Another thing to think about is that occasionally some less experienced pilots have a hard time with 121 training. That is not to say they can't be good pilots, but are just having a hard time keeping up with things if they only have a few hundred hours of experience.

I hear about pilots from time to time at my own company who wash out. We have a solid training dept and they are big on attitude. But attitude will only get you so far and washing out of a training program would be terrible for you own morale and also might make it more difficult to secure another interview later.

Just my $.02.

I am not trying to be negative, but if you get your MEI or a 135 M/E job and some real M/E experience you will probably have a much easier time with 121 training.

You'll be ready to go somewhere, right around the 1,000 hour mark. It's like clock work. I wanted to instruct a little longer and get some more experience doing that before I moved on. Right around 1,000 hours I was getting slightly tired of making laps around the pattern. None the less, as long as you keep progressing in some way it doesn't matter. Whether you're still instructing and slowly memorizing every word in the AIM and getting better as an instructor, you're progressing. The guys that wash-out of training are the ones that either have the wrong attitude, or have not spent enough time preparing for the training.

Pip,

I supervise a lot of peopl like you. They don't think they are ready for increased responsibility. I tell them the same thing - the man thinks you're ready so you are. Step up and go for it. If you fail you were destined to fail anyway. Why delay the inevitable? Don't get comfortable in life - you'll end up like all those middle-aged men with families - shoulders slumped / head held down waiting for the weekend 'honey do-this' list...

-LAFF

You won't regret 135. It will make you a better pilot (both stick skills and especially decision making). When you get to an airline you will have a lot to contribute.

Oh trust me, I'll know when I'm ready. Right now isn't the time for me. When I decide it's time to move on, I'm gone. Until then I'm enjoying what I'm doing. I'm the "take charge, lead by example" type as it is. I'm not one to burn a bridge and with the number of hours I currently have there are only a couple places I can go. If one of them were to furlough a large number of pilots like they recently did I would be hosed. I'd rather do this a little longer as previously mentioned, gain some experience and have some options when the time to move up arrives.

I am somewhat in this same boat. I just started a CFI job and went into it with over 400 hrs. So, meeting say XJT's 600/100 mins won't be too far into the future. But if I leave under a year, I'd have to pay back standardization costs to my employer. And honestly I have many contacts flying for the regionals now, and other than flying a jet, the grass is really not greener, in some cases its actually brown. With all the regionals racing each other to the bottom to win business, it's really unappealing. I'll do a year as a CFI and sharpen my skills and then reevaluate when/if the dust settles a year from now.

I agree 1000%.

In my job, I instruct and evaluate these 'low experience' folks. I just did the recheck on a young guy who had busted his FO PC. While he passed the recheck, it was painfully obvious that he lacked some significant basic instrument flying skills, and his complete lack of any 121 experience will be a major problem in IOE. His background...cropdusting and a little time in a piston twin. Great attitude...I wish him well, but the wolf is waiting for him in IOE.

I suggest you young folks get out of non-121 ops as soon as you can. Please do not confuse accumulation with experience...lots of hours doing the same thing is not experience in the sense that we are looking for here on the training end. Sitting in a small piston single engine aircraft as an instructor is a great way to learn the basics of flying...but those kind of basics is not what we look for in airline training.

We take basic stick and rudder skills for granted...our program is not pilot training...we expect our students to know how to fly. This expectation sometimes is misplaced, and the result is a pink slip...and even if the applicant gets past the recheck, too often he doesn't get past IOE.

In a nutshell, here is what we think is important...good instrument flying skills, familiarity with FMS and flight directors, time in swept wing jet aircraft, familiarity with typical airline operations, proficiency in CRM...and the ability to think at 400kts, not 100.

First off, I did get hired at a regional with low time. However, I haven't been here too long. I'll let you know in 4 years whether or not I was happy with my decision:D ...It all depends on where this experience leads me. Right now, I love my job much more than instructing, love the people I work with, and am glad that I'm making more money than I did as an instructor. I'm also very happy with the kind of experience that I'm building.

If "where you want to be" is a major 121 carrier, then the fastest route is going to be a short-upgrade, most likely turboprop, regional...unless you get in on the ground level with a company like SkyWest that is growing by leaps and bounds, shortening the upgrade time...but that's beside the point.

I think this comes down to your current life situation. If you can handle the pay and lifestyle change right now, I don't see any reason why not to go for a place like BigSky, etc...However, location, as Rickair pointed out, location should be a factor as well. If you can't handle the pay and lifestyle right now, keep building your time to apply to the companies that will allow you to continue to enjoy your life in its current state.
I agree, for the most part. If you're trying for the airlines, you might as well get there and get started, now. However, as stated above, it might not be wise to make your life totally miserable for 4 years at a place you don't enjoy if your lifestyle can't handle it...

Build the most and best experience as quickly as possible. Get hired as quickly as possible, to avoid missing the hiring altogether, or getting furloughed. Good luck.

You'd be surprised. A LOT! of people leave places like Colgan, Gulfstream, etc. for the better regionals. It's a QOL thing. In my class there was a Colgan captain and a Gulfstream captain, as well as a cargo jet FO, each was tired of their companies $#@% and sick and tired of being pushed around, being transferred to new bases, TDY'ing, etc.

I made $28k my last year instructing. Had I gone to a "bottom feeder" regional instead of continuing to instruct I would've made $10+k less than that, while working myself to the bone. Yeah, I could've moved on earlier but I knew I was gonna check out (I'm in this for the QOL, not to sell my soul for quick PIC). So instead of making $15k-$18k at a crap regional I chose to instruct another year and get a job at a good regional. First year ~$25k second year ~$40k. No, not including per diem, all as an FO.

Like I said, I knew I wasn't gonna stick around. I had an interview at Colgan and told them thanks but no thanks.

Yes, if you get the PIC you can upgrade and your QOL will improve a lot if you get to a major quicker. I think there's a balance in life. Hopefully my company can hold out and stand it's own ground. We'll see how it ends up ;).

I am probably going to instruct for a while before I apply anywhere. I would like to at least get 135 mins. I am in the same boat as far as multi time goes, only 31.9, but who's counting. Sure it gets monotonous after a while, but I have learned more through instructing than when I was a student. In response to KALYX , I know instructors that took a "real" job as soon as they had the opportunity to. One guy I know worked as a CFI for six months before he was hired to right seat in a GIV (he bought time though to get to mins) as well as two other guys who followed suit and got hired on with the same company a few months later. Unfortunately for the other guys, that same company filed chapter 11 and raised their hiring minimums. The other guys were let go just after a week or two of training and one of them is having a real tough time getting back in the game.