Airbus, the big 3 have them plus all the ULCC’s. I don’t really know how much it helps a resume these days but as a small plus it would make your new hire check ride a little easier since it would just be considered a PC and not a type ride. If WN is not your goal a 73 type with no time in type could be a negative in a non WN interview. It was the only type ever required to purchase to get hired back in the day and non WN recruiters could still be thinking that you might pull a training hit n run on them. Probably not these days anymore since the type isnt required but just some food for thought.

Yet the standard he'd have to fly the ride to would be THE SAME. Just no pink slip hanging in the wind if it goes bad. Which the potential is doing it on your own.

Maybe I wasn't clear in my original post. I have some VA education funding that is about to run out. I only have so much, roughly 20K and less than a year to use it. There is not enough time or money for me to go back to school for 2-4 years for another degree. I can only use it for a very short list of options. A type rating is one of those that I am allowed to use it for and makes the most sense. There are other certifications I could go get but none that align with my current employment or the time frame I have available or that would make me more marketable to another aviation employer. A aviation employer would not be interested in EMT, diving certs, gun smithing or farrier service.

You can't use it for an online?

If it's burning a hole in your pocket and you have NOTHING else you want, it "makes sense". Sorry to break it to you, it's not really going to make you marketable for a major. You said you were military trained, do you have a currency issue? In that case, going to a regional and getting a type on (insert RJ here) and some time in the plane is more marketable than a type.

You'd be surprised. Get one of those certs, then do volunteer work in the field of those certs. That makes more sense than getting a type.

Sigh.....I appreciate the suggestions but clearly we are having a communication issue here. I have already trained as an EMT, I would have to go back for my certification test, which is a couple of hundred at the most. I spent years doing volunteer work in search and rescue and don't want to do that anymore. I am also already a dive master and volunteer diver for a couple of nature focused non profits. So no value in me going back to do either of those.

I am current so there is no currency issue. I am eventually going to end up at a major where I will fly either a Boeing or a Airbus. I have money that I can only use for specific purposes. One of those purposes is a new type rating. I could go for a Gulf Stream or some other biz jet but the likelihood of me using it is pretty low. The likelihood of me using a large passenger jet is pretty high. And I wouldn't have the stress of a employment related training event. So again a type rating seems to make the most sense. Otherwise I can let the time limit lapse and loose the remaining amount available.

Make sense?

Sure, makes sense.

But AGAIN, if you're military trained, and current, getting the type really isn't doing you any good, nor making you any more marketable. The airline is going to train you to fly the plane they WANT YOU TO FLY THE PLANE.

Buying it on your own subjects you to more of a failure (pink slip) than (insert airline's program here), whether AQP or not.

Is that communication getting through?

If it's all you can spend it on, then do it, it's YOUR (tax payer's) MONEY.

So you're saying if you had two candidates sitting in front of you. Both with the same background, training and hours. One has a type rating for the aircraft your company flies and one does not, you don't think the one WITH the type rating is a better hire?

Maybe if the calendar still read 2010... but it doesn’t.

Your thought process expired a decade ago. It’s 2020. Everything has changed.

But since you’re just not getting the hint, blow your entitlement on an Airbus type. WN will be flying them soon enough, and the 737 is at the end of the road anyways. And at least you’ll be comfortable.

I'd say go with the Boeing type. Take advantage of the opportunity to learn the FMC and MCP. I've flown both (75/76 and A320) for over 2,000 hours. Seems like there are more Boeings (73, 74, 75, 76, 777, 78, etc) with attainable flying at a fairly junior seniority. Let the airlines put you through the Airbus type if/when the opportunity presents itself.

Depends. Do they seem like a pretty humble, with it, up to date person I'd like to spend 4 days (or more) sitting next to? Or are they cocky, overconfident, ignorant, and not willing to listen/take advice from people that have a more recent knowledge/data base/experience with what's going on in the world? If the latter probably not.

It's been a long, long, long time since you've paid attention to airline interviews, performance base and targeted selection, hasn't it?

As to the bold, that's a huge improbability in this day and age, for the most part. Also, when an airline interviews candidates, they want to hire EVERY candidate that walks in the door. It's the candidates job to lose at that point. The type, or lack thereof went out the window as soon as the computer or human eyeballs screened/scored/selected them for interview. It doesn't become a Hunger Games competition once everyone shows up. If a pilot isn't hired, it's NOT because another pilot that day looked better on paper, its because the interviewers, and later a board made the determination that they weren't a good fit for the airline. NOT because their cert has less writing on it than another candidates.

I don't mean to be rude, but you're coming off pretty confident and secure that a major is your next stop. Gringo sums it up pretty well. But hey, you DON'T have to take our word for it. Nor anyone else's that's interviewed and secured multiple job offers in this most recent hiring wave. Best of luck in your endeavors/pursuits and spending that money on something useful.