Flyboy31

Looking at heading to PlaneSense soon. Currently a CFII (R-ATP with 600/1500), no MEI, and only 12.5 hours of multi. Obviously I need more multi time for any multi job. That aside, if I get 900ish hours of SE turbine, that would leave me at ~1500TT. I'm looking to go majors but can't stand being a CFII any longer. I don't mind instructing, but the weather and student medical cancels means I'm only getting 40 hours a month, maybe. From start to finish I would be a CFII close to three years, which is way longer than it should be right now. If I go to PlaneSense for the rest of my hours, then somewhere like Avelo afterwards, then a major, is that feasible or frowned upon.

The idea here is as the pilot selection gets tighter, I have a more varied resume than a 1500 hour CFII that did laps in the pattern the entire time, not that there's anything wrong with that, I just want to stand out.

Jdub2

Go instruct in Arizona or somewhere else with great weather if you don’t mind instructing

SSlow

THREE whole years of instructing?? Oh the horror!

What's your backup plan? Think you will be forced to slum it out at the regionals with $100/hr first year pay and a sign on bonus??

Sounds like you're in bad spot bro

121noob

U/LCCs aren't hiring right now, except for maybe Allegiant. But their first year pay is near poverty wages still.

Swapapotamoose

I think the breezybois (G4 2.0) are too.

VacancyBid

I'd say there's definitely something wrong with that. 1500 hrs of 172 time is not appropriate for flying a transport jet into LaGuardia at night in icing. Only very specific circumstances make CFI>regional competitive.

At your phase in the career, it's about making your logbook better. (Thicker too, but mostly better.). If you get offered a job that makes your logbook better, you take it unless there's a strong reason not to.

Planesense is reputable. Planesense has reasonable QOL. Planesense will give you multi-crew, turbine, night/icing/complex airspace experience. Planesense will make you much more marketable than ASEL CFI

As for where you wil be in 12-24 months ... who knows. Get 4 seasons of flying in at PlaneSense, upgrade if you can and then start looking around.

I would bet $100 that when the sun goes supernova, 2021-2023 will stand as the all-time highpoint of airline hiring. I don't think furloughs are happening anytime soon but hiring be slower than it was. Probably a pace that allows the regionals to recover and restores the normal universe where experienced regional captains outnumber big 6 job openings. All of which to say ... make yourself a plan to get to a major at 30 & 10K hours and work backwards.

JohnBurke

At 1,500 hours, you're not going to stand out.

Turbine time is good, and pilot in command time is good. Where ever you go, you're looking for entry-level positions, so keep that in mind.

The brief hiring bubble has deflated with a whimper. Legacy carriers are pausing hiring. The freight titans are at a standstill.

If I understand your post correctly, you've been flight instructing for three years, and feel it's time to move on. Fair enough; most don't instruct that long, any more, though there's nothing wrong with teaching. Someone above mentioned going to Arizona to instruct. There are schools there that do volume instruction with foreign students.

We do what we must, in our careers. If the job you want isn't hiring, find a job that is hiring, and go there. Many jobs aren't glorious, but it's a career, not a video game. Go fly the Grand Canyon. When you get a few more hours, USA Jet is looking for 727 first officers. Charter operations all over the country are hiring. If you don't want to instruct, then tow banners, fly skydivers, do aerial survey or powerline or pipeline patrol.

Single engine turbine is turbine, but not really multi turbine. It's good experience, though, as is anything you approach with a professional attitude toward your flying. One thing I see a lot of first officers show up without, is PIC experience. Gain all you can. Look for that first multi job. It may or may not be in turbine equipment.

Flight instructing isn't glamorous, but it's useful experience, and most of the captains in professional cockpits hold or have held instructor qualifications at some point or another. Many of us still maintain our CFI (etc). At this stage in your career, avoid tunnel vision; it's a broad industry with a lot of kinds of flying, including airline flying, but by far not exclusive to it. Don't overlook the myriad opportunities that abound. Subscribe to a few of the job listing sites (planejobs, climbto350, usajobs, jsfirm, etc) and get a feel for what's being advertised. Over the course of my career, I've flown air ambulance, sprayed fields, fought fires, towed banners, instructed, flown grand canyon tours, flown jumpers, worked for the government, flown in garden spots like Iraq and Afghanistan, surveyed wildlife, done aerial photography, performed atmospheric research, flown fractional, charter, and corporate, as well as airline flying from passengers to international freight, and a few other things along the way. There's a lot to do out there, and if you don't like what you're doing, then find something you do like, or that helps you meet your goals. It sounds like your goals involve primarily multi-engine flying, so put that on the shopping list. If you can go fly a Caravan or PC-12, do that, too. Don't overlook ACMI flying. Consider the FAA. Consider the military. Think about fractional and corporate. Regionals are a far cry from what they used to be, and chances are that you'll never endure the kind of pay and effort that many of us were required to expend, to get established in our careers: you may not realize how good you have it, regardless of whether the temporary hiring bubble has slowed or not. Jumping to an ultra-low cost carrier may not be possible from your present position, or even from the single turbine (but it also may). You have opportunities and time. Don't limit either one. It's a lifetime journey, and it doesn't need to be completed tomorrow.

rickair7777

From SWA, answers this question specifically...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj0taDDl7IQ&t=451s

kaputt

In your experience, are we looking at 2016-2019 levels of competitiveness, or something more?

I was just really getting invovled in flight training those years while finishing up time in the military and recall that regional hiring for FO's was steady but the expectation was that upgrading to Captain was important/required. Those getting hired at majors needed good app reviews, maybe some volunteer experience, and some 121 PIC at the minimum. At the time the industry and hiring outlook seemed better than it had been in a very long time, and only looks stiff when compared to the post COVID recovery boom we just witnessed.

If we're going back to 2016-2019 type environment, it's probably not all that bad. If were going back to needing moon landings or SpaceX Crew Dragon time, that's not so good.

JohnBurke

You'll be looking at competitive minimums, not published hiring minimums. If everyone in the room shows up with 1,500 hours and two checkride failures, then you have a low bar to leap. If everyone shows up with 26,000 hours, fifteen type ratings and 40 years of experience along with a masters degree, then that's your copetition, and those are the competitive minimums. Plan accordingly.

Fewer positions, same number of applicants, it becomes an employers market, and the employer will be more selective.