Originally Posted by
Byrdman1240
Anyone know if PS is still doing Direct Entry Captains or is everyone starting in the left seat including retired airline types.
Since 2018 all pilots, including Direct Entry Captains, started in the right seat as FOs. The Direct Entry Captains still got paid as Captains and only did 3-4 rotations after FO IOE before going through upgrade training. Due to a high number of Direct Entry Captains either quitting (mostly retired airline pilots) or failing upgrade (mostly pilots who had 1500 hours when hired but never really flew IFR) Plane Sense stopped the Direct Entry Program. What they have now is "Accelerated Captain Pathway Program" which is as follows.
First Officer candidates with over 1200 hours total time can qualify for our Accelerated Captain Pathway Program. These candidates are hired as a PC-12 First Officer and have the opportunity to be selected for the Captain role early. After First Officer training, these pilots can elect to complete a one-day Upgrade Evaluation. Successful completion of the Upgrade Evaluation results in Captain pay and selection into a Captain training process.
This means once FO IOE is completed you can apply for the Accelerated Captain Program. What they have been doing is once a pilot applies they conduct the Upgrade Evalution (which is done in their PC-12 Mission Fit trainer) during the pilot's next rotation. If you pass the evaluation, and most pilots do, you start drawing Captain pay while continuing to fly as FO until the next Captain Upgrade class.