Skipping the regionals to the majors

Subscribe
1  2  3 
Page 1 of 3
Go to
Has any civilian been able to this?
If so, please list when you were hired what your experience was.
Total time, me time, jet/turbo prop time, type ratings, 135 experience, year hired and the current hiring conditions at the time, if you had a internal recommendation, major hired by, and anything else you would consider that has helped you.
OR if you were are regional pilot, have you been able to get into a major in less than 1 year? If so what were your qualifications?
Thanks in advance.
Reply
Several people from my American Eagle class got hired at AA within a year ... back in '99. Two were military. I know one had a good recommend from Daddy. One was a freight dog that flew MU2s. He never mentioned any internals but he was a sharp guy. Plenty of people get hired at majors flying 135 straight to majors.
Reply
SWA has historically been known to hire a cross-section of pilots...mil, regional, and biz-av.

Anywhere else it's going to be how your "total package" stacks up against everybody else. 121 regionals experience is a big plus, but not a requirement. If you're personable, educated, good record, have quality flight time, mid-size glass turbojet experience, TPIC, and internal recommendations I'd think you could hold your own and have a decent shot.

If you're a HS drop-out flying right-seat in busted-down king air part 91 mostly VFR, then you're not going to stack up. Also if all your flying is stick-and-rudder piston engine down-low VFR, the airlines won't be interested either...they need people with experience going point A to B in the flight levels and managing complex systems.

So basically you would want to get into larger modern corporate jets.

Of course if you have top-notch internal connections, you can probably get hired anywhere with the published mins. But you wouldn't be asking the question if you did.
Reply
Yeah I would like to hear about how the Majors look at guys that went a different route other than regional or Military, lets say flying old radials.
Reply
Quote: Has any civilian been able to this?
If so, please list when you were hired what your experience was.
Total time, me time, jet/turbo prop time, type ratings, 135 experience, year hired and the current hiring conditions at the time, if you had a internal recommendation, major hired by, and anything else you would consider that has helped you.
OR if you were are regional pilot, have you been able to get into a major in less than 1 year? If so what were your qualifications?
Thanks in advance.
The only regional pilots that got to majors in less than 1 year are guys who already had the resume they needed... they just needed to get current, make the right connection, something like that.

Its a lot simpler than what you're asking. You have to meet the requirements that the airline wants, have something on your resume that makes you stand out, and know the right people. Thats really it. Get a college degree, a couple thousand hours PIC in a jet, and network. Its harder than the regionals though, thats for sure. Hard to build flight time that quickly and you're not surrounded by networking opportunities all day every day when you're at work.

Good luck. Oh and if you're posting this because you think you're better than going to a regional and want to do it another way, you may want to do a significant evaluation of your priorities and goals to make sure thats really what you want.
Reply
Quote: Yeah I would like to hear about how the Majors look at guys that went a different route other than regional or Military, lets say flying old radials.

See above. It would depend on what you were doing with the radials...airshow flybys and scenic tours probably won't do much for you other than an interview conversation starter. But if you're doing scheduled or on demand service in the system then it would be the same as any 121/135 experience, minus the turbine time.

But as far as I know you will absolutely 100% need 1000 hours of turbine time (SIC or PIC) to get hired by any major in the US.
Reply
Stop posting the same crappy question in every thread.
Reply
Quote: Has any civilian been able to this?
If so, please list when you were hired what your experience was.
Total time, me time, jet/turbo prop time, type ratings, 135 experience, year hired and the current hiring conditions at the time, if you had a internal recommendation, major hired by, and anything else you would consider that has helped you.
OR if you were are regional pilot, have you been able to get into a major in less than 1 year? If so what were your qualifications?
Thanks in advance.
I went from instructing to flying 135 Lear and Hawker. Did 5 years there (4 as PIC, about 2500 Jet PIC) and was hired at Spirit in 07. The way the industry is going, and with the new 121 minimum flight time req, you will have to do some time at a regional or 135 operator before moving up to a major.
Reply
Quote: Stop posting the same crappy question in every thread.
Relax dude. I just didn't know which one it would fit best in.
Reply
Thanks everyone for the feedback. Right now I'm sitting with a college degree, 1000 TPIC 91 (Be90), 5000TT, a 737 type, and ATP.
I wouldn't mind going to the regionals, but I couldn't go to long since I would then go through all my savings and have to sell my house. I would rather not take that gamble if not needed. I could probably last 2 years max at the regionals. It seems like the only thing I'm lacking is the com op experience, so I really need to know if the majors have ever hired someone without 121/135 experience.
Reply
1  2  3 
Page 1 of 3
Go to