charileb

Hello,

I'm a 50-year-young low-time (1800 hrs) retired military pilot wanting to fly for a living - preferably a small/medium sized jet for a good company near Sacramento, CA. (Hey, wouldn't we all like to work for a "good" company! ;-)

Spent most of my military time jumping out of airplanes for the U.S. Army's "Golden Knights," otherwise I would have more flight experience! (At least I was in the air a lot.)

I would pay for a type rating at Flight Safety, if appropriate, and would gladly accept the low pay a new FO probably gets. (I just want to fly for my "job," you know how it is, right?)

Q1: How should I go about this - find a company willing to hire me first, BEFORE getting the type rating, or vice versa?

Q2: Post on various forums such as this one? If so, which forums?

Q3 - etc.

Thanks ahead of time to any of you willing to take time out of your busy day to chime in on this,

Charlie B.

rickair7777

Welcome. Are you an operator, or did you just get to jump because you flew the plane?

If you have military fixed-wing time, you would be eligible for SWA and other major airlines.

Q1: Network, network, network. Essentially all corporate hiring is done via the jungle drums. If you feel the need to buy a type, a cessna citation type would probably be the most commonly useful one you could get (but citations pay less too).

Q2: Probably best to network in person, although you could check out some military forums...somebody might hook up you up with some info/leads. Check out your local GA airports. The bay area has a high concentration of corporate/private aircraft...if you're willing to drive to the bay you might have better options.

USMCFLYR

Charlieb -

Welcome to the civilian world and congratulations on your retirement.
As a feelow recent retiree, let me advise you about a feeling in the civilian world of aviation. In future posts - never again use the following phrases:
I know it is hard to understand right now, but you basically broke three No-Nos in one sentence.

For those that will probably jump on charlieb here - try to realize that coming from the military world it is quite the change in thinking along these lines that are foreign. Just as I was educated about the civilian world, if you take some time to educate Charlieb - he will soon learn the ins and outs too.

USMCFLYR

Aloha

I'm sure you have considered this, but always check to see if your GI bill, or Post 9-11 plan will pay for any training. You need to save your cash. Also, double check the requirements for SWA. 1800 of any time won't make it. From what I remember, it needs to be turbine time with a high percentage of that as pilot in command. Last, a man with your background - especially in one as celebrated as the Golden Knights - have you thought about the Ca. Dept of forestry? You spoke of Sacramento right? From what I understand, they offer a decent salary, it's a seasonal job, and your experience with air drops would make you a prized applicant there. I have heard of some former Army guys running in those crowds.
Hope it helps,
Aloha

blastoff

One of the only local places that seems to be hiring all the time is Atkin Air in Lincoln (LHM). XO Jet has a few pilots based in Sacramento and a maintenance base at MCC. Once in a long while a job may open for the Intel Employee Shuttle (Embraer 135) at MHR.

Lori Clark

Welcome Charlie.
I admire your eagerness.

Civilian flying is so, so, so competitive and squarely based on two things. 1. Number of hours and 2. recent flying experience. Who you have worked for is also a player, but usually not as important as the previous two points. That said, 1800 hours (even if you add the conversion factor) is not enough for a major airline (I lump LCC and Legacy carriers in that). So, in the commercial world, you would be competitive for a regional. If you're looking for corporate there tends to be more wiggle room with hours, but depends heavily on who you know. [Don't get me wrong here - corporate is just as competitive and sometimes even more competitive if you don't have a solid connection.]

If you are looking for a job in the Sacramento area only it will severely limit your options. A good starting point, for sure, so I suggest contacting every company in the area who has a flight department. Beyond that, you may need to resign yourself to commuting.

Aloha has some great advice about checking into your GI bill - it may just pay for a type rating. (Also check with your state about re-education - I forget off the top of my head what the program is called - maybe someone else here can chime in)
Please, please, please be absolutely sure about a type before you get it though. In most cases a type rating does nothing for you unless you have time in that airframe. (But hey, if you can get it free...why not?)

Another forum I recommend is Army Pilot to Airline Pilot - Although the name implies Army only - it is open to all military branches and there are a lot of folks who aren't Army.

Keep us posted as to your progress, will you?
Good luck!
Lori

Jetalc

Right on the money, as usual, Lori.

Hacker15e

Seems overboard to simply say that's "not enough". I have numerous ex-squadronmates who were hired at Majors with barely the 1500 hour ATP minimum.

Charlie never said what kind of airplanes he got his 1800 hours in. A fighter dude with 1800 hours can have every single hour of it be turbine/multi/PIC, which is above the mins of many majors and, as I've said, good enough to get hired at many of them, too. A fighter guy with 1800 probably also has a good chunk of that as Instructor, and another piece probably as an evaluator.

In an environment like today where nobody is hiring...anyone...at all...then there is NO experience level that is enough, even double or triple that.

Lori Clark

This may be true - it completely depends on the hiring environment at the time these folks were hired. If your friends were hired in the '99-'00 time frame, it was a literal feeding frenzy and not nearly as competitive. You have to look at the current hiring market. Just being honest here - if an HR person (or worse, a clerk with no real knowledge) is screening resumes/applications they will look to see if the person meets the minimum requirements first. Total time is the biggest part of those requirements.

Yes, some airlines will take into consideration what type of flying the person has done - and if it is all turbine time and turbine PIC even, they will regard him as more competitive. Meaning, if they are savvy they will put him in a category with others who have 1500 hours of turbine time. But that is only within the parameter of already being considered competitive overall. That said, right now there are thousands of pilots on the street and many who have double and triple that amount of turbine time.

Sad, but true. This is where published mins don't mean anything - it's all about competitiveness.

Please don't misunderstand me, I am all for, and do recommend, applying everywhere. You just never know who will pick up the phone. But I also want to be realistic - so no, I don't think my statements are overboard, just honest.

MeLu

Your help to Charlie is really admirable one and to others as well.