Originally Posted by
Nowo11
Currently a CRJ Captain at a Canadian regional airline. About 3500TT including 2000 PIC on Dash 8-100/300/400. I’m working on transferring my licenses but wondering how to leap towards the majors in the US.
What should I be aiming for? Apply straight to the majors? More Jet PIC? A US regional? LCC? App prep companies?
You'll pretty much need jet time, certainly for the top-tier, might be able to get called by a ULCC without it. In the old days 1,000 TPIC in a metro or B-1900 was enough, but today they have so many applicants with RJ time they tend to prefer that, just because of training completion statistics.
You might be able to get called with a couple thousand RJ SIC, but for the top-tier I'd probably plan on needing to upgrade at a regional (which will come quickly at most companies).
As TiredSoul mentioned there are other paths, cargo/ACMI which might be more appealing and would pay better. It would take longer to get PIC but some heavy-international experience might help make you attractive to some majors (definitely FDX/UPS).
Regionals is usually the fastest. You might be able to get away with a ULCC since you already have TPIC, but if it turns out you need jet PIC it will take longer than at a regional.