After spending the better part of my day talking with HR departments and Chief pilots all over the country in everything from Survey/Photography to 135/91 charter outfits and some flight schools (literally about 40+ calls later)... I can say it is definitely hard times for a low-timer like myself. No one will even look at you for anything with less than 500TT (even a lot of CFI jobs... who also want at least a II and prefer a MEI) and most want 800 to 1000TT (for survey).

A lot of companies have downsized or are just not hiring new pilots because they have guys coming back to work for them who just got furloughed from airlines. A lot of flight schools aren't promising anything more than 40 flight hours per month. And just about everywhere has over 250+ resumes sitting in the stack on the desk. I'm willing to move anywhere... literally anywhere for a job to build time faster than the 20 hours a month I'm getting now. But they just don't seem to exist at the moment. I'm a bit discouraged to say the least. I'm going to keep plugging along and doing what I'm doing (what choice do I really have at this point?) but I think a lot has changed since you guys have been in these shoes (less than 500TT). Jobs simply aren't out there and even the ones that are hiring, like I said, have a stack of 250 resumes sitting on the Chief pilot's desk.

How are they going to fill seats at the regional level when it seems more difficult than ever to build time (without paying for it... which I don't think anyone should do after a certain point as a professional pilot)? I had one guy tell me I had a better chance of finding a job landscaping than in aviation right now and who's to say he's wrong? It gave me a chuckle when he said it, but after the conversation I thought about it for a minute... and the guy is right. Thats the sad state this industry is in today and its downright disheartening.

It sucks to know my friends got hired at 500TT with a regional just a year ago and now I'm stuck as a low-time pilot in an industry where the cards are getting more and more stacked against me every day (or so it would appear). I'm not saying that most of you didn't go through your own personal hardships to get where you are. And I'm not saying there are worse things out there. All I'm saying is it sucks for guys like me right now and it isn't the same as it was even just a year ago. For the record I support HR 5900 staying at 1500 hours. I think ultimately it will make the airline industry just a little bit better... but it does suck for us, the low-timers struggling to eek out a living.