Pilatus801

Well, i am still kicking the professional pilot journey around and i'm back here looking for guidance. A few months ago i decided to step away from the idea and now i am full circle considering it again. I would really like to hear from pilots who are at Skywest and pilots who fly corporate.

I'm 45, have a 4 year degree, clean record and I'm about to finish my instrument rating. I plan to finish that, get the commercial and then CFI. From there i think i will do a little instructing to build some time, but i honestly don't think i have the time or patience to do CFI up to 1,500 hours.

I'd like to look around at other flight gigs, whether it be cargo, charter, sight seeing etc to build time to 1500.

From there i suppose i would go to a regional, but only see that as a stepping stone to gain experience and build more legit time. I have read so many posts in the regional section of APC and there are a lot of negative posts that make the job sound awful. Its hard to discern what regional life is like for the new guy. Is it really that bad or are there a lot of millenials on here with no work ethic, an axe to grind and looking for a place to whine???.

I'm still trying to get a realistic perspective on first 24 months at a regional. I don't know if i want to park my butt at a regional for a long time. I figure 2-4 years and then look for a corporate gig after that. I guess i could always decide to stay put if the pay is decent and QOL is good too.

I live in SLC and would want to choose that base or something close like DEN, BOI, Phoenix, Vegas etc.

I would sure appreciate any pearls of wisdom from any Skywest or corporate pilots on these questions. Or even Envoy pilots as that was another regional i would potentially want to fly with.

Thanks in advance.

JohnBurke

A lot of pilots post wanting to shortcut the flight instructing experience, and while it's not absolutely necessary, it's also invaluable and you'll find that the vast majority of those in professional cockpits, including many military, have instructing experience.

If your plan is to rush to a regional and fly for a few years before jumping into the corporate scene, you may be in for an unpleasant surprise.

Pilatus801

Thanks for the info. Can you elaborate on why i would be in for an unpleasant surprise. I'm an outsider and i want to be well informed, so i would appreciate it you could help me see the obstacles and stumbling blocks....

galaxy flyer

While the light jet operators might take a RJ F/O; the jobs you would be interested in (large cabin jets, high paying, good to great QOL) will want captain and international experience.


GF

clb2vnav

It's hard to gauge experiences from APC. People who like their jobs generally don't say so (not the trendy thing to do here. )

That being said, as a former SkyWest guy, I enjoyed my time there. I also enjoyed my time as an instructor. I definitely had to work my tail off as a CFI to put hours in the logbook, (and food on the table,) but it's a great way to meet people and a great way to learn how to work as a crew.

IMO, you want to pick the regional(s) that have your desired bases and go from there. Where do you to want to live or commute to? If the majors or your ultimate dream job don't call you, then you'll already be set because you'll have great seniority and good QOL. First year pay and seniority sucks, but it does get better.

rickair7777

I have a buddy who flies G-V's, who avoided the regionals at all costs back in the day. He's the guy who will probably take a pass on the legacies even in today's climate (he would be very competitive).

His one regret is that he flailed around in recip GA and low-end corporate for too many years. If he had to do it over, he would have gone to a regional and knocked out the TPIC right away, and then jumped back into corporate.

If you do that you'll want to foster and maintain connections in 91/135, to avoid the "airline stink" stigma. The good news is that 117 allows you to fly on the side outside of 121 (make sure the regional allows that also, not all do).

renaissance2008

Pilatus,
I feel your pain, same age, same story except that i already have the cmel.
I took a flight review recently and started working on the cfi ticket. It's not easy to juggle between work, family responsabilities, every day life and flight training.
I devote a couple of hours each evening to studying and fly once a week on weekend, weather permitting. That's the best I can do and i know it wiil take longer than expected. In the end, if I become a cfi and work part time as one, I'll be content. Without the cmel done (decades ago) and paid for, I would not consider it.
If you are in your twenties, can finance your training and go full time, you're golden nowadays. At our age, not so much.
But if feel your pain, so if you want it bad enough and have the funds, go for it FULL TIME

Pilatus801

Thanks for the comment. I am trying to get the logistics in order to make it happen. I am planning on finishing my Instrument, commercial and CFI in the next 4 months then working part time CFI. Depending on how that goes, i may need to bite the bullet and quit my current employment, which will be a pay cut. I understand there are dues to be paid and i am hopeful with the growing pressure of the pilot shortage that regionals and other carriers will increase their pay to the entry level pilots. I am certain there are a lot of pilots that will rededicate or jump back in the hiring pool if there were more of a living wage for the first two years.

rickair7777

They have been ramping it up. But only enough to fill classes.

At some point it won't matter because they'll have hired every pilot out there. After that, they'll have to incentive people to enter the profession... raising regional FO pay won't help with that, they'll have to sponsor ab initio flight training.