GIN,
What does this mean ?: "You are owned by the companies." Does it mean that it's hard for an E3 to change to another US regional ?
Commuting is torture. Is there a reason why anyone coming here on an E3 would commute vs living in base ?
As for working Ts & Cs, if the airline has a pilot union, these will be codified in the labor contract (for better or worse) which provides a mechanism for addressing abuses. In my experience,
ALL airlines push the limits and there are fellow pilots serving on committees to file official objections. You can hear the pilots of DL, AA, UAL, etc. complaining about these things; pilots have gone on strike over it. Nature of the beast.
Vacation ? Using DL as a basis for comparison, a pilot has to finish 5 years before getting more than 2 weeks vacation and 19+ for 5 weeks. I wouldn't expect a regional to be as good as that. Seniority will allow for creative bidding to get more time off even at a regional.
Coffee depends on where you get it. If one goes to Starbucks, it's boiling bilge water for sure.
And, yes, if you want to stay long term, that Texas cheerleader will lead to a green card and you're off and running !
