Originally Posted by
cessnamann
I think united had direct hire programs with some of the aviation universities during the 90's.
Not really. They did have internship programs, back then it was with a very limited amount of schools and extremely competitive. If you met the published mins, you could apply/interview because you interned. But there were OTHER pools of people that could do the same, some (not all) that put a bit of a black mark on UAL's hiring practices for years. Examples would be inter company transfer, sons and daughters, OBAP, WIA, 99's, ect.
Originally Posted by
wizepilot
I applied to United back in 1977. At that time they only required 300 hours TT. I had more than that, but back then it was my vision (glasses) that kept me out. They sent me back a form letter with all the requirements, and that one was circled with a big red highlighter basically saying "Sorry buddy!"
Edited content, misread the year.
Originally Posted by
BIGRIG
Wow that is amazing. To think you could work at a major with that much time. I think thats how much time my grandpa had when he was hired at Capitol Airlines back in the late 50's. 300 hr wonders in a 4 engine piston aircraft with no autopilot....airlines must have been super unsafe back then...(sarcasm)
People getting hired at 300tt at UAL in 1977, MAYBE. The mins had later changed to 350 FW PIC, but their app system made you take out PIC that you can log, but they don't count, like some dual recieved, etc. By the time you add up all their time, then subtract out what UAL wanted, the total was probably closer to 400-500 at the bare minimum. Not like it matters, in the civilian world and excluding a bunch of factors, it's not really like the 300 hr pilot can't fly his way of a paper bag and the 4-500 hr pilot is a elite breed of super pilot with Yeager/Hoover/Haynes/Sullenberger infused DNA.