Regional Airlines. Skywest/Chautququa=United Express, Delta Connections, etc? Please Explain?

Question

Please help me understand how Skywest Airlines and Chautauqua Airlines are also United Express, Delta Connections, etc.? Which one is better? If I wanted to fly for Express/Connections would I interview through Skywest/Chautauqua or Delta/United. I don't get it. Are the salaries the same for all of them? If so, what are the salaries.

Also, when you get hired by an airline, do you get to choose Boeing vs Airbus, or at least a preference?

And lastley, if I went to college and while in college got my Commercial twin engine instrument, what jet training school should I go to?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Contrary to what Comair has said, they are NOT the same.

Regional airlines are independent companies that operate as free enterprises.  They compete against each other for contract flying offered by the major airlines.

Skywest is owned and operated by SkyWest Inc, which also provides contract flying service to United, Delta, and Midwest Airlines.  They bid for flying that is available and are awarded contracts based on price, service, and reliability.

Chautuaqua airlines is simply one of Skywest's competitors, along with ExpressJet, Mesa, Comair, and many many more.  The reason you generally see "United Express" or Delta Connection" painted on the planes is more for customer assurance than anything.  If someone buys a ticket on Delta, they prefer the airplane to say Delta on it.  It allows a bit of transparency between the operations of the companies.  If you try to fly from HoDunk, Alabama to Middle-of-Nowhere Idaho, odds are there will not be a direct flight.  Odds are also that there will not be a mainline flight that goes to either of those two places.  Delta cannot sell enough seats to justify putting a 737 into HoDunk, so they contract the route to a company that operates smaller aircraft with less capacity.  That way they only need to sell 40-45 seats to be cost-effective.

That flight will usually leave Ho-Dunk, fly to a Delta hub (Like Atlanta, then a mainline flight will take the passengers from Delta hub to Delta hub (SLC in this example) where they will connect onto another contracted regional company to fly into Middle-of-Nowhere.  Delta cannot afford to fly its airplanes to all these places, so smaller planes are hired on a longer-term contract basis to provide it for them.  Delta gets the revenue from the ticket sales and the regional airline is paid on a fee-per-departure basis.

Answer 2

They are all pretty much the same. Delta and United's regional both operate with Sky west. Chautauqua Airlines is an airline based in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. It operates scheduled passenger services on more than 700 flights daily to 98 airports in 31 states, Washington, D.C. and Canada through feeder services under the names Delta Connection for Delta Air Lines, American Connection for American Airlines, Continental Express for Continental Airlines, United Express for United Airlines, and US Airways Express for US Airways.Sky West Airlines is one of two airlines owned by Sky West, Inc. - the other being Atlantic Southeast Airlines. It is a North American regional airline headquartered in St. George, Utah, flying to 154 cities in 43 states, Canada, and Mexico. The airline serves as a feeder airline, operating under contract with various major carriers. It flies as United Express on behalf of United Airlines, as Delta Connection on behalf of Delta Air Lines, and as Midwest Connect on behalf of Midwest Airlines.

Salaries varies. If you fly a beech craft as a first officer you can make as much as 24k a year. A  five year captain on a CRJ-700 can make around 45k a year.

here's a great website for ATP training and a boost start to regional airline.http://www.atpflightschool.com/

Answer 3

save your money! don't go to a jet training school. everything that you would need to know about flying the specific "jet" that you are hired to fly will be taught to you in ground school for the company at their own cost.  the only place that makes you pay for training is southwest, and that is before you even get an interview.