Actually, there are two questions now: have you EVER failed a check ride, and have you failed any in the preceding ten years. So they seem to be trying to differentiate between ancient history and more recent events.

 

I don't know how a couple old student busts would effect the computer generated selection for an interview. If I had to venture a guess 3 or more busts or something more recent would probably be a factor. They will ask you about them at the interview and it's your opportunity to own it and be humble. It's an obstacle you overcome and it's your opportunity to check some boxes. This may actually be a positive rather than a negative since it shows you are human. I was a part 61 civilian flight instructor and had some very sharp students bust check rides. Not sure what type of training you had but there was always potential for a failure with a bad roll of the dice.

 

Good to know.

 

Young, dumb and full of ... well, suffice it to say the training account was nearing empty and my instructor was a good buddy and I may or may not have strong-armed him into sending me before I was 100% ready and a good DE can tell from a mile off whether you're prepared or just hoping to fake your way through it.

 

On a somewhat related topic, any word on Southwest dropping the Turbine PIC requirement? There were rumblings of this a while back, then the topic went silent. Earlier this month, I heard the language would change to "1000 Turbine PIC Preferred" but they seemed to back off that at the last moment. Any insights?

 

I think after the responses they have had from their job fairs, they are not hurting for qualified applicants yet.

 

This was told to me almost verbatim at WAI. They expect to do it, but not any time soon.

 

So you're saying I went and got all that jet PIC time for nothing?

Thanks Southwest. Thanks for nothing.*







*joke

 

Nope. It's still required, and I would assume it still will factor heavily later. Good luck. At least you have the TPIC. Many don't.

 

So I've been trying for SWA for a couple years, but really drilled them down as my numero uno a year ago and am curious what course may increase my chances. I meet and exceed all of the mins. I have a perfectly clean record, both aviation and personal. I have a bachelor's outside of aviation. I also went to the September 2016 open house and it went just fine. All of my flight time is civilian time flying corporate, no 121 time and just a small handful of 135.
Presently, I'm flying a large cabin corporate jet, both domestic and international, but only logging SIC (PIC Typed but not signing the part 91 docs or flight plan on my legs). Previously, I was a Citation PIC.
I'm in the conundrum of what to do to raise SWA's awareness of me. I'm just shy of 5,000TT so I'm wondering if that's the major issue.
Would I be better off logging more TPIC? I don't fly more than 325 hours per year so it's not building very quickly. I have the option of joining the 135 world as a Citation PIC and would certainly fly more than I am currently, but I'm not sure if that's the right missing piece. There's not much of a chance to upgrade at the current place for a number of years hence the thought of working the tail off for a few years at 135.
Any thoughts on the civilian picture for SWA hiring? Thanks for any thoughts!