Originally Posted by TexasLonghorn

Current DRL upgrade is running at about 18 months, it's never gotten down to a 12 month upgrade into DRL. Lowest was 14 months, but upgrades have slowed slightly on DRL. DRL is strictly for PICs in the Challenger and Praetor fleets, SICs are not part of the DRL program, regardless of fleet.

ILC is a crap shoot. Everyone who is trying to get into the program is at a baseline minimum a good pilot and a hard worker with strong customer service skills. Those attributes alone will not make you a competitive candidate. Your ability to network with current ILC pilots, market yourself to the company, and have a strong resume with some sort of distinguishing feature (e.g. former LCA, prior management experience, prior Gulfstream time, etc.) are all going to take you down a more successful path. Your friend will be competing against dozens if not hundreds of other candidates for a dwindling pool of open positions. 2022 and 2023 were large growth years for both Gulfstream fleets, and until we start to see the G500 and/or G700 on property, I think the major hiring boon for ILC has already passed. It takes some pilots 1 interview to successfully find a team, but usually you'll have to interview mulitple times with multiple commanders before you find that right fit. I went through well over half a dozen interviews before I made it into the program.

Best of luck to your friend it's a good time to be here, and hopefully that sentiment is still true in another 12-24 months.