Thread: Career Advice
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Old 12-05-2024 | 09:38 AM
  #3  
JohnBurke
Disinterested Third Party
 
Joined: Jun 2012
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You don't need to say, of course, but it sounds like you may be somewhere that flies three and four-engine airplanes internationally? If so, the biggest problem isn't so much longevity of the company, but maintenance. If you're somewhere else, disregard that.

You're getting close to upgrade and you don't have a thousand hours of pilot in command time in any aircraft? About three years ago you posted that you'd just hit 1,500 hours total time, or ATP minimums. Many of the ACMI carriers operate more like big Part 135 operations, than airlines, in that there are frequent schedule changes, no two days are the same, and you're given the keys to the airplane and told to go fly to deep, dark Africa in a thunderstorm with rebels on the runway and thirty MEL items, on a moonless night, with a frist officer who's still trying to figure out how to buckle his seatbelt. Not a lot of hand-holding, and not necessarly the place to build your initial pilot in command experience, if you have no command experience to fall back on, if you get my drift.

That said, bird in the hand, vs. the bush-dwellers: if you're doing well financially, happy where you are, and upgrade is forthcoming, and you're ready (ready is not the same as holding a seniority number), it may be worth your while getting the upgrade and a year or two under your belt.

Hiring will resume across the board soon enough, and if you have your resume in, you'll get calls. You can upgrade, and keep your applications out. It's always a good idea, when you have a good job, to keep looking; far better when the music stops and everyone is scrambling to find a seat, if you've already got feelers out for the seat.
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