The biggest problem is the stupid bridge program crap that a lot of the regionals do. I personally spoke with HR about a person that I have flown with and before even hearing the hours my friend had, they wanted to know if he was in a bridge program. I said no, and it was over. Tell him to apply online if he has 1000/100. I rebuked, asking how recent new hires with 250/25 are better than someone with 1200/75. They said it was because 9Es HR has toured MTSU and decided that they do a good job training pilots.

Nothing against MTSU, RAA and all the other bridge programs. But 250/25 is NEVER better than 1200/90. We see this at so many regionals. Getting a job is not about how good of a pilot you are. It is about how much money you spend. This industry is definitely moving to a pay for your job industry. It is becoming harder and harder to be old fashioned and earn your job.

A) Not saying that 250 hours is better, BUT, first of all, at MTSU we DON'T send 250 hour pilots to Pinnacle. I had the lowest total time of the bridge program hires from here, and I had 670/55 at the hire date, at which point I allready had an interview offer with ASA.

B) Second, a 700 hour pilot with glass cockpit training, CRM training, and FMS training might be more of a sure thing for them than a 1200 hour guy with no glass time and doesn't even know what FMS stands for. (Not that your friend fits either category, only defending the program).

I'm not saying that the program makes Bob Hoover level pilots or anything, I'm jsut saying that maybe the bridge thing isn't always as bad as some people make it out to be. I also think that there are probably a few guys out there that only badmouth bridge programs because they weren't presented with the opportunity when they were in school.

Bottom line, we're in a dynamic industry that is always changing and the hiring trends and flight training changes just as much, as it is required to, just to keep up.

And for what it's worth, I was offered an interview with Pinnacle in February long before we even had the bridge program up and working. I drove to Memphis and a friend walked me around and introduced me to everyone, resumes in hand, then they offered me an interview date on the spot. Due to the requirement to graduate first, plus after hearing I'm from a school they were devolping the bridge with, they decided to put me on their list for the bridge instead. Either way, I still got a job.

Never say never, my friend.

It very well could be that the low-time pilot with bridge program CRJ sim experience is better suited for a regional job than somebody flying around the patch in their own 152 for 1,000 hours.

But I agree with you that an HR department shouldn't categorically dismiss someone on the basis of NOT having gone through some kind of preferred (expensive) program.

Once again, the industry is always changing. The industry isn't old fashioned anymore, so we gotta change with it.

"and doesn't even know what FMS stands for"

Who cares? It ain't no thing. I had to learn it coming from the 727 to the 757 and, you know what, I'm dang glad I got to fly a real jet before one with an FMS. The FMS is no big thing, and you gotta go if it's broke.

The more experience guys have before entering this industry the better. All I know is 300 hours doesn't cut it....period.

Good point de. I had about 6 years worth of Collins FMS experience and the hardest part of training at my new gig was trying to unlearn all that while trying to learn Honeywell. I was wishing I had no FMS experience at all.

How did a Mesaba post turn into a 9E thread? Seriously though reading all these posts about low timers makes me feel like I am arguing with my dad over who is a better baseball player. Is Bonds better than Hank? God, yes, and why, because of technology. For Godsake, I probably have more NDB approaches logged, some to mins, does that mean anything? NO, why? Because they dont exist at DCA, JFK, DTW, LGA, I am a better pilot than you though, because I have a few more hours, but no CRJ training.

I will not argue with GliderCFI or Islandhopper (not sure who he actually is..) but I went to MTSU, and if I had not already been hired I would have had all the "requirements" for the bridge program. I was hired with just shy of 1000 with 240 multi. My sim partner had over 1500 hours and an ATP rating- he was "asked to leave" at sim #3 because it was just too much for him (more or less multitasking and situational awareness). There was another guy in my class with over 2500 hours with almost 2000 hours in lears that left around sim #7- I wasn't his partner but supposedly the automation was more than he could handle. In my opinion the difference between 250 hours and 1250 hours (about what I have now) isn't necessarily the ability to actually fly, or have situational awareness, or manipulate the FMS- it is experience to know what to do when you realize (with situational awareness) that there is something that needs to be done NOW so you don't get into a "situation" later. There were plently of low-timers in my class that got through the schoolhouse fine- we all learned the same stuff, but once they got to the line were they as much of an asset to the CA's they were flying with compared to someone who had more flight experience? I think that is the case. Flying glass is significantly easier (scan=look straight) and anyone under age 30 at this point in the game can deal with learning an FMS. I think my smartphone is more complicated than an FMS to learn! In my opinion the 2 hardest things to do in the jet are 1.) A VISUAL approach (dont do them often, requires a ton more mental planning and prep) and 2.) being a crew and leaving the CFI ticket in the back pocket- no matter if you have 500 or 2500 hours- the CA will teach you something whether he realizes it or not. Especially if he is a guy that has thousands of hours in the plane. My last trip I flew with a Checkairman and I learned a TON. He showed me a lot of little quirks and rules of thumb that made the job much easier. I have almost 300 hours in the CRJ and every flight I learn something new, but its not the basics that he (the checkairman) said he is teaching to new guys. IOE is to acclimate someone from a training to a real world environment, not to give basic instruction while acclimating someone at M.74. So I am not for or against bridge programs, I feel 9E's HR dept has their priorities in reverse order- they should go for the qualified apps, then if they are still short they should go to bridge programs. There are plenty of guys with 250 hours that will do better than a 1200 hour guy, but more times than not a 1200 hour guy will be a much better asset to the cockpit. Experience is priceless, thats why on a resume the focal point is flight time- not age, GPA, or any other differentiating detail. Talk about thread drift...

Yea- so XJ gets 15, we MAY be able to staff the 124 we are left with, and 9E lost them due to a contract deadline- a good contract would be nice to get!

The 300 hr guys is more likely to stay longer and except the less than mcdonalds pay, that's why they are more desirable. Airlines want yes men and people who take orders without question.

Higney85 explained this a lot better than I did. I am not against bridge programs if they are used properly. I went to Riddle. A school that has a bridge program with everyone in the sun. Hiring should be done by qualifications, then fall back on the bridge programs if supply and demand dictates it. There are guys that are in great University and Non University flight programs that are being bypassed by bridge program applicants, even though they have four year aviation degrees and 1000 hours of G1000 (glass) time, just because their school did not go and initiate these bridge programs.

I know a lot of guys that are great, that come from bridge programs, but more often than not they do not have any better training. Coming from Riddle I know that a lot of the FBOs and no name flight schools in the area were just as good, for a third of the price (which is what most parents look at when sending their kids to flight school).

As for the 650 hour guy being the lowest in MTSU history. Nothing against MTSU, becuase eveyone I have met from there seems to been cool. But this means that some recent new hires are lying about their times to friends. And why would someone lie about their time being lower?