Importance of the PIC for Majors!
 

I'm trying to make decisions on my regional path here.

How important is it to have 1000 PIC turbine for Majors now?
How important would it be in near future and in few years?
How many pilots do you know who got on with Majors with Zero turbine PIC?

Cheers!

I'm guessing most Major's insurance policies require they hire pilots with some amount of turbine PIC, how much is anyone's guess.

The real question is, how competitive are you as a prospect, if you are the only one in the room without 1000 turbine PIC?

Oh, and of the hundreds of pilots I've known who got hired, only one had little to no turbine PIC, only her solo time in a T37 and T38. She was hired at American in 1986 with a total time of 750, no left seat time in anything, except a Cessna while in training. There were many guys in my Guard unit who had many thousands of hours PIC in a KC135 who were not hired, but she was a chick and it was 1986 so...

Only SWA requires it. I would much rather spend the time networking than trying to guess which regional will give you TPIC quicker

I don't know the importance of having it to get on, but I can tell you first hand the challenge of not having it...

In 1998 I was a copilot for Chautauqua on the Jetstream. A lot of my colleagues were going to work for a little airline in Florida called AirTran. I had never heard of them, but they just merged with Valujet and were hiring so I sent a résumé. In June of that year I was hired as a DC9 copilot. By October I was furloughed. I was fortunate to be re-hired by CHQ at the bottom of the list (naturally).

In October of 99, still with zero PICT I was hired by USAir. In march of 02 I was furloughed again (along with 1149 others from my airline alone)

Very few airlines were hiring in the wake of 9/11 so competitive qualifications were extremely high. While a lot of my friends were being picked up by Vanguard, Eastwind, ATA, or even Southwest... I was forced to get a job flying copilot on a Dornier prop for PSA.

In Nov 02 PSA said they would have to Furlough, so before that happened I quit and went to Comair.

Now I had been flying as an airline pilot for 8 years and was still bottom guy on the list at a commuter.

In 2004 I took a job with a corporate flight department and finally upgraded in 2007. I had over 8000 hours before I logged my first hour of PIC turbine.

That's a whole lot of lost revenue over the years compared with others in my peer set who DID have the PICT.

Now I could have gone back to USAir and be set for life right now... But in 07 it didn't make sense to do that. They were still in bankruptcy and it didn't look as though they would survive. Made the best decision I could based on the info I had at the time. Unfortunately it was the wrong one.

I wish you luck with your decision. Hopefully it works out better than mine has.

Having PIC means you have been in charge of an aircraft. Although a lot of airlines don't require it, you pretty much need to have it to get on. There are always exceptions. But, chances are you will need some pilot in command time. I think going forward that it is going to be pretty competitive for the next 6-10 years. There are a lot of guys out there with a lot of PIC that are wanting to get on at a major. That being said, one of the guys that was a copilot for me at a 135 operator just got hired at Airways without any turbine PIC.

Obviously it can help. It's not the end-all-be-all. Personally I found the first thousand or two TPIC to be hugely beneficial in my development as a pilot. 95% of the time things go relatively smooth. It's those times when you're on RSV, get sent last minute to MEX with a new FO and some weather where it's really up to you. Nobody is there to hold your hand and they're depending on your experience. Hopefully as an FO you did a similar trip and took something from it.


But I'd say if you have a couple thousand TPIC, a degree and a clean record you're in great shape going forward.

In the meantime network, do an internship, and keep your nose clean.

Anything to enhance your Resume is a positive thing. PIC is a good thing as Most Major Airlines prefer it as they are hiring Future Captains.

PIC time is always good to have. Being a Captain isn't just being a Good experienced Pilot. It is more about making good decisions, planning ahead and managing your crew with good leadership skills. Having a resume that shows this will be an asset.

But is having 1000 hours PIC in a Beech Baron or Metro liner better than having 1000hrs First Officer time in a B-747 or A-300 flying internationally?

Quality Pilot time is just as important. If you can get First Officer Heavy Time flying for a Non Sched or Charter outfit can equally enhance your resume imo.

Optimally having both is best. Good luck

Importance of the PIC for Majors!
 

When you find out, let us know!

In my humble opinion from past experience:
PIC time in an aircraft that is similar to what the company flies, is valuable, as is SIC time in that same aircraft.
Depending on the airline, the quality of time is equally important to the seat you occupy.
Having said that, TPIC will always be a plus in getting the call. Even though, there are thousands of RJ captains with 1000 TPIC.
In some cases having TPIC might hurt you, just like having too much time.
I know many competent and experienced pilots who are not getting calls. They are considered overqualified, and high risk.
No one really knows what each airline is looking for. Even if we knew, the standards change constantly.
The greatest challenge for many is, to enjoy the job while trying to get hired.
After all, flying is fun, or we would not do it, right?