What's the latest here? What can a NH FO expect training to be like? Any delays for OE? What can I expect once I am released out on the line? I have 600 hrs of 121 time, are upgrades almost certain once crossing over 1000 hrs? How many hours can I expect to block per month.

Currently at a regional, looking to move on and I already have a class date here... TIA anything helps.

...and yes I have seen the last few posts...

 

Are you asking if you're guaranteed an an upgrade after gaining 400 hours in the airplane? You know where Amerijet flies, correct?

 

Not necessarily for me to upgrade in 400 hours, but if I am comfortable and feel ready to upgrade that it is an option on the table. And yes, I do know where they fly.

 

I know right… I almost spit my coffee all
over the table…
At a 1000h 121 and 400 on type he will not have experience to be a a WB CA flying international ops…

 

1,000 hours of 121 time a captain does not make....

 

That's not what I meant guys, it was more towards am I going to be pushed into the left seat? Of course it is a whole different beast and I would plan to upgrade once I am comfortable to do so. Which I am NOT saying that's going to be in 400 hrs.

My current regional is forcing upgrades at 1000 hrs. I would much rather upgrade elsewhere.

 

Take a look at the plates for SEQM (Quito, Ecuador), and consider flying there at night, volcanos erupting nearby, Andes winds, weather, flying at gross weights, with an engine failure or other equipment failures and a plethora of MEL items . Picture that with a first officer alongside you, fresh from a regional, who is lost, in over his head, and who leaves you in a single-pilot cockpit. Picture it on the back side of the clock. Picture it with freight duty times, not 117 duty and flight time limits, and a "dispatch" that exists to "encourage" you to go, rather than offer a lot of help. The airport may be dealing with a riot when you land. The missed approach gradient is 5.8% to 16,000'. Your IAF is at 18000'. You descend into a bowl, and fly the curvature of the bowl with 15,000' mountains around you, down to minimums at 8110'. The field is 7900'. The 180 knot limit on the descending turn in the bowl is to keep your radius small enough to avoid hitting mountains.

Or there's Bogota, at night, with mountain, terrain, wind, and of course, the radar painted red with thunderstorms. ATC will vector you through them (or more often, won't vector you, and expect you to stay on your cleared route). It may be busy. South American ATC may not be what you're used to. The Andes present something you haven't encountered, especially with "escape routes." ATC may not be helpful, sometimes may not be available, and sometimes you won't understand what's said. Sometimes, you may not like it. Don't count on traffic notifications or helpful vectors. The cargo you're carrying may not be what you want to be carrying, but you probably won't know it until...at either end. Or you may be there for the flower rush; mother's day is coming. The flowers were weighed dry. Then watered. What's your real weight? You're heavier than you think. The weight and balance put you at gross for takeoff. But that was before the watering...and it rained heavily while you were on the ground. Cargo door was open, cargo was wet, cargo was loaded, wet inside; that water goes somewhere. The floor isn't waterproof. E&E down there, other things that don't like a buildup of water. You take off, gotta make that first turn (big hills), night, IMC, weather everywhere, gear won't come up, autopilot won't engage, warnings, no pitot heat, and that pesky new guy in the other seat, turning it into a single pilot cockpit again.

Never happens, right? Hmmm...

 

Doubt is part of the job. As is its evil twin, complacency. Accept the upgrade training when offered unless, you aren't straight up convinced the judgement & skill required of left seat duty, where you are, is satisfactory. And if it isn't, keep at it somewhere else. Somewhere better, until you know it is. All the regional equipment today is so vastly superior to the B99's & bandits guys used to beg for it's almost funny. Almost.

 

Agreed and well said.

 

Did time in both of those worlds. Can’t say what’s fat & skinny the present iteration of Ajt. But I can relate the non-skedder lifestyle as not for everyone. Some guys go that road and manage to find a way back. Some don’t. Do it long enough, it will change you. Whatever’s ahead, do it for a reason you can live with. Happy landings
https://youtu.be/jUsT--DeQWI?si=jfh5xJrNAzjh53sp