I flew for one of those FedEx Feeders as a Caravan captain during COVID after being (indefinitely) furloughed from an airline.

It's not nearly as competitive as the 121 airlines, especially the majors. Our outfit had either young and new pilots looking to build time and move on, or old guys who aged out of the airlines or ones who couldn't cut it in a jet, so there is a lot of turn over as pilots move on or medical out.

It was a good gig for the time, but the repetition and lack of growth, movement, and pay made me not want to stay. Plus I knew what airline life was like.

Lots of goods. Home every night or nearly every night. Not a lot of delays usually, and a predictable and consistent schedule. Single pilot, so you aren't stuck in a box with a weirdo. Lots of free time at the outstations with a crew car and hotel. I went out and did stuff most days, be it hiking, surfing, mountain biking, etc. Relatively easy flying. The caravan is an insanely easy and forgiving airplane that is a jack of all trades. It really is a big 172. Routes are predictable and repetitive, so you're not constantly being challenged (can also be bad). Fedex did a great job of keeping the aircraft properly maintained.

Lots of bad. Early morning shows and flights. Lots of waiting around and standing outside watching freight being loaded onto your aircraft. Kinda sucks in the winter when it's cold, windy, raining, and dark. You might end up having to fuel and/or deice your own aircraft. Not much support from "dispatch", so you calculate your own weight and balance, fuel, route and weather, including filing alternates and deriving alternate minimums. Single pilot, so if/when shit hits the fan, there's no one to help you out, you get to be the rock star or the guppy. Caravan isn't exactly comfortable. It's not torture, but the seat leaves something to be desired. Unless you're changing bases within the company, your route choices are pretty limited, so you see the same thing over and over. My outfit had a handful of oldies that had their preferred routes, so oftentimes I was flying the same 2-3 routes despite their being 7. We had to arrive early and wait for FedEx to unload the big aircraft and sort the freight before loading ours. This meant hanging out every morning with the same pilots, waiting for freight. Sometimes it got old hearing the same stories, same arguments, same BS, especially from the old guys that couldn't make it at the airlines and had a chip on their shoulder. Because of the high turnover, they tend to always be understaffed, so more work than it should be. Not much room to grow or change, and pay, which isn't terrible, is pretty stagnant. Sometimes you'll fly fish or mushrooms or something else that smells awful. Those flights sucked. You'll get pushback from the company and/or especially the outstation FedEx drivers, who unload and load your aircraft, to push the limits and legalities. This can be especially difficult with the old pilots who don't care and let anything fly, so when you push back the drivers get pissy. Also, complacency is a real bitch at these places.

The being home every night and having a predictable schedule was nice, but the thought of doing the same exact thing 5 days a week for the next 40+ years of my life, and for what they were paying, didn't work for me. It was a good COVID gig, but I'm glad I moved on.

Regional airlines will gladly hire someone in their 30s and 40s, and I imagine most majors would too. All this of course depends on the current status of the industry and airline hiring.

Currently regional life is great. The pay is fantastic and the quality of life has gotten a lot better than what it used to be pre-covid. That said, there's no guarantee it'll stay that way, this industry is always swinging one way or another. Being a lifer at a regional isn't a terrible life, but it can also be hard in the long run. I'd choose it over the FedEx feeder life personally. Oh yeah, when I was at the FedEx feeder they had the purple pathway program or whatever it was called that allowed the feeder pilots to flow to FedEx proper and fly jets for them. A grand total of 1 whole pilot made it when I left. Maybe more have now, but it definitely seems like a scam to get pilots in the door at the feeders.