Private Pilots being hired by regionals???
 

Hello,

I heard of a rumor going around and I wanted to see if it was really true. I heard that some carriers are approaching or even hiring private pilots and offering the private pilots to complete their instrurment, commercial, multi, etc. In exchange the private pilot signs a contract agreeing to stay with the carrier for some time, even seatlock themselves as FOs.

Is my leg being pulled or is this true?

If it is true, why aren't the carriers hiring commercial pilots with more hours? The market is small but there are still pilots looking for work.

Then you aren't trying at all. I don't know of very many regionals that wouldn't put a 1500 hour CMEL in class yesterday.

Some carriers are allowing you to interview and give you an offer if you pass it, but you can't actually start training until you meet either ATP or R-ATP mins. Both Skywest and Republic offer deals that are similar to that, however both carriers do not require you to commit via a contract. Others, like Envoy, require you to sign a contract, that you're obligated to for 2 years I believe. Keep in mind there's a reason they'd want you to sign the contract and be obligated to them..

SkyWest doesn't offer to pay for any licenses or ratings. They will interview you within 6 months prior to ou reaching your ATP minimums.

I don't know of anyone paying $$ for certs. Republic will "pay" for your last 100 hours of whatever time you need, but it comes out of your bonus lol. Other than that, I don't know of anyone paying for certs besides the Chinese and the military.

Nobody's paying for certs yet, although jetblue will give you a job if you pay for their ab initio flight training program.

Regionals can't afford to do that, margins are too thin, unless their major partners decide at some point to pony up for it to keep the regional pipeline viable. We're not there yet.

I personally (through some connections I had) got a friend hired at Skywest who had a foreign commercial license and got an FAA private pilots license on the basis of his foreign certificate. The ONLY FAA cert he had was a private pilot certificate. He was right at ATP mins, no degree, and as far as I can recall, met all of the other requirements. This was a little bit of an unusual situation, but the OP asked if it was possible......

Republic is helping pilots build the final 100 hours you need if you're the 1,250 or 1,000 reduced mins. Guys are loading up in a 172 or Archer and doing cross countries

AA WOs have a partnership program with flight schools/instructors to build hours and you get some sort of benefits along the way, including $10k toward flight training or so I remember.

It doesn't affect me, so I never really bothered to understand any of the details. Maybe someone else on here can clarify what the program entails.

A tentative offer from a company at the private level seems a little farfetched, there's still A LOT to learn and many opportunities to fail. Maybe the pilot shortage is really here?

They aren't exactly helping.. the money is coming out of the new hire bonus pay.... forget that.. work another month or two and take the free money..