QRH Bingo

I am not sure how many applications they are sorting through or how long it takes, but I would say you are competitive so try to give it a little time.

JohnBurke

Retired airline pilots jumping at the change to glob onto on-call 24/7 jobs in light piston aircraft? A few maybe. Out of sheer boredom. And a desire to recapture their youth (when pilots actually spend a few years gaining experience flying freight, etc, before going to an airline.

A requirement for a few, paltry hours of multi time (250 hours multi is not very much) to satisfy insurance isn't new, nor is it a large burden.

Insurance isn't a "regulatory agency," but it does cost money and what it will and won't cover are strong influences in who will or will not be qualified to be considered for employment. It's been that way for a long, long time. Employers can choose how much they want to pay: inexperienced pilots can be hired, but will cost an employer more. If an employer can do better and pay less, the employer probably will.

Conversely, I've seen employers, quite a few of them, that won't hire experienced pilots, but want the bare minimum of experience; the employer pays peanuts, flies junk aircraft with less than stellar schedules, and knows that low-time pilots are more likely to put up with it, and also to stick around to get their hours logged.

Being on call around the clock isn't illegal, so long as being on call allows for legal rest prior to responding for duty. If, for example, an employer requires the employee to answer the phone 24/7, but then gives the employer 12 hours to take the flight after the call, the employee has prospective rest, and is legal.

Being on a phone-tether 24/7 with a few minutes notice to respond, is not legal, and is well-established in FAA Chief Legal Counsel letters of interpretation. It's not a gray area.

As for "freight dogs" being "dead," not remotely so.

SonicFlyer

According to the guy a few posts up, the FAA doesn't care to enforce it

Jdub2

You would still need 30 in 168

BaltimorePilot

How many hours on average would an FO gain in a year?? I’m only asking because Berry seems pretty attractive as a low time gig for somebody looking to grind it out before the airlines. I know it’s an on-call schedule as well so the hours can vary. For context. I’m a low time guy ready to hit the ground running so I’ll probably hear the usual “just get a CFI job”. Mainly trying to compare this to another outfit to make a better decision on what to do.

QRH Bingo

There is no straight forward answer for this due to various factors, the economy being the biggest influence. Today's answer will be ~600 to 800~. Tomorrow's answer may be less than 500. I flew 800 hours in my first 12 months. It also depends on how many weekends you work (required to work 1 every 4 weeks). If you're willing and able to pick up weekends, that will increase your overall flight time and decrease hours if you prefer to give up your assigned weekends. My answer today would be that it's a good place to grind out some hours to 1,500 and move on. Tomorrow, it may not. As long as you're willing to accept the potential that anything can happen, and you could be stuck there longer than desired (like any aviation job), Berry will give you quality flight time.

BaltimorePilot

Yea that’s completely understandable but compared to other 135 jobs that do hire “low time” pilots they seem very attractive. The pay is definitely unmatched and they even fly to some destinations in Canada and Mexico. Like i said I’m already aware of the QOL and that it can be demanding but the pay kinda balances the labor aspect of it. Also being able to gain a type rating and fly the aircraft unlike other companies that fly single pilot aircraft such as a PC-12, or a caravan or even some non-turbine aircraft like a stationair for parachute ops i feel like it opens more doors.

QRH Bingo

Just to clarify your expectation, as an FO you don't get a true type rating; you get one that is limited to SIC duties only. Most companies (airlines) do not consider this a type rating for application or resumé purposes. Of course, stick around to accept an upgrade and you'll receive a full type rating without restrictions.

BaltimorePilot

I honestly didn’t know that. I thought once a person got typed that was it but because they weren’t captain they couldn’t log PIC. But even if you only have SIC duties, because the Berry fleet requires 2 crew members they can still gain some crew experience and skills handling a turbine aircraft and swapping responsibilities like PF and PM

QRH Bingo

It all depends on how the type rating training/checking/application (IACRA) had been completed. If I recall correctly, for domestic operations, a type rating isn't even required for the FO but international ops require the SIC to have a "type rating". It's easier, quicker and above all, cheaper, to provide a SIC type rating only for FO's.

As far as the line flying goes, duties are shared and (mostly) equal between the crew. PM vs PF duties are typically alternated every leg and you will gain experience working in a 2-crew environment which will help later when transitioning to 121 ops.