Originally Posted by
AerChungus
Happy Thanksgiving folks,
I just applied to the EMB-135 FO slot. I'm currently in the 700s TT and reasonably happily employed at an ASEL piston operator. I would be taking an $11k/year pay cut to leave my job for Contour, but the problem with my work is we barely fly at all; something like 20-30 hours per month. I'm taking most of my extra pay to spend it on split time in Cessna 152s just to get 60-70 hours per month of time built. My goal is airlines before Christmas of '22, hopefully 9E. I love the idea of turbine time and the idea of signing a 12 month contract doesn't really phase me so long as I am able to get the remaining ~750 hours before that contract ends.
Do you think Contour would be able to get that amount of time built or am I better off staying put where I am?
I am currently an FO here. Contour is a great place to be for your entire regional career. There’s honestly no need to even go to a regional. We upgrade to captain here around 1,500-2,000 hours, and start building PIC jet time then. Lots of people go from Contour straight to a major. If you go from Contour to a regional, it’s more of a lateral move. You have to do another type rating, your seniority you had already built at Contour is gone, and while you have 800 hours in a jet, it doesn’t matter because you are back to square one. So, yes, come to Contour, but stay until you want to move to a major.