Is PIC time still important?
 

It seems to be a fair question in todays Regional hiring environment. Is it better to pursue a company with a quick upgrade, or one with a pathway to a Legacy partner? With the ultimate goal being the opportunity to land an interview, is there still a benefit to chase a quick upgrade. We are seeing more and more FO's hired directly into LCC airlines for fear that the Captains will leave to a Legacy carrier once they get an Airbus or 73 type rating. American Airlines is not looking at pilots outside of their wholly owned regionals, and Delta is hiring 70%+ of their Endeavor SSP applicants. I see a number of FFD Captains with thousands of hours of PIC time still waiting to get a call. Just wondering what others thoughts are on the subject.

The well-rounded and well-networked applicant will get the job.

If you want a consistently successful path to a good company, that's about as close as you're going to get.

Of course the trick is to get the interview, if you get that far you are qualified. Outside of legacy carriers, it does seem that attending job fairs can get you the interview even without PIC time.

True, good answer.

For RIGHT HERE, and RIGHT NOW, the majority of new hires at (insert legacy here) have PIC time.

I SAY AGAIN, MAJORITY.

YES, we ALL know that pilots without PIC time are getting hired. But they hardly make up the bulk of the new hires.

I KNOW, someone is going to chime in with "well, I know someone that was hired at (legacy here) and NONE of them in their class had PIC time so you're wrong!" Sure, in THAT CLASS MAYBE. If you were to take the average of the ALL OTS hires that went to class at the legacies last year, pilots without PIC would represent a small group.

Next year? It'll come down, naturally. DAL's numbers put out early this year showed a drop (not much, but a drop) in almost all numbers in flight time categories since hiring began almost 2 years ago. BOTH mil and civ.

AA is hiring some pilots out side of the wholly owned carriers but the numbers are limited. YTD, 70% of new hires at AA were from envoy. Throw in a few from PDT and PSA and you are left with a very few number of off the street hires at AA. Assume from THOSE numbers, there are military buddies who did their 121 time or interns who poured coffee 10 years ago. From that you may have 1 or 2 positions once every few month for pure off the street hires.

If you have a guaranteed flow thru job (no interview or assessment)then PIC time will not be an issue. If you have to interview with the airline for your job, then PIC is something to be considered, among other things. It's not all about PIC, but the whole package you present. Remember what all the interview books tell you, airlines are hiring future Captains, and not professional F/O's, even though many folks remain F/O's for quality of life or other reasons. I know someone at DAL sitting F/O after 22 years! Demonstrating that you have PIC credentials (especially 135/121) tells the airline that you have done the job before, and is a predictor of sorts. Sometimes, not always a good one.

Yes.

Not as much as it used to be, but yes. It's important.

Pilots who flow have pic time.

Actually, the overall % is just over 50%. Certain interview groups have been around 70% but overall the program has been little better than a coin toss..... If that is your first priority (a path to a major) I'd head to Envoy, Piedmont, or PSA. Delta's deal is not even close to a guarantee and I doubt that is going to change anytime soon unfortunately.

TPIC does not carry the weight it used to. More FOs at XJT are hired at Major airlines than captains. Moral of the story, put in about 5 years anywhere and have a well-rounded resume, then you will have your chance to interview. If you don't have a 2.5+ GPA, leadership roles, volunteer time, then TPIC will help enhance your resume in areas you lack.