ExperimentalAB

You cannot bet the ranch for a job flying a Regional Jet at 250 hours straight out of school, my friend. The recent hiring trend was certainly the exception as opposed to the rule.

Keep your eye on the prize, but don't be afraid to get your hands dirty in the mean time.

stobelma

I love these threads. You will get two different sides of the story here. The guys who had to work their tails off to get a regional job will tell you to instruct because thats what they had to do and they think you should do the same. It all goes along with the starting at the bottom for them and someone who skips a few steps is less experienced and does not deserve a job. Thats one side.

The other side is from the guys that did get in with low time. They are all about taking advantage of the opportunities put in front of them and taking the best offer to further their career.

But sadly its not really going to be your choice, the industry will decide that for you. If times are good and there is hiring going on, then the mins will be low. If times are not so great, times will be bad. In my opinion, there is no amount of flight instructing that will prepare you any better than a guy who just graduated with his CFI, CFII, and MEI but never went and instructed. Airline flying is a totally different operation than flight instructing so if the opportunity is there, take it, any smart person would. Just think if during this last hiring spree you were graduated and could either head to an airline or instruct, what would you do? Take the airline job and work half the month with good travel benefits or sit at an FBO instructing and then miss the hiring spree so now you do not even have the chance at an airline job for years. The choice was pretty clear for me, I took the airline job as I was hired before I even graduated. I was told in ground school that I would never pass by a bunch of self righteous flight instructors who thought they were awesome because they have 2000 hours in a 172. Guess what, nobody cares about those hours once you move on to bigger and better things.

So after all of that......take the airline job if it is there, if not do other flying if you want to stick around in the industry. Pretty simple. But never let people tell you that you are not qualified because you do not have 2000 hours in a 172 because you are. Both ways of thinking are equally qualified......0 hours of airline experience because thats the only kind that counts.

Northwest727

I apologize, in that I should have clarified that flight instruction is what I am aiming for to build up hours. What I don't want is to get stuck in with a low-paying instructor job for several years trying to build up thousands of hours, whereas my peers got the F/O job with only like 700 hours TT.

ExperimentalAB

Stobelma is right.

Any (okay, most) Commercially-qualified candidates can be trained to fly an RJ. Between the rampant Automation (after all, a monkey can fly just like you!), your company SOP, the somewhat-experienced Captain sitting beside you, and FAA 121 Reg's, it takes real talent to bend metal, or worse, hurt a passenger.

This is not a question of whether a job is being offered to you pre-graduation. It isn't even a question about whether you're safe in the Aircraft. Bottom line is that if you are offered the job, and you can honestly say that you are ready to commit the time and effort to passing training, then yes, you'd be a moron to turn it down. What we are talking about here are real-world life and aviation-skills. Take it from somebody who was flying a Jet at 400 hours...I had one helluva steep learning curve - things that they can't teach you in a Simulator. Any flying experience beyond those coveted 250 hours are going to make you a more well-rounded Pilot and person, and thus a greater asset in the right seat of a Jet. Something else to think about...sure your ego may be thrilled to be in a Jet at such low-time, but only shortly...that same ego, as well as your pride, are going to take an incredible beating when you can't fly the plane for beans. If you're going into a 450kt machine, you'd better be able to walk the walk.

The industry has changed. Don't expect that job-offer tomorrow. Remember, it is not so much about where you get, but how you get there. Just do it in style, my friend.

Bond

I agree 100% with the above post. Furthermore to address the point of cycles, there use to be a way to measure; almost predict the down turns in the industry. Post 911 and the current global environment it's hard to tell.

I'm cautiously optimistic, and I believe there will be a shortage again in about 3 years...

DANCRJ

Also before I forget, this is probably one of the best and most honest advice I could give out. Make sure you are competitive enough to get a job a top regional (less worst some might say). Don't just jump into the first bottom feeder with the shiny jet. I know you are probably not planning to stay in a regional, but hey....could take several years for that dream job, meanwhile your main concern is not to kill yourself (semi-joke). All that sh.tty airline, quick upgrade..WATCH OUT ! I fell for that one too. If not ask all the FOs (including me) here in pinnacle. Also, the whole idea of getting into the bottom feeder and then moving to a better regional could be very tricky. Some people have made it, but general speaking is not as easy as it sounds. Your quality of live goes to the pooper, trainning is going to wear you out, you'll be on reserve and before you know you'll be too tired and won't be willing to give your seniority up and boom ! there you are: a bottom feeder driver. Again some people have made it, but it's tricky......

andy171773

You'll get paid more instructing than you will at a regional.

stobelma

And you will work twice as hard. Not too many instructors get 17 days off a month. If you really want to use the certs.....do it on your days off, but like i said before.....i would rather be sipping a drink on a beach in Mexico living the good life, not the hard life.

Bond

Negative, I made close to $27,000 my first year averaging 14 days off a month and an average of 90 hours a month. And don't get me started on the flying, my last pairing I had overnights in Quebec City, Canada and Leon, Mexico....much better than 1 hour flights around the patter 6 times a day!!!!

bryris

This job really isn't about flying the airplane. If you want to fly airplanes, you're better off doing something else than the airlines. This job is more about following rules, covering your ass, and staying legal. There are so many ways to fry yourself out there, get violated, suspended, get a PRIA letter, etc. You are more or less right in saying that it takes talent to bend metal considering all the safety nets built into the system. However, the real issue is avoiding these other, less detrimental, pitfalls.

Furthermore, everyday line flying is a piece of cake. However, flying very well in the heat of battle is a different thing entirely. Additionally, there is a big difference between a 250 hour FO sitting there jockeying the throttles back and forth on an approach, being jerky, etc, and having the experience and the skill to think like an aviator and fly like one. I sometimes sit up there watching the clouds whiz by while the AP flies and wonder why this is even a skilled job. In any given flight, I only do maybe 15 minutes of work, most of it is before takeoff! But, then I go in for recurrent, and I am brought back down to Earth again. Even though the job is easy 99% of the time, its the 1% (even less, really) that comes along unannounced and unexpected that we must be prepared for. When my loved ones go take a commercial flight, I trust that those guys in the cockpit are sharp as hell. The public assumes that we are.

Bottom line, if you get offered a job, take it. But don't go into it feeling like you were owed it, that you are equal to everyone else. It is an opportunity that few have been afforded to start building that experience early.

Good luck! Its going to be interesting.