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Will I have trouble finding a 135 job?

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Will I have trouble finding a 135 job?

Old 09-15-2017, 07:46 AM
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Post Will I have trouble finding a 135 job?

I'm a senior in college and will be graduating soon. I've been flying for the past 4 years and have my commercial multi and single. Here are my stats:

Total Time: 708
PIC: 631
Cross Country: 455
Instrument: 102
Night: 37

With my time and 4 year degree, do I have a decent shot at a 135 company? I don't have my CFI and really don't want to instruct. Do I have enough hours to pass on instructing and go with a 135 operator as SIC? Thanks!
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Old 09-15-2017, 07:58 AM
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Can't hurt to apply. In my experience lurking here it seems that 135's hire a broad spectrum of experience. You'll have guys getting on as SICs with 1000hrs and others with only 330.

Just like any other job out there, success is almost always a combination of persistence, experience, how well you market yourself, and connections.
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Old 09-16-2017, 03:44 PM
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Originally Posted by airplane401 View Post
I'm a senior in college and will be graduating soon. I've been flying for the past 4 years and have my commercial multi and single. Here are my stats:

Total Time: 708
PIC: 631
Cross Country: 455
Instrument: 102
Night: 37

With my time and 4 year degree, do I have a decent shot at a 135 company? I don't have my CFI and really don't want to instruct. Do I have enough hours to pass on instructing and go with a 135 operator as SIC? Thanks!
Should be a good chance. I don't see your multi time, so sometimes that can be a factor. While a lot tend to require 1000-1500TT, it's not uncommon to see the 500-800TT range as well, and recently Contour was posting BE400 SIC with a 400TT/100ME minimum. AB jets has posted looking for...700 to 800 I think. Cape Air and Tradewind want simialr, and Grand Canyon does too (for single pilot). I also knew a guy at a 135 operation that advertised 1000TT but said they could consider 700-800 if they had CFI. So sometimes listings post hard minimums, but not always.
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Old 09-18-2017, 05:44 PM
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Originally Posted by airplane401 View Post
I'm a senior in college and will be graduating soon. I've been flying for the past 4 years and have my commercial multi and single. Here are my stats:

Total Time: 708
PIC: 631
Cross Country: 455
Instrument: 102
Night: 37

With my time and 4 year degree, do I have a decent shot at a 135 company? I don't have my CFI and really don't want to instruct. Do I have enough hours to pass on instructing and go with a 135 operator as SIC? Thanks!
Like the other folks said above its all about timing and it varies. The day i got my commercial multi i called a pilot at the company i work for and asked where to send my resume. I wanted to try to talk to somone so i called whatever number i could find and made it to the chief pilot who told me to check back in with him. A week later i called asking the status and he told me he'd schedule an interview a week later. A week after the phone interview i had an in person interview and a job offer. I had 306 hrs, maybe 15-20 hrs multi (all instruction plus the checkride) and in 2-3 months i was sitting right seat in a crewed turboprop at CFM building twin turbine time, on salary, at 40-60 hrs a month, sleeping at home every night. The same company also hired FO's with similar qualifications as yourself. I didnt go to a flight college and my 4 year degree is in Mechanical Engineering but i dont think that had much of an effect on it (im trying to go military was my reasoning there, plus know how to run the calculus to actually design a jet engine was cool to me) I just hit it at a good time and was persistant. The turbojet seems to be harder to get with the low time but its possible. I fly the Jetstream 31/32 for CFM. No autopilot and old but building good time and great skills and im quite happy. I think the company actually listed on the website they wanted 1000 hrs for it. So dont always believe everything you see on the internet.
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Old 09-22-2017, 06:49 PM
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Originally Posted by airplane401 View Post
I'm a senior in college and will be graduating soon. I've been flying for the past 4 years and have my commercial multi and single. Here are my stats:

Total Time: 708
PIC: 631
Cross Country: 455
Instrument: 102
Night: 37

With my time and 4 year degree, do I have a decent shot at a 135 company? I don't have my CFI and really don't want to instruct. Do I have enough hours to pass on instructing and go with a 135 operator as SIC? Thanks!
Probably, but do you really want to?

Do you want to get a phone call on your first “day off” in a week telling you to ASAP show for a 3 day open-ended trip that gets extended to 14days? My guess is no.

Most 91/135 companies will require a training bond/contract these days too. 1-3 year contracts are fairly common so when “the SUCK” starts creeping in on you, just remember, if you quit you owe them money for your training (yes, I know it’s BS but that’s their business).

My recommendation, just grind it out teaching and apply to a regional early.
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Old 09-22-2017, 09:14 PM
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Honestly (from my experience) I would just go ahead and get your CFI. I learned so much from teaching and gained hours quickly. You could get lucky and get a job at your hours but if you spend just a couple months at a mom and pop shop and get some quick time and hit 4 digits I think you are more likely to get a job.

Being a CFI let me get my foot in the door to a couple of 135 interviews. Both were impressed by my time spent as a CFI and both offered me a job.

I would also make sure you dont sign anything without reading everything and doing research into a company. Dont just go with the first offer you get. There are plenty of scummy companies out there that love to abuse pilots, but it seems you have come to the right place to dig up dirt on certain operators.

Good luck job hunting!
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Old 09-26-2017, 01:17 PM
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Default Accurate posts

All the posts anove are definitly accurate. My company doesnt have a training contract but thats rare. Having a CFI is always a way to go. Being able to have over 1000 hes turbine before you hit 1500 is nice but its not ciritcal in my opinion.
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