Originally Posted by
lolwut
Required by who?
They're definitely not a requirement. People make it to the airlines without them, and even without a CFI at all, frequently.
People make it to the airlines rarely without a CFI, not frequently. The recent regional hiring booms where they took 300 hour pilots were historical anomalies, not business as usual. Without a CFI, you will need to find low-time pilpot employment, which is rare but possible...the problem is there are a lot of other applicants for such jobs.
It's also somewhat hard to get by without the CFI-I because it limits your usefulness to a school and few will hire you without it. But if you freelance or find a niche school you can get all your time without the CFI-I.
The MEI is less of a requirement, but it can save you a ton of money and a couple years if you can land an MEI job vice buying 100-200 hours of twin time.
Originally Posted by
lolwut
So, long story short, no, you don't have to have them... but I recommend them strongly.
Yes.