Absolutely.

They expect you to drop out about half way through training when you get the call from one of the big three. They'd rather have someone with 1200 TSIC of 121 time who will be overjoyed just to be there for the next 40 years.

This is nuts. And the majors won't touch me as I have too much time and am considered "untrainable". This hiring landscape is insane. FO's with 2-4 years 121 flying, no TPIC or 121 PIC get hired by legacy carriers. Pilots with > 10,000 hours can't even get an interview.

I feel your pain bro. The lost generation always got screwed over.

I submitted my app recently, did the gallup test and got the follow up email "please input your flight times to complete the application." Is this a good step or is that the standard email for everyone applying. If i get on its a career destination for me.



2000TT 1000ME 500SIC regional gear slinger.

[QUOTE=ncpilot1996;2651284]I submitted my app recently, did the gallup test and got the follow up email "please input your flight times to complete the application." Is this a good step or is that the standard email for everyone applying. If i get on its a career destination for me.


Either you are a step ahead of me as I never get any follow up emails following the Gallup or you didn't finish filling your application properly... not sure though

I Have:
3700 TT
3400 Turbine
850 TPIC
3450 ME
135 worlwide operation experience, no 121, no bachelors

You aren’t overqualified... but you would be doing yourself a favor by trying to get into a meet and greet and selling yourself for the long term here... flat tell them you have no interest in the big 3 or SWA (even if you do)
With your experience you’ll be a shoe in once you convince them of that

To be fair, HR at the legacies are working off real data when they avoid high time applicants. Out of my Spirit new hire class of sixteen the two that didn't make it through training were in the top half of the group for total years in the industry. I would imagine the phenomenon is the same elsewhere. Nonetheless it's a shame if they won't even touch you. Get in front of a recruiter or chief pilot at a meet and greet or job fair and really make the case that Spirit is where you want to retire from.

There has also been a problem at many airlines with millennials using cell phones in flight or during the walk around and telling captains that they don't do walk arounds when it's their leg. But they still hire millennials.

*drops the Mic*

I’ve seen plenty of 40+ captains using their phones in flight. Or reading magazines, playing solitaire on the tablet, etc. Don’t for a second things it’s just younger people.

I just got hired and will start in a little over a week.
I had 5000 TT with 1950PIC and 3 years previous experience at Expressjet. Other guys in my interview ranged from Gojet RJ captains, Skywest RJ captains, a Cessna corporate pilot, a couple 135 guys, a FAA guy, and myself who has been a corporate test pilot for the last 4 years.

I emphasized the fact that Spirit was the only airline I applied to. I think this is a very important thing to get across as they do not want people to jump ship after a year.

In summary I would say they had a very talented group in the interview and everyone was super happy to be going to Spirit.

Hope this helps!
Good luck.

The difference is knowing your audience and your position. As an FO, especially an FO on probation, you don’t set the tone. You follow the tone set by the captain unless he is doing something unsafe. This has happened enough at some majors that it’s being brought up in new hire class. But of course they don’t hold the idiocy of a few against the entire group.

I don’t think many disagree with you and certainly can empathize with your situation. However, the tone of many of your posts seems bitter. I would suggest attending a job fair type event and have positivity pouring out of you with anyone you interact with. All of my class attended one and half probably more than one.

The process of getting out of the regionals is extremely frustrating. I actually had a plan B and a hard deadline on leaving flying. I wasn’t going to chase a dream forever and then I got lucky and got hired here at a good time a year before my deadline. A lot of it is luck but but you can do somethings to increase that luck and getting FaceTime whilst having positivity oozing from your pores can help a lot.

Sorry, but this is complete crap. Would an A/B high school senior only apply to one college and hope for the best? Heck no! They apply to several and hope one sticks.

I doubt the guys with their sights on only legacies have their stuff in at only one; I’d bet the farm that they’ve applied at several/all.

You guys need to be honest with the recruiters/interviewers but also with yourselves. Spirit ain’t the only job hiring.

@gatorbird
 

Well in my case Spirit was the only airline I applied to because I think it’s the right company for me.
If you think the legacies will be a good fit for you as well then do what you feel is right.
Good luck!

So what if they don’t/didn’t call you? What’s/was your back up plan? In my interview they asked if I applied anywhere else. I said everywhere of course except Alaska and virgin and Hawaiian because f geografics, but Spirit was my first choice and why. Who applies to only one career airline?

Nice response! You do not see these qualifications in this era!

@Qotsaautopilot
 

I will PM you.

The major difference, of course, is that universities don't have to pay for a student to attend or worry about retention, where airlines do. Sometimes I think we would rather have the "C" students with less options.

Just because I probably could have gone to MIT doesn't mean I wanted to go there, and since I had no intent of going there I didn't apply.

The same is true for employment. I won't apply anywhere I couldn't see myself staying until retirement. That was true when I was seeking a job at a regional and holds true for the (hopefully) final next step.

I'm sure some people just throw an app at every place and see what sticks. That's why I appreciate when companies run their own career page instead of using airlineapps. The recruiters know a candidate is genuinely interested in their company.

Welcome to Spirit.

True. But that hasn't (yet) created an on-boarding issue that their training departments have to spend thousands of dollars to fix.

And if you think PED usage is only a generational thing....my oh my....

Curious, how many are getting hired without a 4 year degree?

Plenty. Some think that a lack of degree may actually help you at Spirit as you aren't as much of a flight risk.

Thanks for the quick response.

So when you interviewed at DL, UA, AA, WN AND FDX you told them you preferred NK? Off course you should apply everywhere, and if you get an interviews you tell ALL of them they are your first choice, and you will be able to back that up with company specific reasons why. Afterwards you sort your job offers (if you are lucky enough to get one) by personal preference and take your first choice.
What you definitely never do is tell a recruiter at a job fair “here is my generic resume + cover letter, I’ve been dropping these off everywhere, you guys are all the same”, or even better “well Sandi, I’d rather get hired at Southwest, even got my 737 rating, but they haven’t called yet so that is why I’m here today”.
Be honest with yourself on your own time after you get a job.