First, thanks to both of you for your responses.
Originally Posted by
REVERTEDRUBBER
400 TT to me seems way to low to be safe in 121 operation. Maybe getting a year of 135 time away from beating the pattern with students would be best? Turbine time probably better than more instructing too. Perhaps a company that has light twins that you can also fly. Check the airline profiles in 135, frieght. Merry Christmas!
I'm definitely not off to 121 right now. My question was meant for a year or two down the road
Originally Posted by
DirectTo
Do both. You'll need 1200TT (and the rest of 135 IFR PIC mins) to fly a Caravan for a freight company. You'll need 1500TT (and the rest of the ATP mins) to be a regional FO.
CFI until you hit 135 IFR mins, then apply for your Caravan job of choice (which will pretty much be Martinaire or Planemasters, since all the FedEx carriers require 2000TT). Hammer out a year of 135 freight in the Turbine Suburban, get your ATP mins, then blast out apps to every airline you're interested in.
The 135 time will make you stand out a bit from the guy who just CFI'd until ATP mins. Flying freight is hard work, so a year will give you a nice taste of it and the Caravan before you move on.
Make sure to have the multi time before you head off to fly the 'van! Don't get stuck in it or looking for a crappy gig in a multi just to get time.
I've got a few friends who've flown the Caravan and still have contacts if you'd like me to put you in touch with any of them when you get closer to 135 mins,
I actually did my flight training at one of the universities that has received the 1000 hour exemption for the R-ATP, so I would actually be eligible to apply for a 121 FO position before reaching 135 IFR mins. In fact, I actually have an interview coming up with AE for their CFI pipeline program, but even if they hired me, I wouldn't be able to go fly for them until I reached 1000 hours.
My decision would be (if hired by AE), to CFI to 1000 hours then potentially spend years as a regional FO, or CFI to 1200 hours and fly the Caravan (most likely with Martinaire, as you mentioned) building TPIC and possibly being able to move over to one of the FedEx operators.
If I were to go the Martinaire route until i build enough hours for the FedEx operators, do the FedEx feeders provide for a respectable QOL? I don't see many of those companies on the APC profiles.
Thank you again.