paokgate4

I know it will put you ahead of others.
Not just should put you ahead of others

As long as your regional airline is not the one that everyone "loves" out of Chicago

ovrtake92

I dont know which one you mean but It wasnt out of Chicago so I should be good

Heisenberg

First things first, I'm not kidding myself about my qualifications and "competitive-ness." Please spare me the lashings

1850 TT
580 SIC Turbine (all 121)
810 PIC (none of it Turbine)
Former check airman at a flight school (for what it's worth)
1 internal L-UAL check airman recommendation

What are you opinions on the outlook for applicants like me with no TPIC time?

What could I and others like me do to be more competitive, besides just "keeping at it" and building time? I'm a proactive kind of guy.

EDIT: My dad also worked there for a number of years in a non-flight related department. He has since been layed off. Would that be weighed at all in their recruiting consideration?

ovrtake92

I don't know but you're making me feel better about the competition ; ) as long as you meet the minimums I'm sure you have a shot. That's why they post minimums

Dragnet

OK, you've dodged the part 121 time question. That right there's a bad thing, because Airhoss also chimed in stating that you need a decent amount of 121 time.

As far as military contract flying, that's a very broad area. From 747s hauling troops to flying medium sized aircraft hauling cargo in and out of war zones to flying an RC-12 loaded with sensors. If it's the third, it does little to enhance your resume.

How much of your time is in aircraft with a MTOGW in excess of 12,500 lbs? How about 30,000 lbs?

Get your ATP. Get PIC time.
Once you have enough PIC time at your current carrier, start looking at moving up the food chain - to a carrier with larger aircraft.



To both of you - a lot of companies hire a broad cross section of experience. I don't rule out either of you being hired, but you need to make sure that you're always moving forward, larger aircraft, better qualifications, check airman, etc. Don't stay stagnant for too long.

xjtguy

As well as the pilots that have the combination of mil AND civ experience, pilots that are at an LCC looking to bail that have their PIC time and may have been a Standeval/IP/NATOPS/LCA in a prior life, pilots at ACMI's that have their PIC time that may have been a Standeval/IP/NATOPS/LCA in a prior life, etc etc etc............

The demand is low, for now. The supply is broad and diverse, and it's a metric sh1t ton

Lobaeux

As time goes by though, the military guys become less and less competitive for majors right out of the gate. As the years go on, I think you're going to see te military guys having to do a stint in the regionals first.

xjtguy

Watching the pre 9-11 hiring spree, as well as the most recent 2007-2008, I kinda disagree with that statement.

During the last 2 "hiring booms", most classes averaged roughly a 50-50 breakdown between mil and civ. Again, that's just the average.

Airlines have ALWAYS valued military pilots, and they ALWAYS will. That will never change. They will ALWAYS hire military pilots direct from the military. Military will ALWAYS be competitive. The only issues affecting military pilots (that don't have a currency issue) early on will be the ones discussed before in various threads;

How they compare to their peer group. IOW, how does pure mil pilot A compare to pure mil pilot B. Just like pure civ pilots can be compared/ranked/racked/stacked within their peer group.

So I think it will be converse to the bold part. At first, a mil pilot that doesn't have IP/Standeval/NATOPS/Safety experience may have to find something to compete with the recently/about to separate mil pilot that does.

As time goes on, and the pool of mil pilots with all those quals start to thin out, it won't matter. Just like for a pure Civ RJ CA. As it stands now, for the most part, has to be an LCA/intern/son-daugher/highly connected. As time goes on, those with that resume experience will thin out and just the borderline/average/run of the mill RJ CA with 2-3-4K TPIC would get considered.

JetBlast77

FYI, I was told last week straight from the horses mouth that they have enough apps from interns and CP recommendations to take them well into 2014. Apparently there are quite a few "highly connected" people.

Lobaeux

xjtguy, you make great points, but only for guys leaving the military in the very near future.
Guys in my old squadron are getting a whopping 5-7 hours of flight time a month!
Guys that are in UPT or those who have recently graduated will be looking at ending their 10-year commitment and not having ATP mins. The military (okay, I'm speaking from my experience, not sure if all military units are doing this) is pushing fuel conservation and simulator training. What does this mean? Nearly all my initial training, minus assault landings was done in the simulator. Checkrides and proficiency sorties are now done in the simulator. Unless the FAA starts crediting simulator time equal to flight time, military pilots will have a huge chunk of their experience coming from the sim box.
And this doesn't even count the guys who are going to be spending a tour or two in a RPV squadron.
Military pilots will still have a lot of real-world leadership flight experience and training that is second to none, but actual flight hours will be tough to come by.