rld1k

Why would he need to do CFI, atp mins are 750 for military

naa3e5

Yeah , no CFI for me... Aeroguard here at Deer Valley in Phoenix has a Rotor Transition Program that the VA Post 9/11 bill should pay for and I'll cover the delta between if it doesn't. The program is designed to get the remaining part of the 250 Fixed PIC / ME / Currency requirements that I am missing. By the time I'm done with that I'll have 1500 TT...

My cousin, and fellow squadron mate is a FO at American now, another one of my squadron mates just started with Sky West in the ERJ a handful of months ago, and another good friend of mine from the squadron is planning on doing the Aeroguard Program with me...

Exciting times...I'm anxiouus to get out the the small business world I've been in with a family business and get back into aviation

nate5ks

To build fixed wing time. Still need 250 hours and navy helo pilots generally have less than 100 unless they have experience outside the military.

Dixie320

So once he gets his fixed wing ratings and CFI, he will instruct for one month and then bail for the regionals? Sounds like the rotor transition program is better.

nate5ks

He got the VA to pay for it which is great but they won’t fund you at every school or if you want to pass your benefits on to your kids. The 20k RTP bonus they give you wouldn’t have been enough to cover the time I needed in my case and I didn’t have a part 141 school nearby to get it funded by the VA. My CFI rating has more than paid for itself but in my case I was still AD and had over a year left so instructing was a side gig for my off time. To each his own.

naa3e5

I cant pass VA 9/11 to my kids... I would have needed to re-up in order to do that. Aeroguard said its a 4 month program to get the hours..

I'm no longer AD, I've been running a family small business (that I can finally let go of the reins and let it do its thing with me checking in every so often),
The CFI would be a slow burn for me, especially with all the other CFI's I'm sure at Deer Valley Airport...

naa3e5

Nate, you are right I've got about 60hrs in a T-34 and about 25 in a 152/172

hawk21

Don’t choose a regional over a few dollars an hour. Pay rates have changed so much the last few years. Go where you can live at home and preferably drive to work. If that’s SkyWest then awesome.

pad39a

I just want to chime in and say that sometimes there is more to QOL than living in base. For many, living in base is what provides the greatest QOL, but that's not always the case for everyone. Decide which goals are most important to you, prioritize them, and then do your best to find an airline that will best help you meet the goals that are important to you.

Many pilots commute; some commute for large portions of their careers and consider themselves to have decent QOL. Some regional airlines with leading pay rates and/or flow agreements offer hotel rooms or reasonable protections to commuters, allowing for ways to get a positive space seat to work or pay protection if the commute gets tight. Sometimes commuting to a junior base will enable more productive lines with more days off, and some commutes are easier than others. The raw distance of a commute isn't necessarily the first consideration there.

Not all airlines' work rules are the same. If you're into picking up flying on your days off, it's worth examining overtime pay rules and what value you would be getting for your time. One airline may have better work rules and enable you to make decent money on overtime trips or schedule disruptions; another may be able to change your finish time from 10am to 7pm and not pay you anything extra.

Another thing to consider is that most of us hope the regional airlines are a stepping stone, but there's something to be said for working at an airline you wouldn't mind being stuck at for a while. Again, it comes down to what's important to you.

At the end of it all, most people find that living in base provides the greatest QOL. But that isn't true for everyone, and it isn't accurate to make a blanket statement that commuting (or moving) to better pay rates or better work rules isn't worth it.

captive apple

Who has the keys to update the pay scale on APC.