Originally Posted by
ManFlex
You presume you'd get hired at Spirit quickly if your intention is to build 121 time for a legacy carrier. If you need 121 time to advance your career and you need it now, perhaps look for a jet regional with a base where you live?
Timing is everything and for someone with your qualifications, 121 jet SIC is mostly all the same. You could be in class on a CRJ or E Jet within a month. Spirit or JetBlue or Southwest could take much longer to get hired and that defeats the point of using them as a stepping stone.
Thanks for your input. Every bit of constructive input helps with my decision. I've struggled with the thought of going to work for a regional for a while now. I currently feel that I could be happy at Spirit for the indefinite future, if the dream job never called. However, I don't think I could say the same for a local regional. Unless the upgrade times drop down. Which I'm watching.
With that said, I'm only thinking Spirit because I feel that is as high up the "ladder" as I can realistically reach. I understand they hire competent 135 pilots regularly. Some years ago they hired someone from my department (no 121). Also, by the third year I'd be making what I make now.
I didn't think of Spirit as being in the same league as South West and Jet Blue. I know they are all low cost carriers but I thought SW and JB where harder to get on with.
I'm probably clogging up the thread and getting in the way of all the real airline pilots celebrating their victory. Thanks for all the info. If anyone else has some more feel free to PM me.
Sincerely, Southernpilot