Path to regionals ?
 

Good morning,

Just have a few questions ! I'd precise that I'm not a native English speaker, so I just hope not to do too much mistakes and I apologize in advance for this. To introduce myself, I'm 18 and live in Europe.

So I'm just planning to build my aviation career in USA in the next 2 years (assuming that I'd obtain my Green Card in 2018 or 2019).

1) After getting basic qualifications and CFI, is it easy to find work as CFI ?

2) Is it better to work as a CFI until 1500h or just make hundreds of hours before going to a part 91/135 carrier (in order to increase IR and multi skills) and build up hours to 1500h there ? What is the best to have a solid, competitive resume ?

3) Okay, so... Maybe a stupid question but let's go... :rolleyes: Is a failed checkride a big mistake in a career ? Does it occur even if we are very hard-working and serious ?

4) I saw that regionals are hiring many and many people. So, the " classic " path is to build 1500h, and then you have a lot of chance, if you do things well, to be considered by regionals, get an interview and a CJO ?

5) Just had a look about many threads here since 6 months. Majors are recruiting but I don't understand why the average joining a Legacy is about 7000 hours (according to " class drops " topics) and we can see in some topics that there are new hires who have 2000/3000/4000 hours without military. Is there a reason for that ?

6) Several companies (mainly legacies I assume) required a Bachelor. Is it an hard requirement ? Is the best to get a Bachelor and them starting training or just starting training to lunch the career and then passing an Online degree (ERAU for example) ?



Thanks in advance, any answer is much appreciated, just want to learn and prepare ! :)

The path to the regionals is the ability to fog a mirro after acquiring the minimum time requirements.

True
However passing training is another thing.

1) right now it is very easy to find work as a CFI. In fact you will likely have your choice of flight schools to work at.

2) I can't answer the second half of that, but many 135 operations will come with training contracts or something similar that will either force you to buy your way out or stick it out through the end of the contract. If you get your CFII and do a moderate amount of instrument work your skills will probably be enough to get you through. You will also fly a lot more as a CFI therefore getting your hours quicker.

3) generally, one checkride failure isn't a big deal, especially if it was early on in training (or your cfi ride since that has a historically high rate of first time failures) and especially if you can explain why it happened and what you learned. I would be more worried about traffic tickets to be honest.

4) yes, there are a few things in interviews to know. Not to be dismissive but by the time you get close to applying you should know a few people working for regionals who can give you the scoop on what they're going to ask about. This also changes rapidly so any advice I'd give you now would be obsolete by the time you're doing interview prep.

5) I can't give you an informed answer unfortunately as I havent been through interviews with majors at all. Sometimes people have connections, sometimes they can check enough boxes like a masters degree, or instructor experience, military exerience is golden. But there are a few people who get offers that were just at the right place at the right time.

6) as far as degrees go, it kind of depends. A lot of people go to American Airlines Wholly owned regional airlines because they "flow" up to American and don't have to have a degree. To get hired at delta, southwest, or united (who don't have a flow at the moment) you need a degree, and according to rumor for delta it needs to be from a well known school and not taking more than 4 years. Again, I'm ignorant on that matter having only heard rumors. I think most would advise you get a degree anyways in case you decide a flying career isn't for you. 4 year degrees are expensive in the US but there are ways to work through school and minimize debt, or scholarships are an option. Or, many degrees from foreign universities carry the same weight here.

Best of luck!

Getting a green card will take effort. Paying for training will also be a concern as virtually no bank will give a new resident any kind of loan without a co-signer or an established work history at a minimum.

Get your resident visa, go get a first class medical, and pay for training in cash. Avoid debt. Also ask yourself, why do you want to come here and work here? You will be paid very poorly as a regional pilot. Very poorly in contrast to what you will have spent on your training. Can you work in Europe? Is there a European carrier willing to sponsor you as an "ab initio" cadet?

By the way your English is fine. Don't sweat that part at all. Best of luck to you.

Just to clarify this slang expression. ‘Ability to fog a mirror’ means as you exhale a mirror held by your nose will get foggy. In other words, the base requirement, besides hours and ability to work (green card, etc.) is you must be living, not dead. No higher requirement. Okay, that is a bit simple. If you are a convicted murder, you will not get hired.

As others have said, the ability to pass training is more stringent. It has not changed (although many airlines will give a new hire more sim training). As the standards to be hired for training (Conditional Job Offer - CJO) has become lower yet the training standards have remained the same, there are more failures during training. This is not a surprise.

Under any circumstances do not get a 4 year degree in aviation. Get it in something useful and employable. The airlines are historically unstable and you want to have options if things don’t work out how you planned. Do your training in a cost effective way. Don’t get sucked in by the fancy 141 academies that cost a fortune. They are basically not worth what they cost.

PowderFinger & msprj2 -> thanks for the answer !

Pony Express -> very useful, much appreciated, thanks ! :) Sounds better to be part of regional which offers a move to a major so. Is there an official institution which allows to know if the degree that we are going to have is recongnized or this process depends of the company ?

Quarryman -> For sure is not going to be easy, even I got a GC. I plan to study/work in Europe before in order to pay my training or so ; you are totally right with your suggestion ! Yes I can work in Europe. As I'm French I will be able to attempt Air France ab-initio program in 2 years. But it has been closed for 9 years and the financial lost due to their strike may likely induce a closing again according the chief of the program... So, even if it's an extraordinary opportunity, I have just have to wait and see if it remains open, I will obviously attempt. Thanks a lot for the advices ! :)

TransWorld -> thanks you very much for the explanation, I didn't understand this expression. Roger that for the failures !

Sflpilot -> thanks for the advices ! Yes, right now I'm already looking to find out a school and... it's a mess. Very hard to know which school would be fit. I've heard of Chandler Air Services in AZ and US Aviation Academy in TX but the better is to be on the spot I believe.

Glenn, what part of Europe you in? There are a couple of European companies you can go to, that will pay for everything and give a job when your done with much less hours than we require here. For instance, lufthansa, has an abinitio program that we'll take you from 0 to 250 hrs then into the cockpit of a A319. And you will be training here in Arizona. Also swiss air has the same deal. I would do some inquires of your companies where you are, before you decide to come here. We here in the US, have the worse deal ever, and it's all thanks to ALPA, they have been screwing pilots over for decades.

Hello Flyguy, thanks for your answer ! Sorry for the late reply, I did have very important exams these last days...

Yes, I know that some European companies are offering an ab-initio program but the problem is that I'm French, so even if, thanks to EU, I'm able to consider this programs, I have to be fluent (or almost) in German.

I'm ready to learn german but it will take something like 3 yrs I think, then there's psychotest and all of that, so it's a lot of investment for something that could never happen but I agree that in theory this the best deal : right seat in a legacy, cost close to 0€... But it's very long (I can't learn german full time with my studies) and very uncertain due to psychometrics...

The last two options I see in Europe are Air France ab initio program (will be able to pass it in 2 years if it's still open) or Wizz Air Cadet program (62k€ and then you have the job).

But I see what you mean when you are talking about those programs and it makes me think once again so thanks !