Whatever you are smoking you need to share cause that will never happen

 

How many hours did people here start with and how many hours do you have now?

 

CFIed to about 1800tt, 450 multi ($16k in in '97)
Freight dog in a Caravan - 800 ($20-24k in 98-99)
Air ambulance in a 421 - 2000 ($36-50k 2000-07)
Misc Corporate - 200 (depending on ac, $250- 400 per day)

Hired into a Saab 340 with 5400 tt and 2500 multi ($20k last year)

 

I was hired by RAH back in June 2007. At that time I had about 3,400 hours total, about 600 multi, and my ATP. I was also 54 years old then. I had this dream about being an airline pilot. I went through all the training including up through Sim 6 (8 total). I hated it. After 34 years of flying, building time, I was totally turned off. So I resigned. Now I am looking for a 135 or corporate gig. Yeah, I know I'm an "old" guy. But I was able to handle the training. No problems learning how to fly the 145. Just wasn't for me.

 

Sorry I have to vote against you on this one FlyJSH. I don't want to be left out!

USMCFLYR

 

this thread will work like this...

guys will say the mins should be whatever they were hired with.

then by about page 4 people will begin attacking each other.

 

No...that wouldn't ever happen here.

 

I liked how it was back in the late 90's MINUS the PFT. Lowest mins were around 1200TT and 200ME and many were 1500TT and 300ME. People would get to 1200TT, but still had to get that multi time. People would go fly boxes or charter or something to get their multi time... and that was to just apply.

At the same time, I think the quality of pilots was better back then. By the time you got to a regional airline, you knew how to be a PIC - you knew the regs, you knew how to fly on instruments, you knew how to make decisions, you were truly ready to be an asset in an airline cockpit. At this point, you were merely improving your crew experience so when you upgraded, you would be a good captain.

I gotta say, I worry about regional pilots today: hired straight out of a puppy mill, no chance to season and learn to be a PIC before they're actually put in charge of 50-74 lives in the back of their planes. You can pass a checkride, but with no real PIC experience... how safe are you really?

If we were gonna raise minimums, I'd say ATP and 500 multi minimum to get hired at a regional.

 

Well I'm worried about you to, dont travel on 95% on the flights in the US today so you dont have to worry about the "regional pilots today".

 

They won't be able to find anybody. Sure they would now because people are willing to fly for free now but mins have nothing to do with safety, it all has to do with the hiring environment. Right now the only idiots flight training are Embry Riddle and similar colleges.... No one in their right mind will be considering this as a profession from now on because the best they could hope for is a CA slot for an ERj 175 OR crj and a long wait for the privilage to be on reserve for a decade at a major. Trainings is becoming ridiculously expensive, might as well become a doctor or lawyer. This next year and maybe the year after that things will be tough but when this economy turns around, there will be no more pilots to draw from. I wouldn't be surprised if we see ab-initio programs for the regionals and abintio programs for some majors in this life time. Kind of like all the truck and bus driving schools out there. Mesa will be advertising for abintio pilots on radio.