Originally Posted by blastboy

Im aware of your first sentence, as that has been my point all along.

A gap in the distant past will not disqualify you from getting a job. Who told you that?!? I have met many captains and other pilots who have had years between flying and are now working at UAL, AAL, etc. I have a pretty big gap of "occasional" flying after 911 but that's not going to doom my career. That's absurd. As far as landings, the RJs just want to see that you are current, they're not going to go through your landings with a fine tooth comb. Logging student landings is not going to keep you from getting a job. They would lose a lot of applicants if they went through the trouble to make sure that you didn't log landings during instruction given. With all honesty, I could care less about logging my landings as long as I do enough to keep myself current while instructing.

I will say this. A gap between "employment" isn't in the pilots' favor but it still doesn't wreck his career or disqualify him/her. That's a very subjective thing as they could have taken sick leave, had a death in the family....Who knows.

Originally Posted by rickair7777

I was talking about a gap in legal currency while you were still flying! I've seen this with CFI's who didn't get their LDG's or BFR's. Usually night LDG's. They usually remember to keep IFR current.

On this subject be advised that, unlike a pilot certificate checkride, a CFI checkride DOES NOT automatically count as a BFR. It should, but it doesn't, and this one gets a lot of people (including me once).

Best thing to do is get the instructor who signs you off for an instructor checkride to sign you off for a BFR also.

A break in currency, employment, or flying will not hurt you unless it was a long break immediately before you apply for a job.

Originally Posted by cfii2007

I would assume a CFI ride (or any additional rating) would count as a BFR.

Heck, the CFI renewal (online, class) counts towards 1 hour ground for the BFR.

Originally Posted by rickair7777

It's BS, but....

The exact wording is that a checkride for a PILOT certificate counts as a BFR. A CFI ride is for an INSTRUCTOR certificate, and therefore does not count. FAA headquarters came up with this one and affirmed it in a legal opinion.

Some FSDO's don't care, but that won't help you at an airline interview...many interviewers know the technically correct answer.

If you have lapsed for this reason, go find the CFI who endorsed your instructor ride and have him add a BFR in your logbook...the checkride prep would have qualified.