Good to hear that coming from the side of "still in training." Should be done with commercial and multi by the end of the year, so let's see what the minimums will be by then...Didn't Piedmont hire those with just a CPL and give them a multi engine rating a few years ago? Hmm...I wonder, but something tells me those days are long gone.

August 2013

Hello all.
I have been reading the forums a lot lately. I am looking for advice concerning my personal situation regarding "minimums". If an airline has posted minimums of say 1000/100 and I currently have 1200/65, should I even bother applying? I have very little chance of gaining another 35 multi hours in the near future. I want to be proactive and get my resume out there, but just need opinions on whether or not I should hold my breath.
Is it fair to say that they might consider me or should I expect them to see "65 multi" and toss my app?

Also: I am currently a 141 CFII. Thanks.

You aren't hurting anything by applying. The worst that can happen is they say no thanks. I applied at several places, some of who's mins I didn't meet, and I only ended up hearing back from those places who's mins I did (and was recently hired by one). I have a friend who had 85 hours of multi time and wanted to work for a particular company with a published minimum of 100. They interviewed him and said they'd give him an offer if he got those 15 hours, so he sucked it up and rented a twin Cessna for a few thousand dollars and spent the weekend making big circles around Lake Michigan. In my experience, at this point you're not likely to hear back from a place if you aren't at least very close to their desired minimums, but that's just been how it worked out with me. Your experience may vary. The problem is there are plenty of applicants out there that exceed most place's minimums and they get a ton of applications, so the best thing you can do for yourself is have an internal recommendation. Know any buddies or old instructors who got on at a regional and would vouch for you? You need something to differentiate yourself from the masses and there's really no better way than by having someone walk your resume in. I think that's a scenario where they'd be more likely to overlook a shortage of times. Though sometimes you just might not be what someplace is looking for despite your best efforts. I had the times and two internal recs at SkyWest and never got so much as a no thank you email. Ironically enough, the offer I accepted was from the one place where I didn't have at least one internal rec on file. I knew guys there, I just hadn't bothered to ask for their help. You never know how things are going to work out. Like I said, you've got nothing to lose by applying (other than the time it takes to fill out the application).

We will never see the 1500 hour requirement in 2 years. It cannot happen, to have 1500 hours for a crap job means that there has to be such a great demand. In 2 years the regionals will be lucky to even find commercial pilots.

Absolutely apply. When I was hired, my airline had 600/100 minimums, and I had 750/45. The interview is more than just seeing if you have met the minimums. The worst they can say is no thanks. Another option is they could say "go get another 35 hours, call us back, and we'll give you a class date." That is exactly what happened to me (they said to get 25 hours multi).

Back in the fall of 99/winter of 2000, I was able to get interviews at Comair, Eagle, and ACA with times below their posted minimums. They were all around 1500 tt with several hundred multi. I think what helped me was that I had 300+ multi with only 1100 total. That also got me an interview at SkyWest, where I wound up.

SkyWest, from my understanding, has never let anyone in with less than 100 multi or 100 instrument. They have lowered TT requirements to 850 with 121 time however.

Go ahead and apply, can't hurt. I'd even visit the job fairs and speak to the recruiters. If you can swing it, I'd partner up with someone and get some more multi time ASAP.

Taking a 250 hour pilot for crap pay is one thing. To be forced to go to a 1500 hour pilot and offer the same pay scale is something different...no sympathy on my end if you head to a regional after 1500 is law and 'accept' the same conditions that we see right now. Hopefully in that extra 1250 hours you'll pick up a little knowledge as to how valuable a commercial cert will be to regionals, assuming that like others here have commented that regionals don't snatch and grab low time wonders and grandfather enough in before August 2013.

Were you military-trained?

Someone could easily be a military pilot (a young ANG or Reserve part-timer) with several hundred hours of PIC/multi/turbine time, but who are short of the "magic" 1,000 hour total time required. Likely guys with a fighter unit.

These would be pilots who are done with their seasoning and are looking for full time flying work on the outside. They might have something like 600 or 700 hours of that PIC/multi/turbine after a 2 or 3-year seasoning period.

My guess is that you could probably be looked at if this is your situation.

PSA is having a hard time finding "qualified" applicants. When they do find one, they are having an even harder time getting them to show up for class.