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Part 135 Part 135 commercial operators

To take 135 job or not?

Old 05-31-2006, 05:00 PM
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Default To take 135 job or not?

Hi everyone,
I'm a fresh college graduate with 297 hrs. Like most everyone else, my plans were to flight instruct until I got enough hours to apply to the regionals. (I have my CFI/II/MEI.)

Then I got a job offer from a part 135 in Hawaii, SIC position in C208B(Iflywinnebagos mentioned the company in his 4/26 thread.)
This job seems to have pros and cons (a major con including the $8/hr wage, as Iflywinnebagos mentioned) but I concluded that overall, it will be good experience, especially for someone at an early stage in their career like me.

Now I'm not sure if I'm making the right decision. My goal is to get to the airlines as soon as possible. I know about now, regionals require about 100-200 ME time. If I took this 135 position, I'll be getting about 50-60 flight hrs a month, and those will be only SIC SE turboprop time. How much is that worth and will regionals even consider me with SIC SE time even if its turboprop? Do airlines place any value on the kind of experience I'll get from the kind of flying I'll do in Hawaii?

I'm not trying to be picky, being such a low-time pilot. But I do have another option, my previous plan - flight instructing - and I'm wondering if that will be a better and/or faster path to the airlines. (If I instructed, I would be working for a major university so I would have a lot of work. Said university is in a hiring frenzy right now for CFIs due to the large number of instructors who continue to leave for the regionals.)

FYI, I personally don't have a preference for either job.. I think they'll be equally challenging yet satisfying in different ways. I just want to pick the job that would be better for my future.
Please help, your words of wisdom will be much appreciated.
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Old 05-31-2006, 05:07 PM
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I know what airline you're talking about. I was offered a job by them as well, but chose not to take it. However I was lucky enough to land a job flying right seat of a Jetstream. For the pay that this place is offering, and how expensive it is in Hawaii, I would say do the instructing gig. There are places that pay pretty good as far as instructors go.
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Old 05-31-2006, 11:10 PM
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I didn't know a C208 required an SIC.

I'd rather flight instruct. At $8/hr you'll have negative cash flow as long as you're working for them and my guess is that SIC SE turbine time isn't worth much in the logbook.
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Old 06-01-2006, 07:08 AM
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Originally Posted by jdsavage
I know what airline you're talking about. I was offered a job by them as well, but chose not to take it. However I was lucky enough to land a job flying right seat of a Jetstream. For the pay that this place is offering, and how expensive it is in Hawaii, I would say do the instructing gig. There are places that pay pretty good as far as instructors go.
this is sound advice, in this day and age single engine time is pretty much useless, and at that 8$ an hour you will be putting out money just to live in Hawaii.
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Old 06-01-2006, 08:30 AM
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At that pay rate you could not even live on the beach in a tent and stay out the red margin. Personally, I feel it would be more beneficial to you to instruct and accumulate time. Although you are getting exposure to turbines, what is beneficial about reading checklists, flip'in switches, and making radio calls for captain in a 208?
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Old 06-01-2006, 08:46 AM
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Go do the CFI gig for awhile. You'll be glad you did, and so will the airline who chooses to interview you.
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Old 06-01-2006, 01:44 PM
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Get the PIC time as a CFI now! You will be better off down the road. The money isn't great but the experience is. The transition pay wise to a commuter will be easier to handle. Good luck.
 
Old 06-01-2006, 01:48 PM
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Unless you have a substantial saving account or generous parents, the high COL in Hawaii will eat you alive at that level of pay.
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Old 06-04-2006, 10:55 PM
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Hey kalyx522 I have actually been looking at doing something simular....same plane different company. Now the thing with the caravan is that SIC in it is pretty useless....but once you hit day vfr 135 min and you are the sole manitpulater(sp) of the controls you can log it as PIC when you are in day VFR conditions.
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Old 06-05-2006, 02:58 AM
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Originally Posted by jetracer5
Hey kalyx522 I have actually been looking at doing something simular....same plane different company. Now the thing with the caravan is that SIC in it is pretty useless....but once you hit day vfr 135 min and you are the sole manitpulater(sp) of the controls you can log it as PIC when you are in day VFR conditions.
Logging single engine Cessna time as PIC is not valuable whether it is a 208 or 152. It's all the same. SIC time in a single engine Cessna is less than worthless. Go CFI at a busy school where you can fly a lot and get some multi engine time. Then get any multi-engine job you can.
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