Quick question:

Let's just say someone wants to be a pilot.

They have a single engine plane to build hours and use it get all the necessary ratings... instrument and commercial, blah blah.

However, is 500 hours in a single engine plane marketable to the regionals? Or do they want multi-engine time? Multi engine time is VERY expensive. So let's say we get the multi-engine rating and put 10 hours in the logbook. So now we have:

500 single
10 multi

Is that better than nothing?

I only see two ways of getting multi time:

1. Pay out of the #%$%# to either rent the plane or sign up for a school like ATP and pay them 50k up front.
2. Buy a multi and fly the #$$%#$ out of it. However, gas and insurance, and maintenance would destroy any man's pocketbook.


But let's make this a hypothetical situation because we all know the regionals are not hiring and if they are it is super competitive. Let's just say the economy is recovering the 65 yr olds are retiring. :-)

David

 

Right now the average is about 1500 TT 200 ME. If you don't meet the mins, don't even bother. Sorry, that's just the way it is.

 

I've seen the mins for multi being anywhere from 100 to 300. Competitive mins are probably higher then 300.

You missed option number 3 to build multi time. Get your MEI and teach, then you get paid to fly a multi.

 

Historically the amount of required ME time varied between 50-500.

When hiring is slow or non-existent (like right now) and a lot of pilots are competing the published mins are typically 200+ ME but actual competitive mins to get hired are like 300-500+. Nobody expects you to buy all that time, you need to get a job as ab MEI or in 135.

When hiring demand is high, regionals will lower ME mins to 100-200, some as low as 50 and will actually hire people with only the minimum. Some bottom feeders even hired those with only a ME rating and the 10-15 hours it took to get it.

However..due to the colgan crash last year congress is trying to make airlines (regionals specifically) place more emphasis on ME time. I would suspect (and hope) that no airline will ever again hire with less than 100-200 ME.

If you are in the training pipeline, I would look ahead to MEI employment opportunities. Keep in mind that schools usually prefer to hire their own grads first, so you probably want to do your training at a school which 1) does ME training and 2) will hire you as a CFI, with the potential to upgrade to MEI eventually.

Unfortunately insurance often dictates that MEI's have 25-100 ME hours as well, so be sure you understand the schools policy on that. You might have to buy some ME time just to get an MEI job.

 

bummer on the ME requirements...

well, it's still a safe bet to build up hours in a single engine, no?

 

It is a start. TT is still a requirement that you cant neglect (since you wont get hired without enough of it.)

The good thing is that it sounds like you have a while to go before meeting mins so I would not worry about multi time yet. It will be a while so enjoy the ride, aviation is exciting so try to keep it that way as long as you can.

People have been scrounging for multi hours since the beginning of time, you wont be the first one and certainly not the last. You will figure it out when its time.

Number one way to get multi hours is get your MEI and teach

Number two way to get multi hours is get part 135 mins and get hired on with a place with a twin. It may take longer since you might have to start out in a cherokee six for 500+ hours or so before working your way into a seneca or similar. It is not the fastest road but its a great road full of experiences.

 

That's the most likely option for me. I have my MEI but no chance of multi students since they all go to the former airline people. For me, I am aiming to get 135 mins and fly freight to build multi time. I would get a competitive amount of multi time doing that (300-500) as opposed to sticking around my school and MAYBE getting a multi student here and there and taking forever just to get 200.

Plus I want to work 135 for some part of my life.

 

To be honest, not really.

IMO, your ONLY purpose for flying SE airplanes (after you get your ratings) is because you are building seniority at a company which will let you fly twins after you have been there long enough. Commonly you have to work as an ASEL CFI before you can move up to MEI.

Same with regional SIC time...not worth a warm cup of spit, it's just a side effect of waiting for enough seniority to upgrade.

The point I'm trying to make is that you should do your best to get hooked up with an outfit which will allow you to build ME time...especially since congress may mandate that. Don't just build SE time for it's own sake...have a roadmap to a twin.

If you can't get a job at a company which does ME training, plan B would be do ASEL CFI until you have 1200 hours, then go to a 135 outfit as a ASEL pilot. After some period of time, you will move up to twins at which point that ME time will accumulate in a matter of months.

 

What abbot buying 100-200 of multi time through one of these time building programs. That seems like a faster approach to getting hired. Why waste time once hiring picks up. Be ready to go. If you drop 15k for 200 hours of SIC turboprop time your resume will go to the top. Hiring is about to explode in 2-3 years and you want to be ready. 1000tt and 200 sic 135 turbo prop time will guarantee you an interview. That shows you are ready and can pass 121 groud school in the eyes on HR. If anyone disagrees feel free to chime in

 

You can't be serious...