How many times has a student (unintentionally) tried to kill you in the plane??? I've got too many to count. Had some really good scares...

Almost 3 years of instructing and traffic watch. had ATP mins when I got hired.

3 months and 100 hours......no regrets.....i never want to do that again

The closest to death I've ever been was with a KC-135 driver in the left seat of a Seminole...Those Air Force button-pushers are just as bad as Airline Pilots, except this guy thought a Seminole could perform a single-engine go-around below Vmc while on the fringe of ground effect (though we had briefed otherwise).

17 months, 1100 TT and only 40 multi.

I never instructed. Went right into Aerial Mapping in a 172 after finishing my commercial. Got hired with 212 hours and did it for a year and a half until moving on to ExpressJet with 1100/100. Furloughed now, and wishing I had my CFI.

To the two previous posters... Historically in the last 2 years, hiring minimums have dropped way down.. The 10 years before that they were higher, and now they're raising back up. When my grandfather went to the airlines he had no experience at all. He was finishing up his military term and was approached by TWA.. they paid for all his ratings and gave him a job.

Times change, and we change with them.

I banner towed from 250hrs to 1000hrs. 1.5 years.
Took some time off to do my CFI CFII MEI...
Flight instructed for 1000 hrs more. About 3 years.
Did some 135 in between. Got my ATP in a Navijo.
First 121 job at 2500 TT.
Captain 121 at 4500TT.

Had my commercial for 5 years before i could qualify for a 121 job.

No, you are not wrong.... but a blip on the radar screen does not the entire national airspace system make.... we had another blip this past year and a half.... the historical aspect of my statement is factually correct. Are there exceptions, absolutely.... but in general, that IS the historical fact of the career progression in this industry.

Ha... about as many times as a Capt, or FO has tried to kill me... the difference being, in flight training, you both are there by choice and have no misconstrued expectations that one is teaching, while the other is learning... the folks in back are not expecting to be paying for flight instruction... they have an expectation of two fully qualified, trained and prepared pilots... and rightfully so. Too bad it isn't always true.

Two years and enjoyed it. So much so that I went into the training department at the next job.