minority561

My school that I'm attending (which will remain nameless and no its not riddle) is offering a 737-800 type rating over summers. The downside, like always, is the price tag. Only this price tag is roughly $21,000.00 bucks. Do any of you more experience guys see any validity to this or point to doing it. It covers ground school and three other classes worth a total of nine credits. also, it includes 50 hours multi/turbine time. However, none of that 50 hours is PIC, which is a downer. so i guess my main question is:

are airlines going to higher a 300ish hour pilot with 50 hours in a 737-800 type rating but no PIC in type?

USN C9B

No. There are hundreds (maybe thousands) of guys with a ton of hours of ME PIC that are on the street right now. To be competitetive for an airline that flys the 737, you'll need: 6K TT, 3K PIC, ATP, Bach. Degree, plus internal recs. Having a type MIGHT help if you meet the other gates but it won't make up for several thousand hours.

$21K for a 737NG type seems high. When I was considering one, I think it was $15K or so. A 737-200 or -300 types are signifigantly less (~$3.5K)

C9

snippercr

You will have better luck getting a job at a regional if you spend that 21,000 buying hours in an old seminole to get your multi-hours or at least raising your total time.

rickair7777

That price is ludicrous, the only US company worth mentioning which requires 737 type is SWA, and you can get what they require for $5K.

None whatsoever, except for entertainment value...I don't know about you but I could find better ways to blow $21K.

The average regional FO probably has about 3000 hours hours turbojet SIC, in the operational 121 environment...and they can't get hired by most major airlines. If they could, you would be waiting in line behind about 15,000 of them.

No US regional airline is going to hire any 300 hour pilot, for many years. If the planned new regulations and laws go through, no US airline will EVER hire a 300 pilot again.

Do you get 50 hours in an actual 737NG or in a sim...there is a big difference, regardless of what your school may say, level D sim time is NOT real airplane and no employer will let you count it.

Dude, go get your instructor ratings and have a bunch of money left over. That is the only consistently reliable civilian path to professional aviation career.

Also I have to say...what kind of unethical scumbag crooks are running your flight school? How could anyone with knowledge of this industry steer a young person to blow $20K on a narrowbody type? I would seriously reconsider having anything to do with that school.

TonyWilliams

Except you won't have any hours in a 737. Period. If you applied to an airline and professed that you did have hours in type, when clearly you don't, I would think the interview would stop right there.

My airline was hiring guys to fly the 737NG with less time than you have, but that was before the pilot world ended about 2 years ago. Right now, we require 500 hours IN TYPE.... that means your butt was sweating in a jet-A burning, Boeing built airplane for 500 hours.

There are the usual Pay-2-Play airlines out there. I think there's one in Morrocco (northwest africa) that does P-2-P in the 737, but I'm very sure that it's a "classic", and not the NG. Might need a JAA license, but not sure.

In general, however, the idea is absolutely insane in the current climate. Heck, why not just do an Airbus 380, or Concorde, or something fun, if you just want to spend money? Some of the old war birds require a quasi type rating, and I'm sure that the foundations like Commemorative Air Force would love to take your money to keep the fleet flying. I did that in the C-46.

And finally, unless you're going to fly outside the USA, you're first airline flying job will NOT be a Boeing anything. It will have props, or be a ERJ, CRJ, MRJ, or somebody RJ. Nobody will require, or care that you have a B737 type. Actually, I'd think they find it odd that you did.

minority561

this is the response i kinda expected to get. the rating is done in a level D sim in miami to answer your question rick. i had never intended to do this program, i simply wanted to get the opinion of the industry haha.

TonyWilliams

It's a bit hard to read your real intent here. If you got the money, and want to do it, what the heck? Have fun.

Will it help you get your first airline job? No

Will you have fun, and learn something? Probably

Can you get exactly the same thing for cheaper? Yes, by a lot.

Your response seems to indicate that you think that Level D sim time is "aircraft" time, and hopefully by now, you know that it's not.

minority561

I understand now that a level D sim is not aircraft time. thank you very much haha.

BoilerUP

For $21k, you could buy Citation 500 *and* LR-JET type ratings...

...or a buttload of multi time.

mmaviator

For $21K you could make it rain on um a C152, yeah that what I mean lol. Get your instructor ratings.