DLAJ77

its prob best if you get your cfi and teach...best way to learn and build your time. the quicker you do that the quicker you can make the jump to the regionals or whatever it might be. they all will be hiring so its no biggy if you instruct for the next couple months.

flynavyj

honestly, being turned down probably isn't that bad of a thing given your recent flight experience. Trans States is very hit and miss with it's training department, with a good instructor you MIGHT make it through the simulator training...with a bad instructor, you're basically out of luck. Have several personal good friends who i graduated college with, a couple of whom had several hundred hours of IFR/Multi engine time, all of whom failed out of training at Trans States.

Getting on w/ TSA is a great deal for anyone w/ low time who can pass training, get some 121 time, and move to a better regional, (if you have 250 hrs, it's still gonna take you a couple years to upgrade a best, might as well spend those couple years somewhere nice). But in your case, you haven't been doing enough flying to really guarantee that you won't be a training nightmare, you're probably not as fresh on your instrument flying skills as you need to be, and being at a company that could really care less if you make it through the training program or not isn't going to help the matter either. Get ur CFI stuff, or find a way to get some recent flight experience, the more complex the airplane, the more IFR, the better. After that, you'll probably be more employable to better companies, and i wouldn't even think of giving TSA a call...if you like St. Louis that much, try CHQ.

Mitragorz

Yeah, the thing is that I never really intended to do airlines. It was only in the last month or so that I decided that it's something that I'm interested in, so I never really did any research on airlines. I wanted to go corporate. I had a really good connection where I am now, my boss is the Director of Flight Operations for a certain entertainer's flight department. Seaplanes and a Falcon 900, so I was hoping on that being my "in." Well, that doesn't look like it's materializing into anything, so I looked elsewhere.

I've basically going on what my friends say. The friend I have going through TSA's training now said that they're hiring like crazy, and their interview is more on the easy side than others, like ExpressJet. He offered to walk my resume in, so I thought hey, why not?

I'll probably go back to TSA and try to get on. Pay isn't the worst, and the 12-14 month upgrade time is pretty attractive. But like I said, I don't know much about other regionals. If there's a better airline with similar pay and similar upgrade time, I'd love to hear about them.

Even so, I'm not going to apply now anyway, because I feel that most other interviews will go the same direction as TSA's... not enough recency.

DLAJ77

I think pinnicale is upgrading quick...but if i remember correctly you have somewhere around 400 tt...remeber you have to hit ATP mins before you can upgrade so that might take a little longer for you...best bet like i said is boost you PIC time with the cfi or anything else you can get. best of luck...

iubball

Can anyone explain to me why TSA has such reduced minimums? Looking at their pay compared to other regionals, it seems to be in the middle in terms of competitiveness. Also see that they are unionized. What am I missing?

Mr Spooner

In a way I think companies like TSA are being irresponsible. They post bare minimums for hiring requirements so all the 250TT 20ME applicants flock. They take a few here and there and then most die in their training department.

So what happens is the kid with 250TT 20ME who is to naive to realize he was not ready for the regional job to begin with busts out of training. Only do they find out after how bad it is to bust out of a 121 training program.

Last I heard TSA had about 40% bust in training which I think is a direct correlation with hiring low time applicants who are not ready.

flynavyj

TSA's union representation isn't stronger than managements incompetence...aka management will screw over the pilot group to make a buck for the company, and will do anything they can to find loopholes in the contract written for TSA pilots, flight attendants, etc.

Any management group that starts an alterego carrier to the purpose of whipsawing the pilot groups isn't a management that gives a rat about how happy you are as an employee, and sometimes being a happy employee is worth something.

Pilotpip

It's been nowhere near 40%. The classes this year have had no more than 4 out of a class of 30 fail. I'm not defending TSA in any way but they're not being any more irrisponsible towards hiring than any other regional hiring lowtimers.

Mr Spooner

I just feel for those low timers who get in over their head and do not even realize it.

15789

This is true; however, if the training department doesn't feel you can handle the check ride after 10 or so sims(or on at least one occasion, the CPT) they'll cut you loose. so even though the bust rate may not be around 40% per class, the attrition is!