Don't hate the playa my brotha.

There is life after the Saab?! :eek:

To the post comparing the “overseas” route to the flight deck, not only do they have an extensive vetting process, a battery of tests you must score well on, leading to training, a new pilot will sit in the jump seat for a long time observing the operation before you touch the controls. All that does not compensate for the experience of pilots who went through the military, instructing, flying night cargo, regionals or corporate which all will produce a more well rounded, safer professional aviator. No question. Let me ask you this. Do you want a surgeon operating on you with 3,000 operations under his belt, or fresh out of med school, even a good one? Preferably both right?

I’m surprised nobody brought it up, but didn’t Northwest have a couple serious issues with their 330’s on their European routes with PFD’s going blank? Obviously they worked it out and it was a non-event, I know they weren’t blindly plowing through a level 5 thunderstorm over the equator at night, but still.

To the original post about getting on with Delta with a degree and GA time? It depends on that slippery matrix of who/what you are, (and to deny that an imperfect human driven organization doesn’t have a bias is flat wrong) and your experience. The right connections have always, and will always, cover for weaknesses in other parts of your resume. And, yes, to plan a career on your stated question would be foolhardy.

Not going to happen.

There will NEVER be a shortage of qualified pilot candidates for the most desirable of jobs.

Ask the pilots who have to fly with them how well it works! That is why there is such a huge demand for direct entry Captains at most of those airlines. Their FO's can't upgrade. AF just had their second loss of control of a A330 by a ab intro pilot. This one did not crash but it was not pretty.

In the last 10 years the accident rate for the regionals has been much higher then the major airlines. There is a reason and you hit the nail on the head.

You didn't list ERJs or large cabin business jets in your post.
Should I take offense to that too?
It is pretty clear that he chose an airliner to illustrate his point - it could have been ANY airliner.

USMCFLYR

Out of pure curiosity how are you basing this statement? Is this accident "rate" you're talking about calculated by annual crashes or by departure? I can say with confidence, if you look at the departure ratio between mainline and regional, regionals are looking pretty safe.

Just my .02

No one even knows if the regionals will be around in 10 years. If they are they will be a fraction of the size. I would bust your arse in college flying checks (if they still do that), instructing, night cargo, whatever it takes to get your ATP. We once had a guy at 9E with a pretty wicked crystal ball, but he left us in the dust so I think its a shot in the dark. There is nothing wrong with setting a goal for yourself and being motivated. I'd start with building enough time to get your ATP and network, network, network. I knew a guy who interned at DAL out of college, flew 135 night cargo for 6 months and got picked up by Delta back in 07-08ish somewhere with less than 2000TT. Its possible if you know the right people.

I guess it's only good if regionals shrink/become eliminated, because then new aspiring airline pilots have no other choice but beginning with a major, right? The only problem is, don't majors require turbine time?