry, but assuming regionals are still going to be desperate for awhile, holding out for awhile maybe worth considering?
It may be that upgrade times are a crap shoot anyway so it’s useless basing a decision on that?
Thanks