I wish getting a good job was as easy as buying it.

Yes, but that doesn't mean they won't be interviewing in 2009. They have done this before. No hiring from the pool of candidates but they still interviewed a littile and added people to the pool. My point is that SWA does hire with low time and you do have to buy a 737 type rating.

Heyas,

Yea, I read PPnune every once in a while. It's like watching the BBC...yeah, they speak the language, but I don't understand a single thing they say....

Nu

I didn't see it myself, but, I flew with a half dozen Continental pilots furloughed after 01 that said one of the more shocking things to them was finding guys in their new hire class who had paid for their type via CAL and then got a job. Don't know the specifics, just know these CAL guys thought it was a bit... disappointing.

The only place I really ever see wanting you to pay for your own type are some corporate operators that want you to be current and typed to hire you. Beware.

I understand your goal to make a career of flying.
A type rating with low time in today's enviroment has little value and may actually hinder your career.
If unsuccessful at getting the Airbus job your type rating will signal to future employers that you are only out for the heavy equipment and have no interest in their open position flying a smaller aircraft. No corporate operator will touch you as you have "airline only" written all over you.
A smaller regional will question you motivation and enthusiasm to fly their "small equipment".
Get a 4 year degree. Build your time anyway you can in the quickest way while avoiding flying junk and all FAA violations.
Once you have established yourself with a few hours then think about a regiional or corporate rating. In the real world having a payed for type rating means just that. You paid for it but did not earn it. A type rating earned while gainfully employed carries real value. There is no substitute for experience.
Separate yourself from the pack with hard work and experience.
Good luck!

Wonder if they had that confused with the 73 interview prep guy who does sim prep for cal's interview in cal's 73 sims??? Never heard of that one...

I am guessing you are from India? Guys, if so, it's plausible for him to get a job...what he won't get is the interview without the Type Rating. The last two years applicants flooded from India (and everywhere else in Asia) over to the US to get ab-initio training and then back again to immediately take a job. Nowadays those same people are fighting just to get an interview. For every position available there are at least 50 applicants, usually more. Those citizens of India that want interviews at airlines like IndiGo, Air Asia, or (insert misc. other Asian carrier here) can still get the interview with low time, but those carriers are looking for candidates already typed...yes, it's nice if they have time in type, but more important that they have the type rating.

And no, it doesn't work the same if you're an American citizen and want to go fly overseas in Asia...then they WILL want you to have time in type, but with the new laws forcing countries to hire citizens as F/Os, it's becoming dog eat dog.

A year or two ago I would've said Indigo or Kingfisher or Atlas Jet in Turkey or Gulf Air, but India kicked out the foreign FOs and now has their own pilot excess, and even the gulf countries have large hiring pools of currently-working airline pilots waiting to go if they ever run more classes...even if India and the Gulf states were hiring foreigners, you would still need 2000+TT and plenty of turbine SIC/PIC just to get anywhere near an interview...

There are serious moral questions about paying for a type/line training hours, but even when you set those aside it still makes no sense from a financial/hiring standpoint...unless you have an Uncle that's a sheik or prince, you will not get a job with low-time and an a320 type...anywhere.

If he's Indian, he'll need to convert to Indian licenses and get an Indian radio telephony permit unless he has 100 hours on type, even if he is an Indian citizen...

True, but I was under the impression that they could fly for up to a year on their FAA certificate. Things change over there so fast though that it'll make your eyes spin!