newpilot

When working for a regional airline as a FO, is there a requirement that you have to meet to become a captain?

surreal1221

As far as I know. . . yes.

They are, usually, established by the insurance company, then the airline themselves will set a bar at or above the minimum insurance requirement. That is how I understand it.

Ottopilot

Senority to hold CA.
FAA rules: age 23
Pass checkride.

Space Monkey

The requirements to be a Capt. vary with the airline itself... The basic requirement from the FAA's stand point is meet FAR 61 ATP mins... However each airline / insurance company can and usually will dictate additional requirements to sit left seat... For example when I was at mesa you needed to meet at mins plus your total PIC time + (your total sic / 2) had to equal at least 1200 hours also when on the beech side as I remember you needed atleast 500 in type before upgrade however that was waivable at the companys disgressions. Here at Pinnacle the upgrade mins are 3,500 hrs TT, 2000 hrs ME, 1500 Turbine... Plus meet the ATP requirements of FAR 61... The only relief from that is that the mins are reducible by 500 hours if you have 500 hours in the CRJ..... But bottom line to be a CA you need the seniority, ATP mins and finally the individual company's requirements. Then you get a chance to go and try to pass upgrade class and sim.

newpilot

Thanks for the info. I ask this question because I have a friend that is 20 and wants to get with an airline that has a fast upgrade, I read one time that you have to meet some requirements to get into the left seat( I was right). So pretty much he can't become a CA till he is 23 and meets the requirements.(correct me if i'm wrong) Thats 3yrs of FO pay that sucks.

rickair7777

There is usually a trade-off between fast upgrade and quality of life and pay...sh*tty regionals often have fast upgrade because everybody leaves.

Three years is a somewhat fast upgrade time (on average), so it is not likely that he will have the seniority to upgrade in less time than that anyway. I would suggest a "good" regional, since there is no point in working for a f*%ked up company in order to get a 6 month upgrade (ie mesa) if you're too young to upgrade..

SkyHawg

From what I heard:

When you upgrade to captain you immediately go on reserve and have to go through the same process you went through as an FO. For that reason some people stay FO longer even though they have the opportunity to upgrade because they like how they can bid for their working hours, the amount of hours they work for the pay, and flexibility they get. Let's say you are a 5th year FO, when they upgrade you become a 5th year captain with 5th year pay.

This is what I have heard. I could be wrong.

newpilot

Thats what I told him, to go for a good airline. He also don't have many choices because most regionals won't hire you unless your 21. I guess Expressjet could be a good option and he might have a good chance because he is young and stay for a long time with the company.(correct me if i'm wrong)

rickair7777

Xjet is one of the good ones, but they are having some turmoil with their primary partner, Continental, right now. The possible downside is that they might do layoffs next year, but it's a complex situation and no way to say for sure really.

Superpilot92

You have a little misinformation, no layoffs or furloughs coming here. We are keeping the planes and will be flying Charter and for either other companies or on our own. Details to come out shortly. Our union just posted that the company is going to be updating the union on whats some of the details going on with the planes on the 19th.