I know how much everyone likes to give opinions. I've got the bare minimums for some of the majors (2200 total, 800 turb. PIC, 1300 Multi, sll of the turbine and most multi are in king airs on a 135 cert.) and recently lost my job. I have the opportunity to take a job PIC on a CJ and King Air. Or I can take a position with a regional who operates the largest fleet of ERJ 170. My ultimate goal is to get on with a Major or of course UPS of Fedex. What is more important PIC turbine or 121 turbine even if it's right seat?

 

Without 1000 TPIC I'd go with the corp gig. After that consider getting Part 121 experience. Your total time and TPIC are too low for UPS/FDX right now.

 

I can't really comment on FedEx or UPS. The only people I know that have gotten hired over there had quite a bit of 121 PIC time. I'm not sure if they typically hire people out of King Airs and CJs. Maybe ask over on the Cargo board and see what those guys say.

If you're happy with getting hired by a major that flies passengers (CAL, DAL, UAL, NWA, JetBlue, AirTran, etc) - then maybe stick with the corporate stuff and get about another 1000 hours of Turbine PIC and I bet you'd be competitive. I know several people who have come from the corporate world and are now working at the majors.

An important question is: How long is the upgrade time projected to be at this E170 operator? SIC E170 time is turning out to be a dime-a-dozen these days. You really need the PIC time to get looked at seriously, and I don't know that "800 hours in a turboprop a few years ago" is going to hold as much weight.

I agree with the previous poster that getting more PIC time and also getting some 121 time will cover all of your bases, but I'm just wondering if that would end up wasting more time in the long run... Maybe if you just stuck with one or the other you would be better off...

At any rate, I'll give you the same advice I've heard my whole career... Never turn down an upgrade. Never turn down PIC Turbine time. That would be my 2 cents, but definitely get more input.

 

Quality PIC is valuable. Jet PIC is best.

 

Do we still have the requirement of turboprop PIC being over 12,500 MTOGW or am I thinking of somewhere else?? I don't think a King Air qualifies over 12,500........

 

King Air 90's, 100's or 200's are below 12,500 but 300, 350 are above. But we do hire people with only King Air (less than 12,500) time.

 

i think the weight restriction is for reciprocating props (eg. DC-3) no weight restriction on turboprop

 

THX for the clarification........the 350 is sweet IMO.......'

 

Go try to get a job with the military flying F-18's or F-16's in Iraq. Much more gratifying. Pays about the same anymore too. And I guarantee it is much sweeter than whatever a 350 is.

 

And with the year it takes to get your package together and get assigned a training date, two years of training to get your wings and your ten year commitment, you will be ready to come to the majors about the same time the planes start flying themselves!!! Of course now you are more than half way to 20yrs so why not stick around a few more years and get that retirement. LOL
For a guy in your situation, who already has some time and wants to be an airline guy, I'd go with the place that you can get the most turbine pic the fastest. Seems to me like a lot of the regionals are hiring guys straight into the left seat and that you would have enough flight time to do that. You have enough time to go to almost any regional you want and worst case scenario, you could pick one with a short upgrade time.
There are some sweet corporate gigs out there but don't think you will get as much time as in the airlines. Also make sure that you talk to some corporate guys first, I did a short stint in a King Air years ago and the flying was fun although mainly short trips with lots of waiting. Just wasn't for me in the long run. You're almost there man. Good luck with the job hunt!