67Creek

I'm a helicopter pilot considering switching to the airlines. (I am a veteran, but was never a military pilot.) I hold private/instrument A-SEL, and have a few hundred airplane hours. As far as I can tell, I meet all of the requirements for unrestricted A-MEL ATP, except

1. I don't hold commercial A-MEL
2. I only have about 12 hours airplane multi-engine
3. I haven't been through a CTP or any other airline/ATP related training

If I decide to go all-in on the airlines, I believe I can have my commercial multi-engine by November along with a total of 25-35 multi-engine hours. It sounds like that's enough to get picked up by a regional. (Correct me if I'm wrong.)


I'm having an incredibly difficult time trying to decide whether or not to stay on my current career path (I'm about 3 years into a helicopter career) or go fly jets. I don't expect anyone to make the decision for me, but I'm hoping to get some info/opinions to inform my decision-making.


I love flying helicopters, I really do, but there are a few reasons I'm considering switching:

• Pay seems to top out at ~$150k, but many will never reach that if they chose stability and quality of life over earnings (some pilots fly a whole career without breaking into six digits).
• The helicopter industry is nowhere near as stable as the airlines
• Many helicopter jobs don't provide benefits. The ones that do pale in comparison to what the airlines offer.
• Even the experienced guys and top earners are often away from home for weeks or months on end (such as living in a fire camp all summer long).

As much as I love helicopters, even flying helicopters turns into a job when you're flying for someone else.


So, a few questions:

• I know there are many variables, but what's a realistic estimate for the number of years it will take to get from starting new-hire class to earning $80k? And $150k?
• I hear all these stories about guys making $300k by the time they retire. Is that really the case, or are those anomalies?
• I know that you'll always have to spend time away from home, but after the first couple of years, how is the quality of life?
• Any thoughts from rotor guys that made the transition?

Frogamazog

I can't answer your questions about the income and QOL necessarily, but I have just made the exact same transition recently and can answer some of your technical questions about that.

When you say you meet the requirements, be sure to interpret the FAR correctly in that you will need 250 hours FIXED WING PIC, 75 hrs FIXED WING PIC X-country, and 25 hrs FIXED WING PIC night. All the other required times you can use your helo time for. I was a little unsure of this myself for a while.

If you have the required hours for the full ATM ATP, any regional will grant you an interview in this current environment. Most of them have an ATP-CTP program which they will put you through so you probably want to hold off on paying for it yourself. Just understand what you are signing away when you accept it (for most its guaranteed commitment of a year or two). If you are still short on the fixed wing hours, you can apply for one the the American WO regionals (PSA, Piedmont, Envoy) Rotary Transition Programs (Trans State might have one to). This will let you use your GI bill to get your multi-engine commercial and the airline will pay for any remaining time you might need to build to meet the ATP minimums.

If you have questions about the process and why I made the switch (13 year helicopter pilot myself) you can go ahead and PM me.

Sliceback

https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/14/61.159

ATP requirements.

rickair7777

If you get into the airlines in the near future, you will probably enjoy unprecedented seniority progression (due to mandatory retirements). Even a bad economic downtown would probably not result in many furloughs.

$300K is easy for many legacy CA's. I've heard of $500K+ for people really working the system. These days there are typically significant soft pays above the published hourly rate (rigs, bonuses, 401k, B-Fund, etc).

$80K is junior regional CA pay, so within 2-4 years of starting at most regionals (there are a few stagnant exceptions with long upgrades).

$150K would be a very senior regional CA (15-20 years, or line instructor), or a 2-5 year legacy airline FO.

67Creek

Thanks, yea I'm aware of the requirements. I have a few hundred hours of fixed-wing time, and just short of a commercial single-engine checkride.

67Creek

Thanks for the reply!

Big Perm

You don't have to use GI bill with the rotary wing Envoy option any more. They pay for your training in San Diego or san marcos tx and I believe they put you up in a hotel. They just don't pay you while your getting all this free training. Then they will send you to ctp atp for a week in Miami where they cover hotel, training but don't pay you yet. Then you start with Envoy. Ive flown RW and FW for 17 years and am committing to FW.
PM if you have questions and good luck.

FlightLife

67Creek, I'm almost in the same boat as you.

I received my helicopter ATP late last year and now have a personal goal to get my airplane multi-engine ATP. I've got just over 50 hours multi time and an MEI. My plan is to fly freight for a few years, and then go back to a helicopter career, or maybe I'll stay on the fixed-wing side if I end up liking it. I just really like the type of work I'm in now (helicopter wild fire support). If I could find a gig later on where I could fly both categories on fire, that'd be great!

Good luck with whatever you choose.