Originally Posted by
Shaun
I have noticed that the longer a CFI instructs, the more picky he is about what airlines they would apply to. I still fairly new to instructing, but I am wondering if anyone has any input on instructing for another year and building hours vs. trying to get an airline job sooner than later. I am not talking about GoJets or Mesa, but perhaps Big Sky or another airline that will hire at 500-600 hours TT (I currently only have 40 Multi, bummer) that would be okay to work at for a few years or so. It seems like flying a turboprop would be better time spent than instructing out of a 152, and that could get the PIC turbine faster as well. I guess that I am not seeing why someone would opt to instruct for a long time instead of going to a regional. Perhaps to get on to a "better" airline like ExpressJet or SkyWest instead of BigSky?
If you've ruled out go-jets and mesa you're on the right track. The pain and hassle of ANY 121 training program is significant. I probably wouldn't do a big sky unless they have a base in your hometime. Wait until you can get into a decent regional with geography that is good for you.
A small turbo-prop only regional might be useful for quick PIC, but that PIC will only be useful if you have a good connection at a major that is hiring (or soon will be). SWA airlines will interview just about anyone with 1800-2000 121 PIC, but they interview many and hire few. If you go through all that and get burned out as a Big Sky captain in 3 years you'll end up applying to those same big regionals that you could have done as a 1200 hour CFI...