It's all relative - everyone has to start somewhere and you don't know what you don't know; I've seen Cessna and Navajo pilots become outstanding jet drivers - often surpassing the guys with "Boeing Time" in the same class.

Comes down to the individual; trying to diagnose why someone doesn't get a call from any ("larger") airline on an online forum is somewhat pointless anyway.

 

I hear you. I also think having experience managing VNAV and experience managing the mass of a heavy jet are very valuable. Those can be offset by a good instructor though. There are some great boing instructors out there. Best of luck for everyone. I feel like the next few years will be good ones for professional pilots.

 

Sorry but after 2 decades training pilots my experience tells me that you’re wrong. As you posted there are pilots that even transfer from helicopters and they do well in training but companies hire the individual that they feel by experience will have a better chance at completing training within the budget allowed. Money is the key factor here, it’s not only the aircraft but the type of flying as well. Generally people with heavy time under their belt also have lots of international experience and that’s another key factor for their hiring criteria. So yes, Boeing time (specially heavy Boeing) does make a better candidate on average. There are exceptions to this of course but small outfits don’t have the budget to train pilots as the majors do, so they hire based on the highest probability of success in training.

 

If total time, Boeing time, or heavy time were the deciding factors for a hiring decision, there would be no need for an interview.

One doesn't know about a candidate until sitting down face to face, and in many cases, putting the candidate in a simulator or aircraft. Even then it's no guarantee of performance in the classroom, simulator, or on the line.

Choosing a candidate for a given job is as much about that individual being a good fit, once the basic qualifications are met. A candidate might have ample heavy, international, make-and-model, 121, etc, experience, but that doesn't necessarily mean the applicant is the best one for the job, nor the only one for the job. I have met candidates in class who came to the table with significant experience, including in type, but who were humble enough to know that they were there to learn that company's way, and that their prior experience might be a help, and might be a hinderance to learning the current company way. Not everyone operates the airplane the same way.

An old dog can be a useful dog, but an old dog that won't learn new tricks may slow down the whole pack. Finding a dog that blends well with the pack is an important part of that process.

 

I got a call yesterday asking if I was interested in an interview. I turned them down due to being offered a different job. I have no Boeing or 121 time, corporate/charter only. I had one internal recommendation.

 

I agree with most of that....having been an instructor for quite sometime on a "heavy" jet...it can be a steep curve going from light to heavy. It boils down to how much OE your company is willing to invest in someone. So yes it's all relative and EXPENSIVE. Prior heavy time helps. I know we certainly put an app near the top of the pile if they have "prior" heavy or Boeing. OE usually goes quick and without hiccups.

 

Hopefully the job was either Fedex or ups. I really don’t see any other place that I’d go after Omni


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I think he is going to Atlas.

 

Lol probably so


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I didn’t say that total time nor Boeing time were the deciding factors, I said that they were indicators of the probability of an applicant to be successful to complete training within the budget of a particular company. Also this topic is being viewed from a generic hiring point of view when in fact all companies have a very different criteria on what they are looking for in a candidate. We are talking about Omni here and not one of the majors, they want somebody that yes, fits into their company culture but they also want somebody that has the highest probability of success in training for their limited training budget. These are companies that watch people closely during training and they certainly don’t want to dump a lot of cash in training with someone that is constantly behind during training. They rather cut their losses and cut them lose during, simple as that! The numbers from the hiring process is not a guarantee, I agree! But besides having an inside recommendation like the poster with nothing but corporate time, they would rather have somebody that has the Boeing and international time. I’m not saying that somebody that doesn’t have that can’t be successful, I’ve trained hundreds that fall into that column. But the reality is that a company like Omni with a charter business base and tons of international trips, it is logical that they would prefer people with certain qualifications besides having the right attitude and disposition.