That explains why the face-to-face meet with a line-pilot at a recent job fair stated twice: 'you have plenty of time', maybe meaning: 'You have TOO much time'... Surmising now that- 15,000+hrs & 50-something age won't get me an interview anytime in the near future. :(

I think this is the case. I have the exact same situation going on, plenty of contacts, multiple jet type ratings, international experience. But 47 years old and 14000 is to "much".

I have almost 8000 with multiple big jet types, varied exp. and >45 yrs. and got hired with class date shortly. I just kept updating and networking. Remember, well in my opinion anyway, it seems that they are looking for a varied crossection of folks including experience and ages. (Oh, I have a Masters Degree as well...) One question that I did have to address in F2F was how I would handle going from a 121 Capt to now being an FO for unknown years. I guess I answered it correctly. It's about the long term stabilization of my family and career not my ego. The guys interviewing seemed to have compatible backgrounds and really tried to make you feel comfortable. It seems like they've been hiring gangbusters but in reality there have only been about 300+ who have been through F2F. Some of those went to competitors and some are in pool. Don't give up!

Fly safe folks!

I think you guys are reading too much into it. We had 2 guys in their 50's with over 20,000 hours in our interview group in July. One got hired and is currently waiting for a class date the other didn't but I'm 90% sure it wasn't because of his age or time (I talked to him at length). Think about it, why wouldn't they want highly experienced pilots at a low payscale? I've learned that that the initial assesment on the app seems to be the key to an interview. You guys offer a huge benefit with a low price tag.

Hopefully that below industry standard 1st yr pay of 40/hr will go to 68/hr in 2015. That's one of the things APA is pushing.

First 6.5 months of hiring the avg 'off the street' age was 37 yrs old. Guys over 40 were 5x as likely to get hired as guys under 30.

Guys 50 (+/-) are getting hired.

There is no conspiracy.

Excellent! Thanks. I do not have an advanced degree. The F2F was positive and she really liked my enthusiasm. We discussed the CA-to-FO, but not from a direct question.

Supposedly this has been agreed to, though I never saw it in official writing, and with the new extension in contract negotiations, it could be revisited again. Fingers crossed in any case.

Also, I had 9000 hours when I was hired. That was on the US side of things, but the same people are still involved, so having "too much" time probably isn't disqualifying.

I am not sure the actual answer, however I only checked the box for the aircraft that I am current in. I am assuming that's what they want, since in that section we are already putting that we have PIC/SIC which would require a type rating for those aircraft that require it.

If someone has a better answer to this I would like to be sure though.

IMO flying experience is only part of the equation. Right now they are really honing in on people with broad experience, like check airmen, military, chief pilots, etc. For sure, line PICs are being hired, but they can still be picky at this point. Having 12,000 hours of 121 experience checks off a box, but if that's all you've done is line flying, you're in a large stack of others that look just like you. To HR, a 5,000 hour 121 captain looks very similar to a 12,000 hour 121 captain.

Keep updating and be patient! With the retirements just starting to tick upwards, I'm sure most of you will have your chance.