Where to start???
 

I've always planned on going to the regionals, but have started to have second thoughts lately. My goal is to fly for a major, but would rather go to a corporate operate, then major, rather than a regional. Is this possible? What is a good route I should take?

1400TT
100 Multi
75 Instrument
100 Night
500 Tailwheel

CFI/CFII/MEI Comm. ASEL ASES AMEL

I also have my bachelors degree, zero debt and no commitments and I'm in my early 20's.

Would appreciate any advice.

You may have guessed this already, but the airlines couldn't care less about conventional gear experience.

Yes, I've already guessed. I'm ready to make the jump into some turbine equipment, not sure where to start.

Go to a regional ASAP. They hire with less than 1500 hrs so you could start in April.

As a corporate pilot, you'll be at a noticeable disadvantage in building experience relevant to the majors (it's not 121, and there's usually less of it). You'll also be less competitive than a similarly-experienced regional CA, since he's a known quantity in the 121 context.

Check out the corporate and fractional forums to see what's going on there right now.

All that said, you'll get there eventually if you avoid fly-by-night corporate operations which will get you violated and/or poison your reference well when you pizz them off by quitting for a better job.

I would apply then take the best offer at a ‘regional’ you can get. Start the experience, and rack up quality flight time. Once you get settled, work on notables that would help with a future ‘major’ application, LCA whatever.

My advice has been to apply to most every Co you ‘may’ want to work at. Once an offer is given, then you decide. Even in a favorable employment environment, nothing is for sure.

If you want to fly for the major airlines, you will be better served by biting the bullet and going to a regional airline.

If you want to fly for a major airline, your best served by flying for a regional with a no interview flow through agreement... currently AA’s three Wholly Owned regionals (Envoy, Piedmont and PSA) are the only to offer that.

Go to one of them and keep your apps out, and with luck you’ll be Mainline pilot in your early 30s if not sooner.

Freight is a good way to get some turbine experience too. The nice thing about freight is you know your schedule in advance. There are limited pop up flights.

Id do regional......

i have aabout 280 TW and ive said the same thing..... "no one will give a flying f if i have 280 TW. it doesnt matter"

some guys in the FBO said dont think like that, there will always be someone who prefers a pilot with TW experience over all tricycle.

The guy in the FBO who told you that...he's an experienced airline pilot with plenty of interviews and experience (and conventional gear time in his logbook)?

I've got conventional gear experience in large airplanes and small, single and multi, light recip, larger radial, turbine. I don't think I've ever had an airline or corporate interviewer express much interest at all.

On one of my initial flights on an oceanic leg with a particular company, the crew asked about my background and experience. What had I done recently. I mentioned flying an air tractor, and was asked if that meant I'd been some kind of farmer. Not so much, I said. What did I do with it? Precision formation flight under powerlines. One would think that might count for something. One of the crewmembers noted "doesn't really apply to what we do, does it?" Nobody cared. Nor should they.

Point is, if you have some conventional gear time, it may impress you, but probably doesn't do much to impress the judge, or in this case, the person interviewing you. It's largely irrelevant. You might consider focusing on relevant experience, because the rest tends to just muddy the waters, and may even look like you're adding categories of experience to pad your time. After all, why not include a breakdown of experience in yellow airplanes, or airplanes with fabric covering, or airplanes that have an L in the registration number?

If your'e going for a job that uses aircraft with conventional gear, then it's a good time to bring that experience up.

While all that’s true, John, tailwheel time, formation, low-level ag flying, like some military flying, makes a pilot better. Smoother, better anticipation, deeper experience under pressure, etc. it may not impress an airline interviewer, but it might just impress the plane in some trying time at night. Or a nasty crosswind at a strange airport.

GF