Originally Posted by
nick1975
After graduation how do I find a job and what will be my starting salary?
Typical career path (assuming you have a degree)...
Flight training: PPL/IR/CPL/ME/CFI/CFII (maybe MEI?): 8-12 months
CFI: Work as an instructor (CFI) in small single engine planes (ASEL) for about two years to reach at least 1475 hours total time. Most that can be single engine but you'll need at least 25 hours multi-engine (ME).
Regional FO: 2-4 years, depending on which regional, then upgrade to CA. A few ULCC majors may call you while still an FO.
Regional CA: 1-4 Years, try to get selected to be a Line Check Airman.
After you have some CA time (probably about 2000 hours) you should start getting calls from various majors, assuming your "whole person" package is good:
- Degree (GPA > 3.0)
- Clean criminal history, no DUIs
- No or few traffic tickets
- No more than one training failure, zero preferred
- No FAA violations, incidents, or accidents
- Good interpersonal skills
- No bad employment history (firings, discipline)
- Ideally some "whole person" items like civic/school honors, volunteer work, significant athletic background, etc.
* Caveat: This is all based on where the industry stands today. The pilot shortage should actually improve your odds over the next 5-10 years, but any major industry hiccups could change everything.