Originally Posted by
rickair7777
My buddies and I have concluded they do that by lottery, nobody is sure why (other than the obvious affirmative action picks). Possibly to smooth out their age demographics to prevent *another* retirement bubble in 20 years, possibly to leverage optimism among entry-level/ junior regional pilots... if one of them gets hired, they all think they'll be next.
For planning purposes, the only *predictable* way to get called is still to have a relatively clean record, a degree, multiple types, 5K+ hours w/ 2K+ TPIC, and usually something else on the resume that makes you interesting... masters, volunteer, check airman, etc, etc
Yeah, but not too much TT. After about 8K they don’t seem to like you.
I know pilots at the legacies who also scratch their heads about it. It seems that once you hit your 40’s as a non military FW pilot your chances drop dramatically. While there are exceptions to the age rule, they are exceptions.
The only common thread I saw in the FOs getting picked up was that they were less than 35 years old but over six years as an FO. Unless they were a targeted demographic. I saw some of those FOs picked up after 3-4 years.