>>1944453So heres the deal, the music stops every couple years, but the stops will be getting worse for a while. Some CFIs (without any nepotism or fancy aviation college experience) are already going direct into ULCCs, meanwhile the regionals are having a shortage of qualified Captain candidates with 1k hours 121 SIC. As more CFIs go direct to ULCCs and the regionals continue to find ways to fuck over prospective and current pilots, it'll eventually get to the point where AA, DL, UA and AS will have to take back their own regional jet flying, a little at first, and then all at once.
The reason this would stop the musical chair dance? Because of the training churn of absorbing all the regional pilots into the parent airline. Delta would probably honor the flows from Endeavor, and American would probably honor the flows from Envoy, PSA and Piedmont. This means that if you're not already in already, you'll wait YEARS to get in behind every regional pilot who took months to go through new hire training. This is assuming DL and AA even honor the flows, they may just fold the regional, take the jets back and say "Be sure to apply!" If you're at the legacy already and want a junior Captain upgrade to the CRJ200, now you're part of the training churn. Now, despite the so called shortage, there's no open jobs because they're all prefilled for the next few years.
Your career path may look like CFI then A320 at NK/F9 and then starting on a CRJ at DL, making your first RJ job at the legacies. It could happen in the next 3-10 years, it's really hard to say when the scales will tip. How will you Joe Pilot stand out as a CFI to CL-65 pilot among other applicants that are identical? A bachelors degree, being a check airman, sim instructor, ball fondler, start building your resume now.
