Average pilot qual's for the regionals
06-05-2014, 06:46 PM
#31
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Joined APC: Apr 2011
Posts: 1,533
Originally Posted by John Carr
Are you sure you're not thinking of another small group of pilots that paid, and became engineers, THEN pilots at CAL? As opposed to the standard mid/late 90's PFT that A LOT of regionals used?
Because as much as it sucked, as much of a black eye as it left on the industry, it's as mentioned; PFT was more a norm and NOT an exception. And contrary to what Kit Darby used to preach, PTF'ing did NOT hurt careers. There's a metric crap ton of pilots that PFT'd at any one of the various commuters/regionals listed, and it in and of itself DIDNT harm those guys. Many that are probably CA's and various legacies right now. As well as FedEx, UPS, name it.
Because as much as it sucked, as much of a black eye as it left on the industry, it's as mentioned; PFT was more a norm and NOT an exception. And contrary to what Kit Darby used to preach, PTF'ing did NOT hurt careers. There's a metric crap ton of pilots that PFT'd at any one of the various commuters/regionals listed, and it in and of itself DIDNT harm those guys. Many that are probably CA's and various legacies right now. As well as FedEx, UPS, name it.
I remember that it seemed like a majority of regional airlines adopted that policy eventually, but I was proud of the airline I worked for - Eagle - in that they never went down that route.
06-06-2014, 03:53 AM
#32
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Joined APC: Dec 2005
Posts: 1,408
PFT started around the early 1990's. Most had it. You paid $350 for a Flight Safety evaluation, then it was around $9500 plus living expenses for training. My carrier at the time started using PFT pilots in 1993. When Northeast Express shut down, I missed the last non PFT class at CO Express and was offered a slot in the first PFT class. IIRC, some of the commuters that were not PFT were AE, Piedmont and Horizon. Since there was little hiring, jobs were though to get. ValuJet was PFT too.
06-06-2014, 05:07 AM
#33
Furloughed Again?!
Joined APC: Aug 2007
Position: Boeing 737
Posts: 4,796
Average pilot qual's for the regionals
You should also mention that the hiring requirements to get looked at by Piedmont in 95/96 were astonishing. They wanted 2500 TT and over 500 ME, plus a lunar landing. They had the best contract in the commuters - that, in addition to the fact that they didn't participate in PFT - made them look like the cream of the crop. Funny how times change huh?
We should also bring up that the minimums to participate in PFT were 1500TT and 200ME!! So all those people who are up in arms about the ATP requirement that exists today should be reminded that these are not new minimums. They existed in the mid-90s when there were a surplus of pilots and didn't come down to the 200/300 hour RJ minimums we saw over the last decade until the majors started hiring a ton in 1999 - 2001.
We should also bring up that the minimums to participate in PFT were 1500TT and 200ME!! So all those people who are up in arms about the ATP requirement that exists today should be reminded that these are not new minimums. They existed in the mid-90s when there were a surplus of pilots and didn't come down to the 200/300 hour RJ minimums we saw over the last decade until the majors started hiring a ton in 1999 - 2001.
Last edited by ZapBrannigan; 06-06-2014 at 05:08 AM. Reason: additionsl info
06-07-2014, 06:53 PM
#34
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: May 2013
Posts: 324
PFT
Originally Posted by kfahmi
Really? I don't recall ever hearing of that (besides those Gulfstream Air/ Eagle Jet Int'l guys.) What was the story?
This is one factor that made many licensed pilots turn away from the industry and find more suitable work elsewhere. Giving a company money to give you a job put the ball too far in the companies side, if you asked many pilots.
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