Why 21?
 

I am sure some people are going to rant and rave about this one, and I don't really give a rip.
But, myself and some others I know are 20, flight instructing, and can't go to a few of the regionals because they want you to be 21.
Why is this.
I understand if they would guarantee an upgrade in two years so that you would be 23, but I don't really get it.
You can work at Horizon, ExpressJet, Republic and be 20, but you can't work at skywest, or even mesa?

thanks.

So you can drink on layovers, obviously. :D

Yep... everyone knows that's how you get signed off from IOE... you have to buy your IOE CA's drinks!! :D

330am... I need a life...

DD,
Your future is in cargo....... Purple or Brown...... :D

Probably some insurance or HR holdover that know one has revised. Used to never be an issue since you needed 3000+hours to get a regional job and pay $9000 for the job to pay for training (PFT). It has always hovered above 1500 hours though. Many wanted college, so it was very unusual for anyone under 21 meeting the competitive quals anyway. When a company thinks there is a large market for you, they will tailor their requirements.

I know Mesa, on the Beech side has quite a few FO's that are under 20. Don't really know about the jet side. I'd just hang out one more year, or go get your degree. That always helps.

I am sorry if I am out of line here, but I just have to ask, did you finish a 4 year college degree? if not then dont ever expect to go to the majors.

I ran up against the same issue. I was told that the reason was for the ATP written (HR's reason). Some older CA's said it was because people were going to canada (layovers) and drinking too much and getting sick so the company just uses 21 in hopes of maturity. Personally I have flown with 40-50 year olds who drink way too much so I think its up to the person.

its gotta be a maturity thing... while some teenagers are rather precocious... the majority are not.

i for one can honestly say at 19 or 20 i wasn’t even remotely ready for the responsibilities of this job. i know some under 21 pilots and its just sad to see... i would kill for what some of these guys have and they're either too naive or just too dumb to see it. No debt because pops paid for flight training... most of them live in apartments and drive trucks paid for by pops still. I mean if they were to play their cards right they'd be at a major by the time they were 26, which just happens to be the year i got into the regional’s.


I’m positive there is some under 21ers out there (perhaps yourself) that are more than ready for the job but the reality of the situation is the majority are not and id be shocked if the masses on this forum would tell you looking back that they would have been ready for the responsibility at 19.

It is a double edge sword really. If you can get in really young then you are set to be in the top of the seniority list, but on the other hand if you get hired on at 20 you will have 45 years in the airline business. That might sound good now, but do you really want to be doing this for 45 years?

FWIW, I've seen someone get hired under 20 years old at SkyWest (which has the 21 year min. age requirement).