Originally Posted by turbomax97
I'm 95% sure I'm going to suck up the loan and go through ATP's flight school and learn to fly.
Now the scene is looking grim for a regional pilot so my question to you guys is this.... how do you know when you're resume is competitive for working at one of the major's?
I've got a 4 year bachelor's, from what I've researched, thats a plus.
I suppose I'm trying to construct a realistic plan here... as in...
- Start flight school in August - be done by December and try to work as a CFI to get multi engine hrs.
- After a few months of CFI'ing.... land a job at one of the regionals.
so then what?.... work for how long at the regionals to attain how many hours?....
Plan on making the regionals a career first of all if corporate flying doesn't interest you. Those days of getting the quick 1k hours at the regionals and jumping to the majors are gone, at least for the next few years.
Realistically don't plan on becoming a captain at the regional untill around 5 years with the company. Plus once you become captain 1000pic is not enough anymore meaning you're going to have to be captain for 2-5 years before looking for a job at the majors. So expect to be at a regional for at least 6-7 years. The key is finding a regional that offers a balance of quality of life and upgrade times. If you don't care about quality of life and want to move on and get the fast upgrade to captain choose an airline like MESA where you can be captian in a few weeks
. If you are looking for better pay and work rules choose an airline like Skywest although you will be on reserve more and upgrade will be slow.
Now life will be much easier if you go corporate/fractional flying since they don't require the PIC time, and you will make more money, but that's a whole different kind of flying and it's not for everyone.