flyguy712

My flight instructor tells me that I am a good stick and suggested that I consider building time as a bush pilot as opposed to taking the CFI route. However, my buddy that is now at the regionals tells me that the airlines like to see CFI experience on resumes because it shows that you have the ability to give instruction to less experienced team members. I can see where they are both coming from... on one hand you can gain some valuable mechanical skills as a bush pilot, and on the other hand you can gain some valuable cockpit management skills as a CFI.

Do the airlines actually prefer one type of hour-building experience over any other?

Also... I would appreciate any feedback about the validity of these two articles regarding career outlook for those interested in pursing the airline pilot profession!

2014 Outlook For Aviation Careers Brightens With Looming Pilot And Mechanic Shortages - Forbes

Pilot Outlook 2010-2029: A Shortage Looms | PlaneAndPilotMag.com

Cubdriver

CFI is the high road and I'd push anyone in that direction first if you really must choose. The problem is that most pilots who go that way never bother with anything else in their pursuit of hours and an airline job. They really miss out on something when they do so. Some of the most rewarding, enriching flying is definitely stick and rudder jobs like skydivers, pipeline, surveys, glider-tow, aerobatics and banner operations. I really urge you to do all that. I see a strong push on career-track pilots to become an airline pilot as fast as possible as though the latter summarizes and consummates all other flying jobs. This is a flaw in the domestic flight training system. But it is not so, and while airlines often have some of the best pilots on staff they also are not the only career destination, and even if you choose airlines in the end, you will be more roundly experienced if you did some other things first. I recommend that you teach basics for a few hundred hours and get your CFII, go to work for an aerial applicator for another hundred or so, get a job flying 135 freight for a year or two, and then apply to a regional airline if that's what you wish to do. You'll be a better pilot and you'll know what the difference is.

As for the career and its prospects for the future in the US, read the US Bureau of Labor Statistics on the subject.

Airline and Commercial Pilots : Occupational Outlook Handbook: : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

FlyAK

Why not do both? It seems like those two ideas are not mutually exclusive... Flight instruct for a couple hundred hours and then fly in the bush. Trust me, the bush operators will still need pilots and you will be much more likely to stay alive...

JohnBurke

Don't get sucked into that pilot shortage noise.

There's no shortage.

Alfred E Newman

Will you look back some day and be glad that all you did was CFI stuff? I like the "do both" advice.

Have fun out there.

JamesNoBrakes

"Bush" isn't exactly what it seems most of the time. Bush flying out here in Alaska is flying a 180, Super Cub or Beaver to a small unimproved strip, and depending on the operator/guide/lodge, to river-banks, clearings, snow-fields, etc. This type of flying is usually difficult to get into, you have to have started it a long time ago to be considered and most people that do it are single-pilot 135 certificate holders, lodge owners/operators, etc. A few have small fleets, but most do not and most are usually not looking for pilots (because they are the pilot), let alone pilots without this type of experience.

135 Commuter and on-demand operations in Alaska usually go to more "improved" destinations, with at least runway-clearing, runway lights, sometimes nav-aids, sometimes approaches, but generally many times more infrastructure than the above described flying. This is kind of flying is much easier to get into, you will deal with passengers, have to resist the pressure to fly when the weather is bad or when the airplane or some other factor doesn't conform to regulation/requirements and generally deal with people. This can be a good experience and still builds good piloting skills. You are not flying through passes and over mountain tops though, mostly over open flat tundra, which is what most of Alaska is, Western Alaska and the North Slope are definitely. There are villages of 100-200 people all over the place in Alaska, so the bulk of commercial flying is servicing these villages.

All that said, instructing can be invaluable. Just when you think you have "seen it all", a student manages to do something you've never seen before. You have to learn how to be ready to grab the controls. You learn to understand what airplanes can and can't do. You guide decision making and experience. You let people learn through mistakes and guide them to avoid others. Anyone who says this is just flying in patterns at the airport is doing it wrong and has no idea what being an instructor is about. The only downside is when you start you have so little knowledge yourself, but being an instructor is the best thing for this and you quickly learn all sorts of information, as well as critical things like how to interpret PTS, reference tasks, stay on top of regulations, etc.

Being a CFI can also unlock a lot of doors and lead to some pretty neat things, like tailwheel, aerobatic, and off-airport instruction. In fact, it's probably one of the more decent routes to my first paragraph, since the risk mitigation and decision making is the most critical part of that kind of flying, which should be one of the strongest assets of an instructor.