Originally Posted by flybywire44 (Post 833739)

You can get a job at Cathay with your credentials...

Originally Posted by DashGirl (Post 833736)

So us suckers that came in low-time that never got the ATP and the 1000 PIC flying boxes may very well have to face the music of our shortcut.

Originally Posted by DashGirl (Post 833736)

Sorry, I'm just venting...I'm sick of living paycheck to paycheck watching job after job come open that I don't qualify for as my SIC tt climbs into the 3500 hr range....

Originally Posted by DashGirl (Post 833736)

Just thinking out loud I guess...I'm one of those who currently work at a shrinking regional with no chance of upgrade and the threat of unemployment looming. Seems many companies are starting to hire. A lot of great opportunites are opening especially with foreign carriers. But wait...no ATP and no PIC turbine...Seems some of us SIC's, even those of us with over 3000 hrs tt may get left out in the cold.

If the so called pilot shortage actually hits, then I suppose we will find work to advance our careers, but numbers I'm seeing on mainline retirements are not exactly encouraging.

So us suckers that came in low-time that never got the ATP and the 1000 PIC flying boxes may very well have to face the music of our shortcut. We seem to be stuck in a wierd place of meeting the tt and multi mins of nearly everyone hiring but without the ATP and PIC time we are stuck. It's frustrating.

Sorry, I'm just venting...I'm sick of living paycheck to paycheck watching job after job come open that I don't qualify for as my SIC tt climbs into the 3500 hr range....

Sigh...I HATE that f'n ATP! It's hard to justify paying for it myself when getting any PIC turbine ain't gonna happen anyway...

Again..I'm just crying in my beer as Cathay Pac and JAL is hiring but me no have stoopid PIC time...Sorry.

I guess all I really can do is relax, be thankful I have a flying job at all and hope for the best....

Originally Posted by lolwut (Post 833743)

Many of those ahead of you got there because they didn't come in with low time and were able to upgrade and move on. You happen to be building time at a regional, while others had to spend years doing it in general aviation or 135 before jobs at regionals opened up.

When the upwards movement starts to happen again, your seniority will better and you'll be able to upgrade and gain your ATP and PIC time like those ahead of you.

Some are more lucky than others but the vast majority do not just spend a few years at a regional then go to a major. There are regionals out there who have upgrade times around the 10 year mark. It takes time and will not be handed to you.

In the meantime, do your best to enjoy life. Try to take opportunities that present themselves which would better or further your career. If there are none available that you qualify for, then that means the position you're in is the best one you can currently obtain and be happy with it. Try to work to live, not live to work, and things will sort themselves out.

Please don't take any offense by this, I mean none. I'm just trying to say that sometimes this industry is tough and theres not much you can do other than keep working hard and see what happens.

Originally Posted by Boomer (Post 833744)

Don't feel too bad, some of us (Comair, Eagle, etc.) have SIC climbing into the 6-8000 hour range, and no TPIC, and no ATP, and no upgrade in sight.

Is it possible that after a several thousand hours in the right seat we get into a rut and the majors won't want anything to do with us?

Originally Posted by Navajo31 (Post 833749)

Here's a way to get something in that Turbine PIC column without an ATP: the Cessna Caravan. Look at Wiggins, Martainaire, AirNet, CSA, and about a dozen others running UPS and FEDEX feeders evey night. Pay comparable to (or better than) regional F/O, weekends and holidays off. Usually not real exciting - same route every day - but consistent. And you don't have to go anywhere near Newark! Do that for a year, and then you'll be in a great position when the retirements start in 2012/2013.