Welcome to avaition. I had 4000TT when hired at the regionals and 10,000TT when hired at the majors. I'm also looking at a possible furlough. Good luck.

 

The biggest thing to remember in Aviation is that, after you have the minimum number of flight hours, the rest is who you know mixed with a bucket of luck. You need to meet as many people as possible, specifically at your airlines of interest.

 

New to this forum. Looking to get my ATP in about a year. Wondering about the TT requirement to get an interview with a decent airline. Understood 1500 TT to get ATP but after that you are a certified pilot so why would airline X state that they won't look at you until you have an arbitrary TT lets say 2500. What are airlines really looking at? Regardless of how many hours you fly when you get hired by a new airline you are essentially at zero hours learning to fly a new platform correct? Is this TT actually based off of airlines believing that 2500 TT average age is 25 yrs old? What I mean is, do airlines view TT as maturity; or capability of handling "stressful situations"?I'm asking since I'm looking to transition out of the Army, and looking to become a pilot, I have had a few experiences handling "stressful situations" and I am probably a little older than your average starting pilot out of college. Would this make me more "qualified" after I get my ATP to be interviewed? I'm not looking for a golden ticket, just a chance at an interview once I get my ATP.

Thanks in advance for your response.

 

TT is not the same as Competitive minimums, usually around 3 to 5,000 depending the airline.

 

Again what is competitive? Why do they only look at hours instead of other experiences?

 

It's all about experience. It is the same reason some Engineering, Teaching, Accounting, etc. jobs require 3-5 years of work experience. Someone with a fresh ATP is like someone coming straight out of basic. Yea they have the same training but not the same experience level. The people in charge of reviewing applications think that having a certain number of hours will mean that you have dealt with situations in the aircraft that make you a better candidate (eg. He's made that decision to divert due to WX with minimum fuel, he's had MX issues inflight/preflight, etc)

 

Well isn't experience relative, since like I said, once you transition from a regional to a major you will probably also transition from a CJ700 to a B737 which again puts your experience at zero for that platform. How does it transition? Aren't all the dials and buttons in different locations on different platforms? And in the majors and regionals you aren't on your own since you have a PIC to tell you when you are all jacked up.

 

It's not experience operating the aircraft, it's experience with decision making, customer service, bad weather, maintenance, busy airspace, etc. Would you rather serve under a brand new West Point graduate or a graduate who has been out of school for the past 5 years and has experience in the field?

 

Well do airlines really look to see if the new "West Point" grad is actually better than the guy with 3-5 yrs experience. I've seen new West Point grads outshine their Company Commanders (3-5 yrs experience). Some with 3-5 yrs experience get complacent while the new "West Point Grad" have a new fire in their belly to excel.

 

Yes that's what the interview is for. Most airline interviews include written test, simulator evaluations, as well as your typical HR interview portion. Yes all airlines post minimum qualifications but they're also looking for other experience outside of flying as well. But, your experience outside of flying will probably not let you skip their minimum for flight time. Sometimes they will depending how desperate they are.