UPS Hiring Requirements
 

Would it be possible to gain experience at Endeavor Air (a regional carrier) and work hours up towards UPS? I know you could go with a major airline but I’m just curious about the hour requirements and general requirements for UPS for someone coming from a regional airline. Thanks.

UPS' 2020 app just went live. Take a look at the mins there. Good luck

Thanks. Was this the one you were referring to?

https://www.jobs-ups.com/job/louisville/first-officer/1187/14712414

Do they ever hire guys with no 121 or no cargo experience?

That's it.

Well if you look at the requirements probably not, as you need 1,500 hours total and 1,000 hours on top of that PIC (basically as captain). I mean if you fly corporate then possibly? It’ll just take a lot longer if you go in with absolutely no experience with commercial aviation.

Why not go straight to Atlas? Ups loves Atlas guys....

definitely if you are prior Military pilot

Because then you have to work at atlas.

In all seriousness, sounds like they prefer military or heavy jet time. But, getting hired from the regionals isn’t unheard of, just slightly more difficult.

Yes, absolutely (approx. 13% of 2019 hires came directly from a regional)

Yes, pure 91/135 pilots have been hired at UPS the last few years.

Yes it’s possible, I’m coming from a regional and start class on Feb 4th. That being said, I have 9700+ hrs, 4000 TPIC, SCA, Degree etc. if you watch who gets hired, there’s very few of us regional types to get hired. It’s all about your experience, and a big dose of luck and having good contacts. I’m very grateful for the opportunity that I have! If you want it, work hard and hopefully you’ll get the job you really want!

I think the problem with working at Atlas, amongst other things, is the upgrade time. UPS likes a lot of PIC time. I have several friends at Atlas, that aren't at UPS or FDX, because they only have SIC time.

I’d love to know the percent breakdown of where the other guys came from (especially the 135 guys). It sounds like you’re looking at a pie chart.

When I spoke with a UPS recruiter a couple years ago, I had 6500 hours, 1000tpic, and 2000 hours of 747 time. He looked me dead in the eye and said I wasn't close to competitive and to come back in three years. I'd have loved the opportunity to work at UPS, but since have gotten hired at a different major.

That said, from friends who work there, it seems the qualifications to be competitive are coming down. I know at least three guys who were pure regional. They did, however, have about 8000 hours. I believe the average UPS new hire age is still over 40. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe it was like 44.

To get hired from a regional you are going to need some solid times, like 5k TT and well over 1k TPIC....there are always down outliers....
You may get hired quicker at Delta or United.

Does UPS have any clarification (like FedEx) about T-6 and other specific military turboprop time?

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No chart, just a quick review and tally of 2019 of newhire classes.

EJM, Netjets, DPJ, Pentastar, L3, Ameriflight, Vertex, and Jet Aviation for 135 operations; 91 hires were from Fortune 500 through smaller corporations.

True. ...and we’ve been hiring §91/135 guys/gals all along, not just the last few years. I know of several from the ‘04 - ‘07 time frame, also some who were hired in the 90s.

To the OP and others who’re contemplating UPS - don’t worry about where the typical newhire comes from. Who cares?
Apply, apply, apply! Let our recruiters worry about your eligibility.

I’m blown away by the many people who tell me they never applied because they didn’t think they’d be competitive?!?

If you don’t meet the minimums the app won’t let you proceed. The only way of knowing if you have a chance or not is to actually apply.

The 2020 application window has now been opened for 2 days. If you’re interested - apply!

Good luck!


Link to UPS online application.

https://www.airlinepilotforums.com/u...plication.html

Do existing applicants need to do anything?

Yes! Each year applicants must re-apply. Typically the window opens in the first week of January. This year it went live on the 6th. Yesterday.

Consider that I've applied to UPS multiple times over the last 10 years. They didn't call until I had a couple of years of part 121 widebody time.

If you want to go from a Regional to FedEx or UPS there's a common thread where most of the new hires have things on their resume that are extra. Most are sim instructors, SCAs or LCAs but I bet having Safety on your record could help as well.

Yes...I came from EDV to UPS...but it's complicated. EDV wasn't my only airline and there was other key flying before that. The trigger is different for everyone. I had over 7K total but also a varied background and I networked a bunch.

Ive been noticing fewer and fewer direct regional guys hired and more ACMI and internal WB peeps. Many of the ACMI people were at a regional previously. That being said, pretty much every regional guy I either know or met that was hired in this wave (‘14 and later) had extra items on their resumes such as training, safety, etc., and higher TT - back in the beginning we all had around 10K TT. Obviously PIC times were higher as well. Internal contacts, or the necessity of having any, have been hit or miss. One thing that has been consistent in is the company hiring to its core values. Perhaps they aren’t looking for regional guys with check airman status but instead evidence of a true hard work ethic / grit? Maybe they want people who have a sincere desire to be a UPS pilot vs those with tons of internal rec’s? My humble opinion here but I think extending the idea outwards it’s generally true for any company these days. Some companies might focus on personality profile a little more but UPS doesn’t seem to. One thing that is true is that there are no magic items to have on a resume that will get you an interview so as WhaleSurfer stated above, apply and see what happens. You never know, as many new hires will tell you. And when you get in, please come back here and share some of the insights you gained. Paying it forward/backward is always a good thing (taxes not included).

Best of luck.

I'm going to have to disagree with that. That personality profile is what's standing between me and an interview with UPS. FedEx uses it to guide their interviews, but at UPS it's step one, and they will flat turn you down if they don't like what they see, never mind your résumé with more than 20 years of successful multi-crew experience.

You’re making some great observations BUT personally I think you’re overanalyzing the interview process and are giving them too much credit.
Yes, true hard work ethic, grit, experience, etc. all matter BUT more often than not I think it boils down to pure luck.
For example, it seems that some of our interviewers prefer applicants with military backgrounds while others those with civilian backgrounds. Some value line pilots’ recommendations and others don’t, etc., etc.
So who you get matters more than what you’ve got. Sad but (in my view) true.
I have no empirical data to prove this BUT throughout the years I’ve talked to enough hopefuls who’ve made it and some who haven’t to feel this way.

Does the application window close? Looked at the UPS hiring website but didn’t see anything about an end date to submit the app. I’m asking because I’m a retired MIL pilot and I had a significant break in flying. I’m at a regional building currency and I want to wait until I have about 500 hrs before I apply. On the other hand I don’t want to miss a window. UPS is no kidding way high on my list.

Thanks.

There is no window. Your strategy is probably good.

Thanks. Good luck to us all!

In the past yes. Brown and purple would close their application windows with no forewarning whatsoever.

However, since we starting hiring again (the current, post-furlough years) the window has stayed open year around.
It’s all about supply & demand so it’ll probably stay open year-around for quite some time.

I agree with tnkdrvr’s advice.
Good luck!!

Thanks Whale. Fingers crossed!!

Hey all, I just started filling out my 2020 UPS app and....I made a BIG mistake and could use some advice. When I started the app, it began with 5 simple questions and I accidentally fat-fingered it and clicked the 'no' button, which resulted in something like 'sorry, but you do not meet our requirements'. I noticed my mistake immediately, but I am unable to make any changes and this resulted in my app going 'inactive'.

I know I cannot be the first person to make mistakes like this. Does anyone know of who I can contact in HR or Pilot Hiring to see if I can resolve this issue?? Thanks in advance!

Try to reapply under a different email address?