Behay20

Ok so I have some failed checkrides in my past. All part 61, and Ive been applying the the regionals with not too much luck besides thanks no thanks email. I mean I understand why they want to know about busted checkrides, and I understand why they wont hire people who have some. I am not a bad pilot, I just made mistakes on checkrides, which were all like 750 hrs ago. Is there anything I can do to make myself more marketable (besides just keep instructing) and actually get a interview? Any thoughts ?

rickair7777

How many are we talking about?

1 Checkride: You will probably never work for AA/AE. Most other employers should be willing to consider you.
2 Checkrides: You will get additional scrutiny, and may get grilled hard over this at an interview. Some airlines might not call you in the current market climate.
3 Checkrides: You will probably not hired by an airline in the foreseeable future. You might recover after years of flying experienced gained in part 91/135.
4+ Checkrides: Look into other career fields, or plan on instructing at the FBO for decades to come.

Airlines appear to be a little more sensitive to this issue recently due to the whole colgan thing. They might have to lighten up a little bit in the years to come if the supply of pilots dries up.

Also...you might not be getting called due to not having competitive times. I would guess 1500/200 should be reasonably competitive right now, anything less and you might be losing out to people with more ME time.

Lori Clark

I echo Rick's response here. There may be more to the story, as Rick also suggested, with your competitive times. The complete picture is missing - we can't speculate just one one item of that picture.

detpilot

I had 2 (IFR and Multi Commercial), and it was briefly mentioned at both 135 and 121 interviews. I haven't been turned down at any interview yet. Don't give up, make sure you can talk about what you learned from the experiences (NO BLAMING OTHERS!). Good luck.

Behay20

Ya I have failed 3, (Private, Mulit- Comm, CFI) I have 1000/250 ME.

detpilot

I also don't think the CFI is weighed as heavily as the others. Again, it's all in how you present it- turn each one into lessons learned. You have the potential to turn a negative into a positive.

Lori Clark

You are most likely right at the bottom of the competitive margin with your hours. Do you have a CFII? Just curious. My immediate red-flag goes up wondering if you have checkride-itis or what. I suggest you keep plugging away at the hours (both TT and ME) and perhaps work on your actual instrument time as well.

Behay20

I have my CFII and MEI with close to 100 actual instrument. I would sure figure that the only one that would matter would be the Multi-Comm failure. Why does the Private Pilot failure matter ? How does the 135 market look at these failures, since my 121 chances arn't looking so good becasue of this ?

Lori Clark

They all matter. The only reason they are interested is that they need to know you take responsibility for your actions. It's about the almighty buck, not about you as a person. what I mean by that is, if you can't take responsibility for your own failures then how can I trust you'll take responsibility in MY multi-million dollar aircraft? Make sense?

You will have to discuss each of these "speed bumps." Just present the facts and what you learned from the experience. Don't try to turn it into a positive experience - the fact is that it wasn't. It 'hurts' to talk about short-comings and failures. But you must own them and tell the person what you learned - I bet you'll never make the same mistake again... call it a hunch.

You just need to keep flying and keep applying. Welcome to the game.
Competitiveness goes up and down like a roller coaster - you'll just need to wait for the down swing. Hang on for the ride....

Behay20

You better beleive that I've learned from each of thoes little things I failed from, I appreciate the insight Lori. I think I may just keep applying and see what happens. What the worst they can do....send me another TNT email ? I think my best shot to prove myself will be in the 135 field, what do you think?