135 to DAL
 

So how difficult is it to make the jumpy to Delta with 135 TPIC vs 121?

No more difficult than normal. But why Delta as opposed to Southwest, or FedEx?

Carl

I'd like to do long haul international so Fedex is definitely one to consider as well.

The top of my list is AA being a Dallas native but it's hard to say what will be competitive there and how long it will be before street hiring resumes.

A guy in my class was from Citation Shares, so it's possible. Put in the app, keep it updated, and do well on the interview.

Its not difficult at all if you have been flying turbine equipment. Things that will however get looked at our your degree and performance in college. Jobs you have held since then and any leadership positions you might have held. SWA may be the highest paid now but they got their by accident and neither the company or SWAPA want them to stay there. In the next 10 years the historical pay differences will realign. SWAPA is very aware of what the loss of a portion of SWA historical cost advantage has been to the bottom half of the seniority list there. That is why they have not made a single attempt at any significant boost in wages from what they achieved off the majors contracts before they all filed for Chapter 11. They have had multiple opportunity to attempt to do so.

Nothing like a little unrequested ALPA shilling.

I'm kind of curious what kind of 135 TPIC we're talking about. Caravan, BE99, Metroliner, Learjet, BBJ? Single pilot or crew?

Ahem. By the original poster's screenname I'm gonna take a stab and say it's multi-crew jet. From that background I'd guess he has a decent chance. But as an aside, has Delta really hired anyone from the Pt 135 single-pilot BE99/1900/SA227 freight dogging world in the last few cycles? Find it hard to believe you could compete with all the multi-crew 121 environment regional captains of the world, although Carl repeatedly insists there are a bajillion ways to Delta that don't undermine the profession. Senior widebody Captain cluelessness, or is there something to it?

135 to DAL
 

I'm in the same boat. TT=3500. TPIC=600.
I'm building TPIC at the rate of 200 hours per year but it's a sketchy fly by night 135 operation (ie violation or smoking hole is inevitable).

I'm leaving for somewhere else, any suggestions on where to go next in order to get to DAL?

Yes. Every Southwest pilot will tell you how worried they are that they are making too much money. They lay awake at night figuring out how to lower their paychecks so the company won't lose its historical cost advantage.

Thankfully, we have ALPA making sure that the Delta pilots are never confronted with that terrible dilemma.

Enter Content

I have flown with many pilots at AA that flew nothing but night freight turboprops and made the jump. It is very possible.

Make sure your resume and cover letter include your goal of getting passengers to sign up for credit cards.... that should help.

NICE! And dead on.

The 135 company I'm looking at is also single-pilot IFR turbine, but they hire guys with less than 1200TT as FO's, and upgrade them to CA when they hit it. Also, if what I hear from my friend who works there is true, the attrition will move so fast that pilots who upgrade can be training CA's in their first year as PIC. So there's also some multi-crew experience there too, in addition to the TPIC time. In about 3-5 years, how do you guys think this kind of time will sit with the majors?

I spent many years in the freight business before going to Delta. I went from turbo-prop to jet to heavy jet, all freight. There are two problems to building your time in the freight world, from what I saw. 1) You don't build time fast. I was in the on-demand world, so I was doing 400-500 a year. You'll get there eventually, but the commuter guys are going 900+ a year. If you're at a place where you fly a lot, not a problem. 2) There are very few people who make the move from small freight operators to the majors, so you have little chance of making contacts and networking. Which incidentally, is important these days with lots of people applying. If I hadn't gotten to know furloughed DAL guys at my last job, I might still be there. Don't underestimate the power of Letters of Recommendation.

This is exactly the spot that I'm in - I'm on the falcon and annual flight time is definitely lower than say at a regional.

A guy in my 04 AWA class came from flying King Air's Part 135. It happens.

I was at JUS for a while, got my Falcon 20 time there.

One way to stand out from the thousands applying is to become a check airman, IOE instructor, sim instructor or something like that.

It was a direct response to the post telling him to apply to SW.

Since accuracy has never been your forte, exactly what post told him to apply to SW?

Carl

It's true that Delta hires pilots that did not come from part 121 or military backgrounds.

Word to the wise, when it comes to pic time, what is permitted in part 91 and 135 world is not permitted here. Their pic time is strictly that time you were the person most responsible for the airplane even if you were the acting captain.

AA requirements in the last hiring cycle -

3500 civilian or
2000 military heavy or
1000 fighters

all had to have

1000 hrs turbine
500 hrs turbine PIC

helo time did not count towards any minimums.

Where the numbers absolutely cast in stone? No, there were random excepts. Guys said the typical candidate more likely had 5,000 hrs.

As far as AA hiring off the street? It's a crap shoot. Different guys will give you different answers. Absent the recent mediation award that allowed additional AE guys to flow to AA it might have already started based on historical furloughee recall acceptance rates. IMO if the economy stays stable, oil moderates, AA stays out of BK and recall acceptance rates follow the previous model, AA might be hiring off the street next year.

That's free advice, you can take it to the bank and cash it. ;)

I'd like to ask a different version of the original post....

Presently employed by a 121 regional, however the lifestyle is wrecking my marriage and family. I am actively pursuing two different Part 91 positions, either will provide better QOL and income than my current employer.

Now, let's say I have the opportunity to leave the regional 121 world in the near future in order to take better care of my family. Down the road in several years when kids are older and life is a little more stable, if I apply to either DAL or SWA (either would be great), how difficult of a sell will that be to an interview board?

btw...TPIC not an issue in my case

forgot to bid did exactly that which you speak of. You'll need to work on your photoshopping skills to make his caliber.

Thanks.

I've had folks say 'hold on for a few more years until retirements happen' and others say 'make the change'. No offense to you folks nearing retirement or anyone else for that matter, but I've got to have a better strategy for taking care of my family than waiting for mainline pilots to retire.

Best of luck to all of us.

Jayhaw
k, i believe the interviewers are human, and if you need to make a sideways move for your family, they would expect nothing less. Why they look for people that do not jump from job to job is to make sure the new hire would be loyal. Now they may question you if you are able to take the pay hit for the first few years.

The way it was explained to me many years ago, they have a certain template that they like to follow. you know, 4 year degree, Captain TPIC multi-crew, stand up guy. You always have to meet the mins. After that, If you lack in one department, you need to make up in another. so you have little TPIC, better have a good recommend(s), with a 4 year. No 4 year just 2 year, better have lots of TPIC etc. As far as how competitive the market will be in the future is anyone's guess. As many have said don not under estimate the power(POWER) of networking, from church, on layovers etc. I have found that most people would love to help a decent guy out.

Good Luck guys!!! hope AA hires a bunch off the street soon.

Jayhawk,

My advice... What's best for your family should always be your first consideration. Good luck. Hope to see you at Delta one of these days! (If you don't get to SWA first)

Thanks for this info - I couldn't find the hiring requirements anywhere else.

I did. I got to fly an awesome jet.

http://www.ioffer.com/img/item/703/2...B79lDcBET6.jpg

Sounds very familiar. Back in 2005, when I was at Coex, Delta was going into or in chapter 11 and the situation was bleak. I'd go jumpseat to EWR and the guys would try to talk me out of being an airline pilot. I'd then go to work in EWR and we all talked about getting out. AirTran was a mess at that time as well. I was commuting a lot and all non-cass to make no money as a E145 A for a company that hated its employees. I was done with 121 and needed to do something because even if DAL one day hired, like in years, they'd have such a backlog of people with an inside track before they'd find the average joe's like me.

That said, be careful with 91/135 operations when it comes to QOL. If it's a 91/135 job in town it'll beat commuting to an RJ job, however, most 91/135 jobs I've seen will not be as good as living in base under part 121 and especially major 121 in terms of schedule, pay, benefits and time off. For instance, I was on call 24/7 and it was a 6 day a week office job (tried to work from home Saturdays) with a hefty side of Chief Pilot/Captain duties in a 2 man operation. Sadly, the best part 91 job I ever saw in ATL was Bellsouth and they're gone now after the AT&T merger.

But corporate is a great experience as you learn to wear multiple hats and you build a resume. But the jobs remind me more of the dead end jobs of a radio station DJ. You can be great and liked but if a job ends (average 3 years btw) there might not be a job in town and the next one requires moving and who knows if the next will be as good as the first and so on.

You do what's best for your family, but I will say I could have been where I am now by staying at Coex as I did leaving. I might have even been at Delta sooner. Who knows. I'd still bid down to 88 reserve regardless. :D