Originally Posted by
Lindenberg
If you were 18 years old again, a freshman in college with 160 hours in your log book, an instrument rating and the desire to fly for the majors, what path/steps would you take to become a major airline pilot? Below is a rough draft of my plan.
Commercial at age 18 with 250+ hours
Multi and CFI at 19 with 300 hours
Start instructing at 20 with 300+ hours
Finish college at 22
Move to Regionals at 23 with 1500 hours
Apply with Majors at __ with _____ hours
First of all I want to make sure my plan is a realistic one. I also want to learn from others having experience going from student pilot to a major airline pilot and figure out what makes the most sense for today.
I'm all ears. Thanks for your advice.
From what I have read on the hiring section of this board it seems a lot of pilots are having problems getting from 300hrs to 1500hrs. The CFI path is drying up with fewer students being able to afford to fly, and lack of return on investment if you can pay for all that flight training. Things like flying checks, night freight, skydivers, pipeline patrol, etc are also becoming more and more scarce.
The military might be your best route. Major airlines absolutely love to hire ex-Mil pilots (and rightfully so). The contacts you will make in the Military will far surpass anything you could do in the civilian world to "get competitive" for a major. Also look into flying for the Air National Guard if you arent interested in a full time commitment.