121 vs. 135 flying

[unreal]

Hi everyone,

Something that's been on my mind lately are my short-term and long-term career goals. I'm a CFI at the moment and don't feel rushed to move on anytime soon, but I'm simply trying to weigh my options later on down the road.

Right now I'm thinking about sticking around my present job until I have at least Part 135 IFR mins so that I can get hired on with a cargo operator. Ameriflight and Airnet pop to mind. I really dig the idea of the whole SPIFR type of flying in piston twins and turboprops. I'm sure it's not exactly the safest thing I could be doing in this business, but there's a certain draw to it in my mind. I fly predominantly at night at my current job, and I absolutely love it.

However, I'm not sure how well that fits in with my long-term goals. Like most people, I'd love to end up at a fractional or some sort of major airline. I understand that those types of operators do seem to prefer that you have crew time though, which isn't exactly something you'll get while hossing around in a Metro. While I'd like to do something exciting with my career like night freight, I don't want to put myself in a position where the fact that I don't have "121 crew PIC" on my resume will put me at a disadvantage.

So, keeping those long-term goals in mind, is it smarter to simply stick it out as an RJ FO for however long it takes just to get some 121 PIC, or should building quick PIC turbine be the way to go?

 

[avbug]

Not having Part 121 PIC on your resume doesn't put you at a disadvantage.

You need experience. You need to have a leg to stand on before picking and choosing what jobs you want. I don't know that most would aspire to fly for a fractional...if you like that lifestyle it's okay...but neither that, nor the scheduled airline life are the dream and goal for a lot of pilots. Some yes, some no.

If you want to fly for the airlines, then go fly for the airlines. If you want to fly for a fractional operator, then get enough experience to apply, and apply. Airlines, especially regionals, are entry level jobs...you can get hired at a regional with very little experience and truthfully, very little background or knowledge. Make the minimums, be capable of passing the interview, go to work. Starve to death.

If you want to do other things and have the opportunity to do them, then do them. Is flying a metro at night going to hurt you? Only if you let it. You'll gain some valueable experience and that's what counts. You may not have the choice to pick and choose. The industry has been on an upswing for a while now...before long it's going to hit the middle of it's ten year cycle and start back down again, and jobs will be hard to come by, furloughs will happen again, we'll see flight departments closing and suffering...just like it always does every ten years or so. You may not have the luxury of working where you want...you'll have the privilege of finding whatever you can get.

If you're coming out of flight instructing and seeking a VFR cargo job, then find that. You can't be in too much of a hurry...you don't have the experience to hurry anywhere. Accordingly, enjoy being where you are right now, and get as much experience as you can from everything you do. Remember that hours do not equate to experience...an hour of flying may yield an enormous amount of experience, or it may be an hour in a logbook. The difference between the two is up to you...same hour, but what you get out of it becomes your base of experience, and at this stage in the game, that's what you need.

Walk before you run, grasshopper.

 

[pilotyip]

Got to make the moves

Take the first job you can get that builds MEL time, be it a RJ F/O, regional TP F/O or a cargo on-demand Shorts 360 F/O. Once you have 135 IFR PIC mins find a job that gets you PIC time, then look for better jobs as your time builds. Be prepared to move, and do not get involved in QOL issues until you have the time to be competitive for the QOL jobs. We have a 24 year old pilot that will start logging 121 PIC time as a DC-9 Captain next year. His career matches the above route, with no full time college. BTW he will finish his on-line degree next year also.