boat

https://epicflightacademy.com/airline-direct-program/

Could anyone do a solid and look over option 1 on this page? Looks like a seemingly good deal to build hours instead of becoming a CFI. Also getting lots of experience flying for a company almost immediately upon your commercial license.

UnbeatenPath

After reading option 2 and how wrong it is (no one would be a captain at any regional at 1350 hours) I would be highly suspicious about option 1.

jaxsurf

I’m not even sure what the difference between the two options are. Option 1 and option 2 show the same exact progression, except that option 2 has an opportunity to interview with SkyWest at 1850 hours.

But the graphics and the text for each option don’t match up, so I’d be very wary of this company. Not saying they’re a scam by any means, but their website doesn’t lend itself to an air of competence…

boat

I don’t know what Southern Airways Express’ designation is but I’m 99% sure it is different from a regional.

TipTanks

So essentially you're just being an SIC on a 135 Cargo operation until you can meet the 1200 hour PIC requirement and then they're making you commit to ~600 hours as a captain at Southern before you can "flow" to Skywest.

I would be a little skeptical of the timeline. To hit this timeline you would have to fly 80+ hours per month. And that might be doable in some locations, but actual mileage will vary. Also, it's going to be back of the clock runs in sketchy weather from crappy places to whatever cargo ramp you're feeding. And you will spend the daylight hours sitting at the FBO in podunk Ohio.

As much as people complain about being a CFI it's not a bad schedule if you find the right operation, and you can absolutely hit 80+ hours per month. You could then go to Skywest or any number of different 121 operations the moment you hit 1500 hours.

QRH Bingo

I would not trust any company that "guarantees" you to be doing anything they say in whatever time frame they say it will be done for some "fixed" cost all up front.

LeakyStrut

I explored this option and you’ll want to do your due diligence with these mini partnerships. Poke around and read what kind of hours people are actually flying per month vs. sitting on reserve for a long time. The threads are few and far between but they’re here. Also consider how commutable they are. Read up about how scarce the crash pads are and the long hours being sat in airports between legs. If you live in base it may be a slight plus but I do not think you’re going to gain the hours you want as quickly as you think by going this route from what I read. YMMV