Regional upgrade opportunity for new FO's
 

This is a follow-on to the 10 month Skywest Captain upgrade thread, although it has the potential to affect many many regional FO's.

One of the reasons cited for a quick upgrade was that many current FO's lacked the ICAO 2500 hour flight time requirement to upgrade, even though they had the line seniority. As a result, those who had the flight time were upgrading out of relative seniority to the Capt. seats.

For those of you working at regional airlines, what's the anticipated upgrade time for a NEW FO hired with current minimums, some as low as 250 hours? It seems like 2-3 years to get the 2500 hour requirement, then there could be a very long line to wait for the Capt. upgrade while newly minted Capts. work to build 1000+ hours PIC before attempting to move-on (another 18 months to 2 years).

What's a reasonable guess for time to upgrade for a guy who gets hired with 250 hours? This is just a wild guess, but 5 years could be the ballpark.

I'm in that very situation. Got hired with 300 TT, 183 PIC in Feb. 06. As of today, I have 1100 TT and figure it will take me 3 -3.5 years from original hire date to meet ICAO minimums.

For clarification, ICAO ATP privileges do not normally require 2500 hours, only 1500. The need for about 2500 hours applies only to those hired at an airline with low total/PIC time...the formula is complicated and has been addressed elswhere.

The key experience requirements for a low-timer (assume worst case: wet commercial) to go from new hire to ICAO ATP would be:

-150 Actual PIC. It would be possible for a graduate of a part 141 training program to not meet this requirement by a significant margin...time to go rent an airplane and do some flying! CE-150's can be had for $60/hour, wet.

-2100 hours SIC time at the airline (in lieu of 1050 hours of PIC). How long would this take? Typical scenario...

1-2 Months: New Hire training, zero flight time.
3rd Month: IOE, 30 hours
4th Month: Consolidation, 70 hours
5-6 Months: Reserve, 20 hours
7-12 Months: Line, 75 hours x 6 months = 450 (570 total SIC)
Year 2: 900 hours (1470 total SIC)
Year 3: 900 hours (2370 total SIC)

So slightly less than three years at most airlines. Significant reserve time could drag this out.

ICAO Requirements Follow Up Question
 

I'm in kind of the opposite end of the spectrum. I'm at 2450 total, but no Part 121 or turbine experience and just getting ready to start training.

To those who have been there:

Is it possible that I will really have half a clue, if I have an opportunity to upgrade with only 1000 hrs/1 year or so in the jet?

Is there any sort of break down for the 2500 hours that ICAO requires, or is it simply 2500 hours total time?

You will probably be fine after 1000 hours in type, given your previous experience. Make sure you pay attention and ask questions during that 1000 hours...if you're not surre why your CA is doing something ask him. Also some weather and ice would be good. If you don't feel ready, don't bid for upgrade.

There is no requirement for 2500 hours for ICAO. The major requirements are 1500 TT, and 1200 PIC. The 2500 number gets tossed around because that is APPROXIMATELY how much time a low-time pilot will need in order to meet the ICAO requirement for 1200 PIC (150 must be actual, but you can substiture 121 SIC time on a 2-for-1 basis for the remaining 1050 PIC).

Good info. Thanks, Rick.

I think legally all you need is 1500TT and an ATP to upgrade.

Speaking of ATP, does the flying done Part 135/121 as an FO count towards the 500 hours of X-C time required?

Most of the above is correct. if you came to pinnacle with 500hrs it would take about 2 1/2 years to upgrade. if you came here with 3000tt you could upgrade tomorrow. but you would be on reserve for the next 3-4 years while all the fo's that were hired before you finally get the time they need to upgrade and they keep pushing you down on the bid list.

Yes. Any XC time counts, PIC or SIC.

EDIT: You do also need 100 hours of PIC XC.