Hello,

There has been a lot of talk lately on my side of the industry about the option for helicopter pilots to enter the commercial fixed wing industry due to the pilot shortage currently experienced. Some research has led me to this site and thus far I have found several options for military pilots to convert and enroll in training programs with operators based on their military rotary wing time. Does anyone know of similar opportunities for civilian rotary wing pilots?

My experience in short;

Rotary wing, 16 years, mostly Medevac and SAR with some civilian DOD time overseas.
FAA & Transport Canada ATP(H).
Type ratings: Aw139, Sk61, Ec145, Ec135.
4500 TT, 4100 PIC, 2000 multi PIC, 2000 EFIS (incl. Primus Epic), 800 Multi crew, IFR and NVG.

Fixed wing:
ASEL, Commercial Instrument, 200 hrs.

Aside from getting a multi engine rating and 250 hours, I hope you are willing to share your wisdom and experience and help me make a well informed decision. Is this something worth pursuing? If indeed it is a viable option, what are those options exactly for someone with my limited background. What would be the recommended path to get there? I have 20 years of flying left in me and am not afraid to start over again. In fact, I find the idea exciting and look forward to the opportunity.

Your advice is much appreciated,

Ron

Get your ATP multi start applying and the regionals will be all over you.
They really need to fill seats.
You need a degree for the legacies, and they do hire people in their 50's so the age is not as much as a factor now days.

I don't know of any formal civilian RW transition programs, but all you need to do is meet FW ATP mins (minus 25 hours of ME time) and you'll be off to the races at most or all regionals.

I would guess that you would need about 2000 hours FW turbine to compete for the majors...your RW TPIC should reflect well on you so you might not even need to upgrade at a regional.

Also helps that you're career path is unusual for airlines...human nature, recruiters will find you more interesting then "Joe Average White Guy RJ CA".

Thank you for your encouraging reply's. FW ATP mins - 25 hours. I am not far from that at all. However, does that imply that the initial hire class would include and meet the requirements of the "new" ATP CTP course as well as an ATP check-ride opportunity at the end? It is my understanding that this CTP requirement applies to all, initial and add-on ATP ratings.

Absent competitive FW experience the computer isn't interested. Recruiters may, or may not, be interested.

It's at least three years to be competitive at the low end. Based on 2014-2015 hiring resumes it's about 7-10 years to be competitive vs. the median new hire.

Once you get a multi comm add-on and get the few remaining FW hours you need to qualify for an ATP you will be picked up quick by the regional of your choice.

Most regionals will send you to a CTP course on their dime when you're hired. The CTP is required for a Mutli-engine FW ATP certificate no matter what ATP you currently have. Don't worry about it or an ATP certificate with your own money. Once hired, sent through their CTP, and sent through their training program, you'll pop out on the back end with a new ATP certificate while getting paid for it.

Could not have hoped for clearer advice. Much appreciated.

Correct. Regionals will hire anybody with ATP mins, majors are more selective. Once he reaches the interview threshold for majors his background might make him pop out. I had a similar situation (non-typical background) and when I interviewed it was pretty clear that was what got their attention in the first place.

Typically at the majors the people or process that selects the candidates doesn't necessarily do the interviewing. So when you sit down to interview with the pilots they didn't select you. But they are vetting you. Some of it is canned, or required topics, and some of it is free form.

The free form can be very interesting if the candidate has non typical experience, like being a regional CA and taking a military leave of absence to enlist in a reserve Special Forces unit. Wait! What? You're a regional Captain and enlisted in the National Guard for Special Forces despite never having been in the service!?! What airline pilot does that?? In his case the flying stuff was trivial but the rest of the discussion was very interesting.

Yes, in my experience (both sides of the table), that guy is going to get hired unless he really gooned something else up.