Peter Peterlini

There's a reason for that.

No kidding?

Alright, that's enough smarm from me. Now for an attempt at a helpful response:

First, stop financing flight training. In case you haven't noticed, the pandemic response has been nothing short of cataclysmic to our industry. There is no reason to take on debt for an expensive Part 141 flight school just so you can get your licenses a few months faster. Nobody knows for certain when regional hiring will resume. But what is certain is that when they do hire again, they'll have a glut of resumes from folks with thousands of hours of jet time. What you really need to know is this: when will the regionals resume hiring folks who just hit R-ATP minimums? By the time that happens, you'll have had plenty of time to get your remaining ratings and build your way to 1500 hours.

Second, the CFI thing. Look, very few people get into aviation because they feel it's their "destiny" to fly around in tin cans with dangerous student pilots in a highly cyclical industry. They do it because, like you, they want to fly the heavy metal, and flight instructing is for most people the best way to get those hours. Last year, likely the best year in your lifetime for low-time pilots, it wasn't easy to get one of those 500-hour SIC jobs. You pretty much had to be willing to pack your life into your car and move to some small town in Alaska or some other BFE place. But again, there are thousands of jet pilots who are either on the street already or will be on the street soon, and many of them have no marketable skills other than flying. They will get those formerly "low-time" jobs long before you might. Consider those jobs gone for someone with under 1000 hours.

That segues into my third point. You mentioned financing flight training. Again, don't do it, but a corollary to that is don't do it in the collegiate/university setting. Don't waste your money on any aviation-related degree, otherwise when the next downturn comes you'll be in the same place as the pilots I just mentioned (forced to fly for peanuts because you've got no other skills). Again, it'll be years before even 1500 hours lands you a regional gig. Universities will try to sell you on the whole 1000 or 1250-hour R-ATP minimums, but again, by the time regionals hire at those minimums they'll hire a 1500-hour guy/gal just as well, and you're going to have plenty of time to get those hours, and then some.

Look, you don't want to instruct. That's fine. Neither did most of us. But there's a reason it's the traditional pathway. And yes, there are those who'll tell you not to do it if your heart's not in it. But if your heart's really dedicated to the end goal (airlines), you'll suck it up and be the best instructor you can be.

seabass

Back in 2001 I only had 10 hours of multi time and landed a job flying right seat for Air Cargo Carriers on the SD-3 Shorts. It was a fun job and building right seat multi turbine.
I never instructed and never went to the regionals.

Good luck!

Seabass

cjm92

It definitely hard to find those jobs. I was recently hired by a 135 flying a PC-12 with only 600hrs...I also work at FlightSafety and typed in a Challenger so I think that helped me...but you never know. Also....the company laid everyone off so I'm currently unemployed until further notice.

TiredSoul

Let me be blunt.
You really shouldn’t care about what you want.
This stage in the game it’s not about what you want it’s about what you need to do in order to get to what you want to do.
If CFI is such a big hang up for you....well good luck the next 2-3 years.

VegasChris

Just some information from someone that was recently in your spot-

The only job offer I probably could have had without CFI was flying the canyon as SIC at Grand Canyon/Scenic. It would have been on their work schedule and it wouldn't have been for the 25 dollars a flight hour I can get at a school as a CFI.

I chose to CFI for a school and a little freelance on my own in my own plane and privately for other plane owners.

Every other 135 wanted 1k minimum. More multi time the better.

Things have changed and now I cannot even get students at the flight school as the few students that are still training go to the salary CFIs and not the part time hourly people like me.

I am almost to my R-ATP minimums anyways so I have pretty much stopped flying and won't go back until the dust settles and regionals are hiring at minimums and paying for the CTP course- and I think its going to be a while. I might even pay for my own CTP course if they go back to hiring at minimums.

Only things to get around being a CFI-

1. Know someone with a 91 operation and get SIC time (hopefully the PIC is also a MEI)

2. Aerial survey/pipeline- little money, bad schedule, probably bad location.

3. Maybe the canyon- but don't count on it. Rumors are the entire summer season might be cancelled.

4 Get extremely lucky someplace else or have a right to work (green card) in another country.

tlove482

Pipeline isn't bad money for a first job. I started at 25 an hour 10 years ago. The schedule was pretty much an office schedule. 5 days a week with the weekends off and home every night.

Sent from my BTV-W09 using Tapatalk

headgs

Classic lol. I have 3 type ratings and 2600TT (peanuts compared to most here!!, yet still 10x your experience), was flying a large cabin biz jet from the left seat loving life. I'd now feel incredibly lucky to find a CFI job let alone a right seat turbine gig. How on earth do you plan on NOT instructing is beyond me. Triggered.

Bonanzer

Get the cfi. Most of the people I know that got their career going without a cfi had a family member with a plane, lots of money behind them, or a really good connection somewhere. With the airlines about to furlough, you will be competing with much more marketable pilots. Plus I don’t care what people say you can’t log right seat time in a single pilot aircraft, ie king air or Cj.

Also I didn’t think I would like instructing but I ended up really enjoying it. It will definitely make you a better pilot. It was also one of the cheapest ratings I got, just a lot of study time. Good luck!

ratcht9

I don't think I have ever heard anyone say, "boy, I wish I hadn't bothered to go for that CFI certificate." (Possible caveat being the guy who tried but couldn't get through it - and whoever that is does not go very far in the profession.)

I know I have never heard anyone say, "I sure don't like walking around with this CFI certificate in my pocket." (Possible caveat being the guy who got busted by the Feds while in an instructional role, and even in that case it's nothing more than a temporary hassle most of the time.)

I'm sure I've never been with another pro pilot who looked at me and said, "you hold the CFI and I do not; sure sucks to be you." (And I can't think of any caveats.)

CFI Guy

You can log SIC time under 135 (even if not required per the type certification) if it's in the OpSpec. Here's the AC if you are interested.

https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/.../AC_135-43.pdf

I just learned about this during my online FIRC. Another interesting regulation change is instrument pilots can now log approaches in a simulator for currency without a CFII present.