Originally Posted by
HazyIPA
Passing the word along from the gold wing-only forum.
As many here probably know, one way low-time Navy/Marine/Coast Guard pilots will rack and stack their hours to meet the requirements of FAR 61.160 (Restricted ATP) is by counting First Pilot Time (Pilot Flying) in the T-34 or T-6 as sole manipulator PIC after they complete their safe-for-solo checkride and receive the "Qualified PIC in T-34C/T-6B" logbook entry. Per correspondence with the recruiters and hiring staff at SkyWest, this has been good enough since it meets the intent of FAR 61.51 (rated in category and class).
Well, at least a couple prior rotary-wing Naval Aviators in the last few months have applied to, interviewed with, and received CJOs from SkyWest, only for the APD during LOE to shift the goalposts and say those sole manipulator PIC hours don't count. Said APDs are claiming the FAA has changed the rules, which is outright BS. It is worth emphasizing there are probably hundreds of prior Naval Aviators flying the line at SkyWest whose hours were counted in such a fashion. At least one was told during LOE he had a week to go rent GA airplanes and fly the rest of those 250 airplane PIC hours or essentially be washed out on a technicality. Another was told their time built on the side in a C182RG was illegal since their logbook lacked complex or high performance endorsements (even though the flying club to which they belonged counted their T-34C PIC checkout as such).
It is glaringly obvious to anyone following the industry and the current hiring environment this is a calculated game plan to wash out as many prior military pilots as possible since so many did a hit-and-run with regionals (using them for an ATP and then bouncing to a major as soon as they hit 1,500TT) during the mad-house hiring environment of 2021-2022. Or at the very least, force these pilots to reapply and get them to sign the training contract.
Something to be aware of. If you're a prior military pilot applying to SkyWest, be prepared to list only actual solo and aircraft commander hours towards any listed PIC requirements. If you're a helicopter pilot and can't swing a tour as a T-6 or T-44 Instructor Pilot for your shore duty, highly recommend joining the nearest flying club and getting your 250 PIC/100 XC PIC/25 night PIC in a Cessna 172 or something similar.
This is again may be a good situation for someone to contact the POI of the certificate. The APD is probably managed by an APOI, but the POI is managing the POI. There have been some regional airlines recently not counting legitmate 135 SIC time, thinking that the only way is with a PDP program, when there are specific regulatory rules that require an SIC and allow the time to be logged, including IFR with passengers and 135.267(b)(2), or when the PIC's type rating says "SIC required", to name a few.
I see an interesting caveat in the regulations that I'm not sure has been addressed. According to 61.51, you have to be a civil pilot of some type to log time, as in commercial, private, student or ATP, etc. If one did not hold a civil pilot certificate when the time was logged, I'm not sure how those hours would be eligible for credit under the regulation. The FAA can do military-competency certification of military pilots up to commercial and flight instructor, where they don't have to meet any specific time requirements except the 10 hours of "pilot time", but for the ATP, to count PIC time, it would have to be logged under 61.51, no? If there was any further intent to the rule, it would be found in the NPRM/FR rulemaking information for 61.51 and without anything specific there, the rule would be taken at face value. In general, if this rule meant to include military time, it would say so.
Interested to see where this goes.