Welcome to Flightinfo.com

  • Register now and join the discussion
  • Friendliest aviation Ccmmunity on the web
  • Modern site for PC's, Phones, Tablets - no 3rd party apps required
  • Ask questions, help others, promote aviation
  • Share the passion for aviation
  • Invite everyone to Flightinfo.com and let's have fun

anyone hiring directly into the captain seat?

Welcome to Flightinfo.com

  • Register now and join the discussion
  • Modern secure site, no 3rd party apps required
  • Invite your friends
  • Share the passion of aviation
  • Friendliest aviation community on the web
If you have the type and the time, many of the 135 on-demand will hire you into the left seat of a Lear, Falcon, or whatever. I know Kalitta Charters, Ameristar amd Tricoastal do it.
 
BengalsFan said:
Any regional, part 135 or other hiring directly into the captain seat? Or have upgrades of less than a year?

At 1700 hours, good luck. Pay your dues like everyone else.
 
Careful with that. Generally speaking, those that hire street captains into turbine equipment have a washout rate approaching 90%. In other words, you'll end up as an FO or jobless anyhow, with a failure on your record.
 
Even though you are military 1700 TT is probably a little light for the PIC insurance at most of the jet 135 outfits. It will probably be good for Mesa or similar.

If you have a good bit of Aircraft Commander time on the 130 you may be able to convince insurance companies to go for it.

Generally speaking (times vary widely) most corporate jet ins. policies are now looking for 3000+ at a minimum for PIC.

Also PIC on a part 135 jet needs the ATP(and of course any 121 PIC).

Now having said all that, the military background gives you a good advantage over many of the RJ and charter drivers currently out there. The bad news is that there are still 8000+ furloughed pilots from the majors out there. Most are well over 5k Total and hold several corporate and airline types.
 
Last edited:
I think it would be a good idea to get some 121 or 135 experience before getting into the left seat.
 
Having trained numerous new hire milt types at my carrier over the yrs, if this is checked out in the left seat in the 130 he will have little trouble in the Dash 8. And I'm a civilian guy myself..but ins maybe some thing else..
 
bengals suck

btw, does mesa have their Dash 8s yet? That service starts in a few days! I thought I saw some where that they would be TDY ERJs.
 
Last edited:
DrProc said:
At 1700 hours, good luck. Pay your dues like everyone else.

I was thinking that too until I looked at the aircraft he has flown. Military guy, so all of that 1700 hrs is probally all turbine time. So, I think he has paid whatever dues you may be refering to.
 
This reminds me of my sophomore year in high school when we were all watching the coach post the cut list and one of the not-so-talented freshman kids squeezes through our bunch asking "how do I find out if I made varsity?"

He was on the cut list. He did however become our "manager" after snuggling with the varstiy coach. So I got to spend the next three years telling him to shutup and go get me _______ (icy hot, swing weight, rosin bag, foul ball, Big League Chew, scorebook, gatorade, his sisters tele #, his MILF tele #).

Ok..maybe not a completely fair comparison...but funny dang memories!

W
 
Bengals-yes Mesa is hiring street CA on the Delta side for East coast flying (Freedom). PM me for more info.
 
Thanks for all the colorful responses. I love how people in this industry say pay your dues. But I know 4 or 5 guys who flew helicopters in the marines... then went to an air force pilot training base as instructors, where they flew the T-37 for 1500 hours, and are now all working for Southwest. So I understand there may be some resentment from some of the civilian guys, who think we need to pay our dues... but remember, in the military 1700 hours can take years, depending on the equipment you fly... we don't get the luxury of sitting in an RJ for 100 hours a month getting 1200 hours a year... we usually average about 500 hours a year... again depending on equipment.... sometimes numbers don't equal experience.
 
and then there is the connection side... I think there is a guy on this site named FlyerJosh... who got into the corporate side of things pretty early in his life based on some connections. And a friend of mine who has about 2000 hours military just got a corporate job making over 80k... and its his first job... he just happened to get a hookup from one of our buddies....

I'm just saying don't sell yourself short, thinking you have to work for crap, to get somewhere in this industry.
 
If you're looking for a 121 carrier to hire you into the right seat. Then you are looking for somewhere to pay you crap.
 
rsspilot said:
Yes u can say it but the requirements are 4000 total and 2000 multi 1000 turbine...no excep5tions

And a DUI or a violation. Both is a plus as well and bring your own knife because all of the other ones are taking up space on my back
 
With a national union, displaced Captains would be able to take Captain vacancies at other carriers, rather than have to start fresh as an F.O. Which is the way it should be.
 
FNFAL, that was part of the de-reg of 1978, if your airline went belly up because of de-reg you could go with your airplane to wherever it went. However when the EAL 757's went to USAir, the USAir union said we don't want those guys. Let them find another job.
 
BengalsFan said:
and then there is the connection side... I think there is a guy on this site named FlyerJosh... who got into the corporate side of things pretty early in his life based on some connections. And a friend of mine who has about 2000 hours military just got a corporate job making over 80k... and its his first job... he just happened to get a hookup from one of our buddies....

I'm just saying don't sell yourself short, thinking you have to work for crap, to get somewhere in this industry.

Josh can speak for himself, but he paid his civilian dues in the RJ.
 
I'm thinking of trying for the street captain at Mesa. Are they so bad anymore? The pay looks low or average for the regionals, plus they have 13 bid periods, which ups the pay and time off. Still not great, but not horrible either. I know there is a gut reaction to Mesa from old times, but i hear much worse about Pinnacle.
Any thoughts?
 
SA-227 METROLINER and BE-1900 CAPTAINS

Ameriflight is currently accepting aplications for SA-227 Metroliner Captains and BE-1900 Captains. Minimum qualifications for SA-227 Metroliner Captains are 2,500 hours total flight time, 1,000 hours multi-engine PIC, and 750 hours of turbine experience. Minimum qualifications for BE-1900 Captains are 2500 hours total flight time, 750 hours multi-engine PIC, and 500 hours of turbine time. Preference will be given to those who are current, qualified, and typed. Applicants must be willing to sign a one year commitment. To apply, please complete an On-Line Application......
_____

I know it says 2500 tt, but if all/most of your time is in turbine equipment I'm sure they would consider, good luck
 
It seems to me the biggest drawback about getting hired into the left seat, is that you'll have no experience being an FO. The captains who have little or no FO experience are often the ones who are less liked among the FO's, simply because they can't relate. In summary, there's a lot to be said for starting in the right seat, in my opinion.
 
The real question is: "Should anyone be hiring directly into the captain seat?"

Absolutely not. You should sit right seat for a few months to at least learn the a/c and operations.
 

Latest resources

Back
Top Bottom