With the way things have been going in the aviation industry there appears to be a new conundrum that most of us have never experienced before. Just a short few years ago the plan of success and career progression was a simple plan; flight instruct, go regional, go mainline. Obviously there are always exceptions and each individual had their own tailored plan but in general these were the typical thoughts.

Now days things are starting to change. With the majors as well as fractionals making a hiring push other sectors are starting to see the need for pilots as well. Their mins are starting to drop at a more rapid rate than the majors and they pay is starting to increase. This brings new opportunities that weren't normally considered by most.

A captain and I were flying today. We had a few 2+hr trips so we were able to get in-depth about this topic. We decided to pick a few ultimate goals and work backwards. We decided to talk about UPS.

What's the path of least resistance? Lets pretend we have two pilots with 2000hrs TT. There's pilot "A" who works at a regional with a 2yr upgrade. In roughly 3.5 years, if all goes well, he/she could expect to have roughly 1000hrs pic.

Pilot "B" decides to take another route. Pilot B gets on with an ACMI company. Figure 4yr upgrade instead of 2yr. In 5yrs pilot B could expect to have roughly 1000hrs PIC in a larger aircraft ranging from 727/757/DC-10/MD-11/747 etc.

5yrs later we now have pilot A who flew a regional jet and has, just for numbers sake, 6500hrs TT and 2500ish PIC jet. (900hrs/yr [75hrs*12])

5yrs later we have pilot B who flew internationally in larger jets with 5900hrs TT(780hrs/yr [65hrs*12]), 780hrs PIC jet.

Who is more marketable? The pilot with the PIC time or the pilot with the overseas experience?

Several have been sticking with the "Stay where you are and get the PIC experience" while others have said "Get the heavy and international experience". Does PIC really rule the house at all cost?

Some things to consider are the amount of time required for the flight hrs. Does someone really need the 1000hrs PIC to move on? We've seen Continental hiring FO's from regionals that meet all requirements. Do you take the regional route for the quicker upgrade that might benefit you more now, getting the pic quicker and making you a candidate faster, or take the slightly longer road that takes longer to get all the hour requirements but when you do finally meet them you'll have international and heavy experience?

The way these ACMI carriers are now hiring there are many possibilities out there and it's becoming more difficult to choose.