Here is my 2 cents ,keep instructing and work your way up to ATP and get those 1500 hours ,looks better on the resume in my opinion.

Your tips are my salary!

 

Keep instructing untill you get the mins for the places you want to work for, don't settle for your last choice or regionals, start with your first choice then work back.

As for commuting out of south FL, its not easy, but doable.

 

geez, some of you are really quick to crucify my, and some don't even read my posts correctly.

keep in mind guys, this is why i'm on here posting questions!! excuse me for trying to get my ducks in a row for when i finish school. I know i asked for opinions, but man i've only gotten like 4 helpful responses...

 

Please reference my earlier posts (#2 and # 7 of this thread I believe.) Don't say I didn't warn ya!

Just be advised, ignoring or dismissing advice or opinions you don't like simply because you don't like them is a very dangerous way to go about things. Reference: Gulf War II.

 

From someone who is in a hiring pool, obiviously you are not in the industry yet either my friend, so don't talk about what you don't know. Unless you are spineless, you would never make a comment about being part of management a regional airline. Management does nothing but keep the costs down, and the profits up so that they can put the rewards in their own pocket. There is not one regional out there that is the best. There are just certain aspects of one regional that may be more attractive than other regionals to you, except GoJets. No one should ever work there. I would never consider any of my aviation brothers as bottom feeders unless they worked there. You need to change your attitude, because in this business, we are all in it together. I work at Pinnacle, not the best in the industry, but we have been in contract negotiations for 3 years, and many pilots from other airlines have picketed with us to show that they are supporting us during this period. You never know when your going to need the aid of others to show your management that you mean business. XJT is by far not the best airline in the world, but it seems like you are drinking the kool-aid already. I never looked down on another pilot or referred to them as bottom feeders. Except for my above comments.

 

Yeah, I'm thinking if you have around 400 hours and can get a decent instructing job, you'll build up enough time to go to your first choice regional much quicker than going to another 121 carrier, going through training, waiting on IOE, then playing the reserve game. Plus the added experience you'll gain may make a difference in your successful completion of training anyway. Let's say it takes about 2 months for you to complete training and begin IOE. In those 2 months, especially being a CFI/II and MEI, you should be able to instruct at least 60 hours a month I would think, depending on where you live, the availability of students, and what kind of equipment you have available, etc... If you could do that for 3 months you'd have almost 600 hours. In that 3 months at _______ airlines, you wouldn't have much more than 50 or 60 hours I would guess. Just another opinion...

 

I posted this on the thread about the Mesa jobfair.. Same concept...

You're giving yourself too much credit..
I'm a check pilot here in the Northeast where every flight is pretty much icing and turbulance down to the mins (this time of year anyway).. I fly with 3,000-4,000 hour copilots.. Most flights I have to remove the seat cushion after engine shutdown.. I wouldn't go flying anyting but a VFR training flight with someone with that low of hours.. I would let you bounce in the pattern or shoot some approaches if it looks like your not hanging onto the tail. Nothing personal.. you're just so new you don't even know what to be afraid of yet. We'd land and you wouldn't even know what just happened. The 1,500 hour pilots that come to fly with us are pretty much useless for the first couple of months(6-7).
Do yourself a favor.. don't be in such a rush. take a year.. instruct, fly banners for a couple of months. Then go fly some piston cargo. If your whole experience base is 121 ops (taxi, takeoff, autopilot on,cruise, approach, autopilot off, land).. you're missing the best times of your life. With some low hours you can do VFR 135 ops in Alaska.. Stories to tell the rest of your life instead of.. so there we were at FL 350 and the auto pilot keeps kidking off.. scarry stuff..

 

I'm trying to get on with www.stripclubjets.com on their G-IV. Serious!

 

kdoner, this is not meant to be offensive, but please read...

When I was still in school I drove myself nuts trying to plan ahead. Try your best not to do this. You don't fully understand this yet, but this industry is so "hit or miss." No matter how hard you try to plan things out, they never happen the way you think they will. Try to take things slow, one day at a time. Live on a day-to-day basis with your flying stuff. Take these next few months to enjoy your friends, your teachers and your girl...or since you ARE a pilot...your women.

We all know that you may have the ability to get on with an airline after graduation with your time, but don't discard the flight instructor route. If you are having fun flight instructing, do it until it's not. Why bail on something that you enjoy? The experience that you will have gained after 6-12 months of teaching full-time will shine through in your interviews. You will be intimately familiar with the regs, you will have some awesome "tell me about a time" stories, and you will have a leg up on a lot of people that are applying with no instructor experience.

Also, you need to look deep down inside and do what is right FOR YOU and YOU ALONE. We can't tell you what to do, but mearly give you insight on our experience because 9 out of 10 people on here have been in your shoes. I can promiss you that.

Good luck.
Lax

 

Wow, somebody's bitter. Spineless?? Oh please, you've never met me. Don't go around making baseless and unfounded characterizations about total strangers, that's nothing but a cheap shot. It sucks that you feel that way about the management of your airline. What have you done to help change it? There's no need to get all mad at the mere mention of making a career out of being a CP or management pilot. All I said is that it's a viable career. And yes I do know what I'm talking about, I've worked closely with management pilots in a previous job at a regional and I got to know them personally. I don't know about PCL, but the guys I worked with were way more concerned about the well-being of their employees and fellow pilots than lining their own pockets or brown nosing to the higher-ups.

Sure there are bad apples out there. The most effective way to change that would be to either get involved in the management side or get active within the union yourself. Spineless is someone who complains about things online and does nothing to change them. That's not aimed at you I'm just pointing it out.

And don't make me out to be a scab or lecture me about an attitude change. I never said anything about screwing someone else over. I could have gone to blowjets a long time ago but I'm not gonna wh0re myself out like that, and I'm sure as hell not going to stab fellow pilots in the back. You want to call someone spineless?? Talk to gojet pilots.

I'm not calling any pilots bottom feeders, I'm calling certain airlines bottom feeders. All it takes is one look at the hiring minimums for the various airlines to determine which ones are bottom feeders. Look at Mesa right now, it's a simple fact.

And by the way, I have more experience in this industry than my current status in a hiring pool would indicate. He who assumes...

I have some good friends at Pinnacle and I certainly wish you all the best of luck with your contract negotiations.