I know i am WAY ahead of this game, but i am a military guy with a little over 1600Hrs multi jet time and 1700ish hours civilian SE time and my ATP.

i have noticed that most people are saying you need a CFI to get hired. i am ASSUMING this is just as a time builder and not really required for the regionals.

i know this is a rather dumb question, but i just wanted to get that clear in my mind and determine if i need to start working on my CFI's (ugh!!)....

thanks for the info.

Jeff

Jeff, it is your local flight instructor from ATP. You don't need a CFI to get hired, but you will need more multi time. A CFI is good for guys who want to end up being check airman for an airline. It doesn't hurt to get it because once you get it, it is easy to keep. Check airmen typically make more than the other pilots so it can work in your favor.

I don't have a CFI certificate. I don't even have a single-engine commercial license. Having a CFI certificate is not required by any means. I frequently fly with guys who have never instructed a minute in their life.

For most civilians that is very untrue, there are few non-CFI pilot jobs for entry-level civilians (you have to get pretty lucky). Unless you happened to have bought a job at mesa or GIA...saab's lack of COMM SE sounds a lot like the mesa program...


For a military guy with fixed wing turbine time, no CFI is required. It would basically be a recreational thing. An ATP can instruct in an airline's training department with his ATP (it gives you that privelege, but only in 121).

Also, ME time is NOT required of military guys...since the F-16 is SE, and the FA-18 is centerline thrust, airlines will accept that kind of time(I assume also T-34C, etc)

ctd-

I realize how you can acertain that having a CFI would make you a good check airman, however a check airman is not full instructor.

My father, and many of his friends are all check airmen at one of the majors and not one of them are CFI's.

There are instructors who train the pilots prior to them coming to a check airman either for a check ride in the simulator (no training there, just performing) or their initial operating experience, which is nothing more than going out on a trip with someone who has been doing this for a long time. True, there are things taught on that trip, but those are mostly techniques, and ways to do the job better and more efficiently, not to mention safely.

All those out there without CFI's, don't worry; you have just as good of a chance of being a checkairman as your CFI buddies/co-workers do.

thanks for the info. i still have 6.5 years to go to 20 and then i am out...would like a regional job....just trying to get my ducks in a row (yeah, i know, it is still early...ha.ha)

thanks for the info!!!

RickAir777 is right. What is your 1600 multi-jet time in? I don't think your going to have a hard time getting on anywhere. I recommend you send your resume to SkyWest, that is if your not targeting SWA. I curtain that SKW will give you an interview ASAP. It's a great place to work!

Good Luck!

Jeff,

I just retired from the USMC as a KC-130 pilot. Just got hired with PDT. No CFI, but I have a lot of flight time. Good luck and enjoy your remaining years in the military. It was a great life...

I did not even know what Mesa was when I returned to the US 3 years ago after working for a large European carrier. I did not buy a job. Ever. Your insinuation that I did is offensive.

At no point in any interview was I asked if I was a CFI. What was asked was my experience and the usual interview questions. Airlines don't usually care if you are a CFI. They care about your hours and being a CFI is the way most young American pilots build hours.

Having all that quality military jet time would make flying around the patch in a C152 seem somewhat superfluous.

In that case I apologize. Your career path is not the norm, and is not available to most of us, so it seemed more likely to be the mesa thing...those people are always trying to justify their existence.

But if you tell newbies that they don't need a CFI, you are probably not helping them much.