What to do
 

So I was offered a job with a charter/corporate type operator. They fly Cirrus, all sorts of light jets, turbo-props, and some medium sized corporate jets. The timeline they gave me was, start at 40k in the cirrus, progress to the PC-12(60k) in about 6-12 months, then light jets after about a year(90k), then bigger stuff at the 2 year mark(180k+). Was looking for some opinions on whether or not this would be a good idea to do now in the current industry or if I should have my eyes pointed towards the airline industry during this massive shortage/wave of retirees. I also was thinking that this job might not have the best security in times of economic downturn(which we are forecasted to have soon). Can any corporate guys maybe give their views or advice on how they keep job security in the tough times? Also, would it be unrealistic to ask the company for written guarantees on aircraft/pay progression? I don't wanna be stuck flying light GA aircraft my whole life. Are these the right questions I need to be asking myself?

Want to give us a clue what your current numbers or ratings are? And how geographically mobile you are It makes a difference.

How old are you, family situation, where are they based, where do you live, prior military or 121. That can all be a big factor in time spent climbing the ladder as well.

Early 20's, CFII, no military or 121, midwest region, single.

Total time? Turbine time? Multi time?

650 TT, 15 multi, 0 Turbine

Yikes. I’d say jump in feet first.

Was that supposed to be sarcastic?

Do it. Get as much turbine time as you can. Get PIC if possible. Then get your ATP and join an airline.

No. (Filler)

I would add start a degree as well.

So long term goal shouldn't be to stay with corporate? I should be going for airline?

Depends. How much time are you going to be able to log and what is your goal?

You can make a living flying corporate, even a good one, but it’s unlikely to be as much or as dependable as getting on at a major. But YOU are the one that needs to make a choice.

If you are going to aspire to airlines, speed is of the essence. You need to get ATC eligible and get on with a regional, get your hours and try to make the leading edge of this wave - within five years or less.

Do NOT tie yourself down to a job that won’t let you build time expeditiously, not if you want a future in the airlines. If you can’t log at least 500 hours a year, look elsewhere. And do not tie yourself to a training contract.

I'm going to follow with what others have said. All those airplanes are cool and if you are going to be flying a lot I'd say definately do it. But if you are only flying 200 hours a year when time is of the essence then absolutely not. Im not saying going to the airlines is the right choice for you but if it's something your interested in you got to hustle. The biggest retirement years are not too far off.

Historically, there has been a reasonable choice between corporate and airlines. But right now it's hard to make the case to choose a corporate career over an airline career unless you have permanent personal circumstances, or background issues, which would preclude airline lifestyle or make it very hard to get hired by a major.

The airline opportunity is being driven by the pending retirements at the big three, and also some at FDX/UPS. But the opportunity trickles down to all airlines... regionals have to pay more to retain a few folks, and attract enough noobs to cover high attrition. Other majors have to pay more to attract qualified applicants who might otherwise try to hold out for top tier.