This isn't true anymore, I believe. It was changed last year with the new flow agreement with AA that WO pilots don't have to wait to flow and can interview like a OTS candidate.

 

300 a year trying to fly. Expect 2-3 year reserve conservatively.

 

If so, that's an excellent change. Thanks for the correction.

 

I'm sure an employment lawyer would love to get ahold of people being denied an interviewed especially a whole group. American is an equal opportunity employer.

 

And yet, no one has left PSA for AA outside the flow.....

 

Really not surprising the very limited OTS hiring American has seen in the last 3 years compared to Everyone else... Add to that most of the hiring OTS has been military (which makes sense since 50-75% of new classes have flow throughs).

A purely civilian background WO pilot probably doesn't stand out from the crowd of applicants for OTS slots.

 

I think at least 1 has interviewed and been offered the job, pending external hiring (no more recalls)

 

JD - I saw your question to me in another thread, but I’ll answer here since it looks like a better place to post the response. I didn’t PM my answer since maybe my $.02 will be helpful for someone else in the Upstate SC area.

I’m in a very similar situation (former F-14 back seater to pilot with low hours for a military retiree and living near GSP). I researched the hell out of every applicable regional, knowing that I need to get current if I hope to get to an LCC/Major. I have close to 2K TT and close to 1000 TPIC (with a conversion for military sorties). I think that in your situation, and in today’s hiring environment, you should plan to be at a regional for 6-12 months. Of course that number will depend on your network, attention to detail on apps, luck, and other variables.

Given that you want to be in Greenville, unless you go PSA, you are committed to being a commuter. Even when/if you one day make it to an LCC/Major, unless you are at Allegiant or AA, you’ll be a commuter. First recommendation I’d make is to reconsider your home location to make life as an airline pilot better. Unfortunately, it’s not an option for me. If that is not an option for you, use websites/apps such as FlightAware, Passrider, or FlightView to research one leg commutes from GSP to various airline domiciles. After I did this (and using info like https://www.reddit.com/r/flying/comm..._domicile_map/ to find base locations), I came up with the following list of potential airlines with bases amenable to GSP:
Endeavor
PSA
Republic
ExpressJet
TSA

I made a pros/cons list for each. Some of the factors in this list were ease of commute, aircraft, pay, benefits, and upgrade time in that order since I already have around 1000TPIC and a military pension. QOL is my top priority and I’m gambling on being at a regional for about a year. After weighing these factors, I came down to: Would I rather commute to a line or drive 1.5 hours to reserve? With PSA, you can drive to your base (CLT) after you get it…this will take 3-6 months, but you'll be on reserve for a year. Until then though, you’ll be doing a 2 leg commute to TYS, CVG, or DAY. XJet is similar, but with a greater drive to ATL and a very long time on reserve. TSA has a base at RDU with a 3.5 hour drive, but no direct legs out of GSP. Endeavor has 2 bases commutable from GSP (DTW and JFK/LGA). Right now though, almost all new hires are going to NY. Republic has a multitude of bases, 5 of which are commutable from GSP. This gives you lots of flexibility if you don’t get first choice, and for the inevitable base closures. Also, reserve time at almost any of their bases is negligible. Additionally, they fly the E-170/175 which seems to be a cadillac with longer legs which could lead to better trip days. 12 min days off a month is good.

For me, RAH seemed to tick off more boxes. I think Endeavor out of DTW would be great as well, but not sure when you could get DTW. If you are ok with the unknown of continuous reserve and the borderline drivability from Greenville to CLT on short call (1 or 2 accidents on I-85 could easily cause you to miss your report time depending on where in Greenville you live), then PSA would be the choice. However, you can spend days reading the PSA thread to see the animosity of the pilots towards scheduling and management. Not a place that I’d say has good “command climate”.

One post mentioned you considering a ULCC like Spirit, Allegiant, or Frontier. I’m not current so it’s not an option for me. However, I don’t think you have the flight time to meet their mins. I believe Allegiant’s requirement is 3000TT, but that would be a great airline for a Greenville based pilot if you could get Asheville.

My final thought is that with you retiring in December, the regional environment could be significantly changed by then. Republic will be merging certificates with Shuttle in December, which may affect things. RAH just closed a deal with AA, so that may have an affect. Endeavor might be wide open to DTW by then. Hard to say...just put in apps where there is potential, keep your eyes and ears open, and make the best decision based on the latest info. Feel free to PM me if you want more info. Best of luck.

 

Excellent post, SlickDawg.

 

CommutAir is starting up service again to GSP on the 145. At least you can commute on your own metal if you choose CommutAir.