Originally Posted by
JonnyKnoxville
Could you imagine time building on the 737? In five years you could have 1,000 more hours than you do today.
If they staff it like they're staffing it on your 767 then you'll do tons of Captain on Captain pairings where as the Junior Captain you'll still be in the right seat.... Logging SIC.
If this doesn't spell it out well enough... On the 767 at Atlas they can't get enough bodies to work there. So... Instead of staffing the 767 FO position with FOs they hire FOs into the 747 where they're willing to work. Then when they're senior enough to hold a 767 upgrade they go to the left seat where (unlike other airlines) 60-65% of the pilots are Captains. This results on a TON of Captain on Captain pairings. Sounds like a great deal to get a 767 upgrade after only 3 years... Correct? Not so fast my friend.
The Senior Captain gets the option of taking the leg in the Left seat. So all of those times that you fly Captain on Captain you'll be in the right seat at the beginning unless the senior Captain is willing to let you take it. So if you fly 300 hours a year (like a 767 Captain told me last week) you'll log 200 hours of PIC... After 3 or 4 years at Atlas...
Bottom line... If your plan is to upgrade at Atlas or Southern and grind out 1000 hours PIC then plan on 8 years to do so if you're logging those hours legally. Since the same managers are attempting to staff an airline they also manage that's having the same problem you can do the math. I'm not saying it's a bad idea if this is your plan but there are probably better options.