Question???
 

I'm 47 years old living in suburban Chicago and looking to get back into aviation as a career. I have 1600 hours, 260 multi with a commercial multi engine rating. I haven't flown in 15 years but was wondering if it's still possible to get hired with the regionals?

If the above is possible how would you go about doing it? Suggestions really appreciated.

If you can fog a mirror and meet ATP mins you can get hired. Whether it's a good idea or not is beyond me. I'm 28 and I'm contemplating calling it quits after 4 years at the regionals.

If you get current again, I think you'd be hiriable by a regional. You should get instrument current and maybe some sim FTD time also- taking 12 years off is going to make sims challenging.

Being out of it for that long, I would go to a career fair and meet with the reputable regionals and state your case. The calls you will get from the "can you fog a mirror" regionals are the ones you don't want to work for. Forget Mesa, Republic and PSA. Shoot for Skywest, Expressjet or Horizon. Not in that order.

I'm in my late fifties and resent all of the above^^^^^^^^!

To the OP: it's all very do-able. Get current. Go to a job fair as suggested. But think very hard about why you want to do this. Nothing about the regional industry has changed in the past 12 years for the better! I've been in the regionals 16 yrs and the older I get the worse the commuting and time away from home gets.
With 18 yrs left, you're very marketable (majors have hired many guys from 52-61 that I know of personally), so if you decide you want in, there is a career progression track...dependent upon your timing and luck of course.

Guess what, Ace? There are plenty of decent jobs in commercial aviation besides the majors. I'd venture to guess that there a PLENTY of pilots who are more than happy not to have to deal with airport terminals, the TSA and being nothing but one of 15,000 butts in the seat.

Sure the majors pay well, but they're certainly not the be all and end all to aviation.

Someone who gets it. Finally.

Admittedly, the majority of the people here are wannabes. You have to forgive them for not assuming everyone wants to grab the golden ring.

Age is a factor, it is frankly harder to learn new stuff after 40. But not impossible at all, especially for someone who has remained mentally engaged in a profession (or even hobbies) which require constant learning and mental agility.

But anyone who has taken years off from flying would need to get VERY current and recent before trying 121 training. I would suggest 20-40 hours of fast-paced instrument flying (ie approaches). You could supplement some of that with simulator time, even PC-based sim if you do it right. But you need to get your IFR skills up to par.

Majors seem to have largely given up on age discrimination (not worth the legal hassles), although the ROI for starting an airline career in your late forties is questionable...depends on your personal finances and schedule flexibility.

Third time in a row I agree with Rick 100%.
Additionally, I am in my 40s, hired last year in a major, and I was about average age in my class, with 3 guys being 50+
And last thing, nothing wrong with a captain job in a regional, if the OP wants to fly for living. Worst case there are always the GA jobs, but it sounds like he knows he wants 121.

First things first...GET CURRENT, preferably in light ME. You could have a viable career at a regional. TSA has a ORD crew base and is hiring. If I read everything accurately, they're hiring CQFOs again. SkyWest also has a ORD base as does Envoy and ExpressJet.

I was 41 when hired at my first 121 job as a pilot. After 15 years at Comair, I went to TransStates. I left TransStates so I wouldn't have to commute any longer than I have too.

It can be done. I just turned 59 and recently completed upgrade IOE.

I earned my first full time flying pay check at 47 with times about the same as you - so it is possible. But rather than the regionals, I would look at the freight options: better schedule, better pay, and PIC time right off the bad. Freight Runners up the road from you in Milwaukee is always looking.

Oh....and get current first. Not just flying, but in the IFR system flying to busier airports.