Tranquility

Tell me you’re new to the industry without telling me you’re new to the industry….

Noisecanceller

I’m confused. Are you telling me that regionals will not hire 1500hr pilots and only guys with much more time? I’ve heard of people getting multiple offers with only a FaceTime interview.

Excargodog

Getting a CJO today is easy. Getting a class date not so much. Those 1500 hour guys are just sitting there waiting in a holding pattern because most regionals lack the CAs necessary to fly a full schedule. And with the majors hiring away regional CAs with less than 1000 TPIC and regional FOs not yet even upgrade eligible, it is only getting worse.

SoFloFlyer

Anecdotally, a few friends of mine were told to apply, but not expect an interview for a few months. If offered a CJO, not to expect a class date until Q3 at the earliest (most like Q4 or even Q1 of 2024). I suggested that they go 135 until a regional or a major calls. Time will tell, but one thing is certain. This industry can change from one day to the next.

Noisecanceller

So why are they even “hiring”? Doesn’t sound like a pilot shortage if an airline can’t even put people in the planes.

sioux8ships

It’s a captain shortage….

careerch8nger

Sorry I've been flying a bunch and just caught up...I don't doubt it would be a ton and that I definitely need more experience, so I was hoping to hear some success (or failure) stories of people who might have attempted this. I know I'm not the world's best pilot as an MEI and I don't expect it would be a seamless transition.

I do have CJO's from several regionals, but the dates are decently far out. Couple that with bases I don't love, 90 days of training, and little flying on reserve, it will be almost a year until I'm actually flying with some regularity. So even to wait for my ATP and then jump would cost me months.

I'm currently an MEI yes, no airline experience. I do have a lot of experience with intense certification programs from a past in finance, and while that's definitely not a 1:1 (obviously I wasn't flying, but from a quantity of information standpoint), I think I'm pretty successful in "drinking from the firehose" situations.

I'm not saying I think I'm ready for an Airbus, but at the same time if they are willing to hire me sooner, it seems worth investigating. I'm not trying to skip the regionals per se, and I understand most people need the regionals to transition you to jets, then you jump with your ATP to an ULCC (now)...but again the timeline is so far out and I'm already past ATP mins, so just exploring all options at this point.

Noisecanceller

Upgrade the first officers. There was a time when the regionals hired 500hr pilots and had 1.5yr upgrades. I’m not sure why they have FOs they can’t make captains if most on property will have unrestricted ATPs in less than a year.

baseball3792

Again, it’s not that easy. Senior FOs have much better quality of life (and at some regionals, make more) than junior CAs. Also, any FO with enough time to upgrade is highly competitive at a legacy. And lastly, with way too many FOs, most are sitting on reserve never being used, so they never get the 1000 hours they need to become a CA.

The regionals have basically no way to get captains because the second they can upgrade someone, they’re gone to a legacy, and almost no amount of pay can fix that.

Excargodog

The FOs are being hired (including by Spirit) before they are upgrade eligible. And there are a diminishing number of regional “lifer” CAs. Skywest recently instituted forced upgrades of those eligible because way too much of the flying was going to senior FOs long since upgrade eligible and slowing career progression for junior FOs who quit, taking their SIC hours with them as well. Republic now has only four years of payscale for FOs, because if you ain’t upgrading when eligible, they’d really like you to go elsewhere.


The regionals career flow demographics have totally changed since COVID.
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