Where do I go next?
 

Greetings, fellow aviation enthusiast.

I need some advice. I have been in flight instructing for over 18 years and have around 5000 hours. Last fall, I decided to take a step towards the airlines for the first time. It was a major career change but a necessary one. I decided to get my multi license gain some experience in the twin and complete my ATPCTP class. I passed my written exam and I now have 39 hours multi and was given a CJO by a regional airline in January of this year. Originally they quoted a 6 to 9 month wait for classes. Shortly after it became a nine month wait. In the past couple weeks, I was given a notice of a 18 month or longer wait due to current circumstances. A major slowdown, of course. A coworker of mine (barely 1500 hrs) just recently went in for an interview with another carrier and was hired and given a class date for this coming June. I was shocked. When I started this process, I put my applications out for everybody on airline apps. No one has bitten with the exception of this one company due to connections I had and frontier which required more multi time which I don’t have and turbine time. I don’t know where to go next. I can’t see myself waiting 18 months for things to get started. No applications are panning out. I am currently still flight instructing but again 18 months seems like a really long time. Does anybody have any advice on this. I understand networking is key for this. What tree do I have to shake to get things to happen?

We're back to a more normal industry situation, where airlines can be picky.

Apply to all regionals you'd consider working for.

Update and carefully check airline apps, maybe get some professional interview prep. They can help QA your applications. You probably need the prep after that long as a CFI.

Seriously consider 135, and 91 turbine jobs... but carefully research employers before you commit, training busts or violations due at a fly-by-night operator will not help your cause.

How old are you, and do you have a degree?

You haven't started looking until you've sent out a thousand resumes.

Start there.

I am 46 years old and have an associates degree. I have applied with flex jet with no results. They also want multi and turbine time. I also completed a program with Emerald Coast interview prep. I did very well with my first interview and got my CJO a week later. I feel confident in my interview prep. I just need someone to sit in front of and prove myself.

Your timing is off and this industry is all about timing. Should have done this a few years ago unfortunately. You decided to finally give it a try during one of the worst hiring climates for entry level pilots this industry has ever seen.

One thing that I do know is that most regionals today won't even consider you for a class date until you meet the minimum qualifications, so get those ME hours completed.

Don’t walk, run to a 135 operator.
135 has numerous advantages over part 91, stricter regulations, duty times, mandatory training programs, mandatory safety programs and at least the attempt of oversight by the FAA.
Part 91 they only show up after the accident.

Honestly your resume reads like you’re broken.
Too much little airplane time without any movement. Built a little kingdom as maybe chief flight instructor or asst chief as 5000 is not that much considering the timeframe.
School got sold, can’t get along with new owner.
Thats how your resume reads without looking.
Right or wrong.
Get in touch with former students who are currently flying professionally and get letters of recommendation and start knocking on doors.
Fly 135 long enough to upgrade as this will give you some street cred. for your future endeavors.

I’m with you right up to the boldface part. In the first third of this year the majors have already hired over 2000 pilots despite engine problems dating back to the COVID years, Airbus’s supply chain problems, and Boeing’s MAX 10 and MAX 7 certification problems.

https://www.fapa.aero/pilot-hiring-history

And that is already far more hiring than many YEARS during the last quarter century. Yeah, the guy/gal fouled up by not making this move three years ago but there are still a lot of mandatory retirements coming up at the Big Three. If they are young enough and promptly get themselves some ME time, the future still looks pretty good.

ENTRY

LEVEL

PILOTS

Those people getting hired by the Legacies are not those. The regionals are hiring at a trickle and it is very hard to get hired at Part 135/91 outfits these days.

Job boards (subscription) like Planejobs, et al, are packed with job openings on a daily basis. I subscribe to them and monitor them when I have a good job, in part because one never knows when that job will end, when one will end up looking, when a better opportunity comes along, when a friend needs something and is looking, etc. Keeping tabs on what's currently in demand is a wise idea, no matter how cushy one's current state of employment may be. In the aviation game of musical chairs, the music is known to stop suddenly and the number of chairs is frequently not in time with the music. Plan accordingly.

If one's worldview and background are confined to a narrow segment of the industry (airline, corporate, military, utility, etc) and doesn't look beyond the mark, one may be entirely unaware just how big the industry is, and just how many jobs are out there. There are a lot of jobs coming available every day, if one will look, and one need not look far.

The availability of employment, aside from one's own experience and level of qualification, is limited largely by one's willingness to accept work, and to look. It's there. It may not be what one wants, but in aviation, often it's a matter of it being what one can get. If it isn't the dream job, take it; it's easier to find work when one is employed, current, etc. The narrower the field one searches, the fewer the jobs. Widen the search. The jobs are there.

Yeah go get some turbine time, preferably 135 at a reputable operator. Fractionals are more selective than garden-variety 135, historically more selective than regionals.

Also I'd work on the 4-year degree via some sort of distance learning program, as things have tightened up that's back to being a significant discriminator. You *might* not need it but you don't want to be five years down the road and realize you needed it several years back.

At your age I'd shoot for the majors too, with regional lifer as plan B. Or you might like 135, and shouldn't need the degree once you get established.