Take out a loan, go back for a masters, whatever you need to do, go and get 100 hours of multi engine time flying in the most challenging airspace you can and in the most IMC you can. Get in as many approaches as you can, both vector-to-final and full approaches. Some of this can be done in a sim with a CFII or A/IGI working you over.

As a former airline ground instructor, the guys who did not have a lot of currency were buried in the procedures trainer. I didn’t have time to teach you how to fly an approach, I had very little time to teach you how to integrate our callouts and procedures into your current IMC procedures. You might not have had to fly a full STAR or SID/DP before, so I can coach that, but if you don’t have the mental capacity to keep the plane upright while spitting out the required callouts on approach, there is very little I can do other than suggest getting some hard busy IMC and IFR time before trying again at your next airline.

There are time building programs out there, some very reasonable. Unfortunately, unless someone is a CFI, the time in IMC doesn’t count for one of you. You can really get a flying workout if you go in with an agenda and nail the 100 hours in about a month. I would not suggest trying to do this is poor weather areas like anywhere north of the Mason-Dixon in winter.

Having said this, the currency will get you hired. If you don’t fly again until your class date, you are not as screwed as before, but, you’re still screwed. You’ll need to do an active flying job between getting that currency and starting class. Staying on at the place you did the time building to be an instructor is an idea. Flying for a cargo outfit is another. Survey work, not so much, as VMC does not keep up the IMC currency. Strive to do an approach a day, and bump it up before class.

Good luck! This is a great time to go for a flying career. Wages are up. Work rules are up. And some places don’t even have CRJ200s anymore. (As much fun as it was to fly, dead APUs were an all-to-frequwnt buzzkill on that fun).

 

Thanks for the info!! so from the day of the interview until class date, how long was that?

 

Well mine had to be rescheduled because my flight canceled due to weather. Not sure if that factors in or not. But to answer your question, it seems like the applicants getting interviewed over the past couple weeks have been given offers in late July, so about 8 months

 

thank you !! That was gold, as I am retiring from my current job and would like to time this right

 

a looong time unfortunately. My interview was early December and was assigned class date end of July. Not ideal. There’s a waitlist they’ll put you on if something opens up.

 

IMO, this is a bit extreme and expensive. Get some recency, but 100 hours is not required.

 

Can anyone give insight into the ATP-CTP course and timeline. As well as when the written takes place? Is that something I do on my own. Or do I do it at cae on the last day?

 

ATP-CTP is done as prerequisite to the ATP written. It does not actually prepare you to take it, that's what Sheppard Air is for. You'll take the written on your own before indoc. ATP-CTP is the most fun you'll ever have in a simulator since it is non-jeopardy and no pressure. It's a box to check, that's it. Even though it's not serious, take it seriously and try to learn everything you can in the few hours you're in the box. It'll help you transition into the airline flight deck.

 

Thanks for the ideas Gamermire. Just curious on your comment about getting a Masters, why would I need that? And I actually have one in an engineering field.
When I went through training a few years ago, systems was no big issue. However, those sim sessions between 10pm and 3am... that was challenging as I couldn't get much sleep after that!

 

Does anyone have an insight into the onboarding process? Kind of like a timeline, so from when we start onboarding to when they send iPad and stuff. How long before class date. Etc