DONT join as a ATR FO ( if you have a choice ) You will be stuck there forever under the 10% per base per year rule. You will be lucky to see a RH 737 in the same time you would as an RFO. The only guys on the SO list there after their 30mth freeze are those who have chosen to stay. Get your hands on a GDOJ list from someone you know and see for yourself. A significant pay difference to consider as well between the two.
You will hear lots about how the unions are planning on scraping that 10% rule. Don’t make decisions based on speculation, especially at Virgin. I’ll just say that again ESPECIALLY AT VIRGIN!!
If you’re in a position to move to a major then go jet and only jet. Don’t be stupid and think you’re to good for an RFO slot. There are currently ex fast jet drivers there who understand it’s the quickest way to a RH seat in a 737. Also a few from the 737 who have taken RFO slots purely for the lifestyle.
Tiger.... um yeah... Well, you can go to Virgin and get a new set of RMs every three years or get $21 per year uniform allowance. I’ll let you figure that one out... ( don’t quote me on the $21, but it’s ****house figure what ever it is ) and let’s just remember that all the Tiger new hires are falling over themselves to get onto the Virgin GDOJ... says a lot. Probably cause they spend all their money on car parking at ML they can’t afford RMs ... ( relax, being facetious! )
VANZ is a pretty good option, I think commuting will get very hard soon so if able I’d suggest you move over. Get yourself a 737 TR and a few hours on type and the world just opened up to you !! A few recently have gone from VANZ to China jobs and making some pretty good coin.
F100 with VARA is another option. It’s jet and few more A320s heading to the West.
You’ve gotta remember that you just need to get onto a GDOJ list and do your time. At the end of the day you will most likely spend the majority of your time in the LH seat of a 737 and you will only get that seat with time. It really doesn’t matter what you join on, you just gotta start.
IH