Major/Legacy/International/LCC Hires
 

As hiring picks up, we need a thread where regional pilots who have moved on to better airlines can report their backgrounds/experience. Post your flight time, something about previous flying jobs, where you were hired, and anything else you deem appropriate (age?).

Maybe a few who have recently been picked up can get it started?

You mean like this thread?

http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/ma...een-hired.html

It would be nice to have a sticky in this forum with that kind of info.

Well, no. That thread has drifted quite a bit and isn't regional specific.

All threads drift.
That thread has stats like you are asking for. Many of them from regional guys/gals who have moved on to the majors.

I like what you are trying to do here, sticky this thread and exclude everyone with mill experience from posting. ;)

Here I'll just sum an entire thread up for you:

-Hired at (insert legacy name here) I am a (insert minority group here).
-Hired at (insert legacy name here) I flew in the (insert military branch here).
-Hired at (insert legacy name here) I was an intern.

And

-Hired at (insert legacy name here) I was a Line Check Airman.

Hope you don't have that attitude during an interview....

Why not? If they think that way, maybe (inset Legacy name here) isn't a good fit for them. Besides, that may open up a slot for someone who really does want to fly for airline X.

Average guys won't be getting interviews anytime soon, I wouldn't worry about that.

Justdoinmyjob: it's not that I don't "want" to fly for (insert legacy name here) it's that I'll never get that opportunity.

Airways is the one exception among Legacies, they've been hiring a steady stream of regional pilots with average quals.

The pile of average guys and plenty of FOs that have been hired might disagree with you.

Yeah except Airways hiring is now done by AA so that opportunity is gone for Envoy pilots.

When did this change?

Guess I'm just unlucky then, I personally don't know any average guys hired anywhere. I also know guys who are exceptionally qualified and can't get an interview anywhere. If it simple random chance out of a hat I may as well play the lottery.

I'd be willing to bet the guys you think we're just average had an internship or were the beneficiary of nepotism though.

PSA pilots can't get hired at Airways right now unless you're getting called based on your seniority, but you can apply and get hired at American regardless of your seniority.

I got the email last week, they told me to reapply through the aacareers website, I didn't.

Nope. I keep in contact with a number of 9E guys that I worked with. These are people that I know personally. They are getting scooped up by UA, AA, B6, and others like crazy.

Well I'm glad it worked out for them, at least not everyone is doomed to the regional cesspool.

Most aren't. There are around 60,000 major and higher level jobs in the country and 20,000 regional jobs. There are 6000 retirements at DL alone in the next 10 years.

We can agree to disagree, I hope it works out for those who continue pursuing employment at a legacy.

Is your app in at JetBlue, VX, Frontier, or Spirit? Or are you a legacy or bust kind of guy?

I think a further question is, are you a targeting only one airline, or the first one to call? Some guys hang their hopes on flying for one airline (air line?) only, and never look further than that. I'm a firm believer in the shotgun approach. Apply everywhere, it increases the odds of a call.

Good to know I can be an FO sitting reserve by my 55th birthday ;)

Legacy or bust, nationals don't have the schedules I want.

To the other guy whoever calls me first is where I'd go.

You can't tell 80knots anything. He fabricates numbers to make a point. Just ignore him.
Bzzzt, you are correct: average guys aren't getting hired(exception is usair, but as mentioned those days are all but over too).

I was hired at a Legacy. I am a white male, no connections, not a military pilot, not an intern, not a check airman, no family at the company.

The youngest guy in my class came from Spirit. You might want to consider Spirit, JetBlue, allegiant, virgin, atlas, etc. to get yourself separated from the thousands of RJ guys applying.

Your equipment shows 190; I'm guessing USAIRWAYS? If so, my point is still valid.

Like a buddy of mine, I guess I won't understand your trepidation to make more money. Why would you stick it out to "maybe" get to a major, when you can get from AAA to the Brewers to build the stats and put out feelers to the Yankees?

Yankees aren't going to draft everyone, but they sure look at big league experience when considering a candidate.

Those places aren't exactly easy to get hired from either. I'm sure Spirit and JetBlue have the same thousands of RJ guys applying.

Money isn't even on my list of things I'm looking for in an employer. I could easily live the rest of my life on the 40k a year I'm making now and be perfectly happy.

I will add though like someone else said it's not exactly easy to get hired at the airlines you mentioned. There is a significant amount of competition for national jobs.

This is an interesting point. At what age is it no longer financially advantageous to pursue a career at a major? Understanding this is a subjective question considering QOL, seniority, money earned over a given period, current status, etc. Just curious what the general masses have to say.
I think my cutoff is age 45 directly attributable to the quoted statement above.

ALPA said that if you had 7 years left it was financially advantageous under our old contract to flow to AA. That was looking at Eagle benefits and comparing them to AA's from a financial stand point only.

That seems like an awfully short period of time and I wonder how many pilots at the age of 58 would be willing to give up their QOL to move to a major. My guess is about 0 to 1%.

I'd agree with you and our flow acceptance backs up your thinking. That ALPA deal was only considering financial gain/loss over a period of time from flowing, nothing else.

Agreed. I didn't mean to imply that it was easy. In addition, not wanting to go to certain airlines isn't an indictment on you. However, playing the lottery is easier with many tickets rather than just one.

Good luck with your advancement.

Just looking purely at the pay scales, I would say somewhere around 53-55 should be the cutoff, unless for some reason, you are that old and don't have much QOL at Eagle.

Yes. You have to be able to make it to the top of the pay scale (IMHO) for the move to make sense.