Airtran and their "500 PIC part 121" requirement?

[Lupus]

Might want to change that Avatar too. It's now the international symbol for choke.

 

[Flying Freddie]

Nah, George will keep buying until he gets it right!

 

[gear_guy]

So, what's the benefit? Is it cheaper to train former 121 guys? Seems like there must be some reason to miss out on all those qualified pilots.

 

[kilroy]

No offense to you 121 guys but I,ve have met a few dumb a$$es that have become 121 captains only because of seniority not for brains, common sense the fact they are the dumbest sons of biatchs ever to bless the cockpit. I don,t agree with this requirement but hey I,m just another disgruntled 135 pilot. There are alot of 135/corporate pilots out there with a ton of experience most 121 guys would never get and will never have . I say fair chance to all with the right experience...

 

[TWA Dude]

To me, it seems like this might be a borderline "unfair" hiring practice.

I hate to say it, but 'fairness' doesn't enter into the equation. Airlines can hire whomever they wish. Minimum times and quals are completely arbitrary (ie, why is a PIC turboprop >20,000lbs more qualified than <20,000lbs?). Airline hiring depts decide what kind of pilot they want and that's who they hire, however, we all know that every airline ends up with a percentage of incompetants and schmucks. I have the 500 121 PIC and 1200 hours in a 717 yet I couldn't elicit a response from AirTran -- no LOR. That's just the way it goes in this business.

 

[kilroy]

twadude........wow I,m surprised . You sound more than qualified....It is amazing how these airlines conduct there hiring practices. Meanwhile some other guy with 1/4 of your experience will get a job with them.......I get so frustrated . Nothing against lower time guys but you see these pilots with 3000 hrs barely meet the mins and guys like you are sitting here thinking what are we doing wrong...All these years to building time and experience and none of the airlines appreciates it or even acknowledges it.. Its not about being a good pilot anymore its about who you know and how you play the game.

 

[furloughed]

twadude........Its not about being a good pilot anymore its about who you know and how you play the game.

It has ALWAYS been this way.

 

[pilot370]

I thought i had read in a previous post on this subject that said Airtran has that minimum because of the non-121 pilots were failing their checkrides? Maybe they just got a few bad apples, that or it dosent say much for their training department.

 

[Ty Webb]

tNothing against lower time guys but you see these pilots with 3000 hrs barely meet the mins and guys like you are sitting here thinking what are we doing wrong...All these years to building time and experience and none of the airlines appreciates it or even acknowledges it.. Its not about being a good pilot anymore its about who you know and how you play the game.

Here's an even worse example- my University flight program had an internship program with UAL. In 1991, we had recent grads with 450 hours TT who had never even flown anything larger than a Cessna 310, hired on at UAL, while there were thousands of Branniff, Eastern and Midway pilots available, to say nothing of those working for the "feeders" that shut down, too, like Midway Connection, Eastern Metro. Needless to say, nearly all of these UAL newhires were either the offspring of UAL pilots, or could check a box.

But back to AirTran's policy- I do not like it or agree with the logic behind it. As a former 91/135 guy I have a number of friends who I know would do great here, and I can't even get them an interview, which is disappointing, to say the least.

However, I can't apply at SWA, even though I have over 5000TT, a B737 type, 3200 Jet (still short on the 1000 Turbine PIC) while a King Air 90 guy who has never even flew in a crew situation, hasn't even gone over 250 KIAS, gets the nod . . . . do I agree with that? Of course not. Do I post angry rants about SWA? No. They can hire who they want. In the end, it's their sandbox.

 

[ultrarunner]

That requirement weeds out a whole bunch of 'protected class' pilots.

Good way to keep things pretty male and pretty white on the flight deck.