Best path to regionals after 10+ year break
 

Hello all!

I am 46. Man it is hard to believe I got that old so fast..

Anyway, Back in 2001 I was finishing up my flight training (Commercial ME, Instrument, CFI/CFII/MEI) and 9/11 happened. In the next few years I tried working as a CFI waiting for things to improve, but before I could get a job, life happened.

Fast forward to today, I have about 850 hours TT. I haven't flown for a few years.

I would love to take advantage of the current hiring situation and jump back into aviation.

What is the best path for me to take to get to the regionals?

If it matters I do have a college degree and my CFI is still current.

Thanks to all!

Same Boat
 

I've been away from aviation for 12 years now. I had pretty much the same experience with 9/11 hitting 2 years before I graduated university.

Looking for some guidance in re-entering the industry.

1. Find any kind of flying job that will get you to within about 25 hours of your ATP minimums with twenty-five hours of multi engine time, then show up at a job fair where there are regional recruiters.

2. Try not to get hurt when they stampede to be the first to talk to you.

CFI to ATP mins or go to a place like planesense/boutique/tradewind/cape air to build experience...

Go to the job fairs about six months before you will meet the minimums (1450+ hrs).

It takes a little bit of time to go from first meeting to starting training. So approaching the regionals, and deciding which one(s) is best for you, should be done several months ahead of time.

Very very similar situation as the original poster. I started doing intro flights at my local airport and after 50-100 flights you will get comfortable again.
After that I did aerial survey which really enhanced my skills that were lost in the long break. I was so amazed at how much aviation changed in regards to paper charts/AF/D, iPads, glass cockpit,

Sounds like there is a bunch of us that got sidelined by 9/11 and are now getting back into it. Same thing happened to me. Its been a challenge switching my brain over from old tech to new tech. All of my initial training and flying was analog, so my brain keeps wanting to go there. However, I love all the improvements in glass cockpits, digital flight bags etc.

USA Jet, and companies like them.
Cargo feeder jobs (like Mountain Air Cargo).
Local -91/-135 jobs.
Alaska has a LOT of small planes, looking for pilots.

You don't need your ATP to get hired at a regional, just the ATP mins...

It is great to see people wanting back in now that things are looking up. Quick question for those of you that are looking to get back in... Was it the lack of movement or absolutely atrocious pay rates that forced you out previously? See many of us new guys get told that we should be grateful that we didn’t have to deal with lower pay rates and my argument to those comments is that the pilots who suffered through those rates and long upgrade times chose to. The smart people left the industry and now want back in, thank you for not wanting to come back until the pay rates became somewhat respectable. That doesn’t mean I’m calling those that stayed stupid by any means, just stating they simply made the decision to stay in a financially bad situation. If the rates were still garbage and places were stagnant I wouldn’t be doing this career myself

The garbage pay was regional FO pay, and maybe CA pay at bottom feeders. CA's at "better" regionals didn't do that badly compared to their civilian peers... but we were well positioned on the escalator when it started moving again. As a junior legacy FO, I make more than the vast majority of my civilian peers, and I'm senior to all of the folks who quit the industry then and are now coming back. Pick your poison.

I did however maintain other means of generating income, so I didn't suffer economically when it was slow. If you were the sole breadwinner for a family, relying only on regional FO pay for years, that would be tough.