cargo jobs

[highflying]

What are the mins to get a first time cargo job?

 

[Dan CFI/CFII]

I've got a few times more time than thee, plus an A'n'P. But still no cargo jobs for mee.

(should I also put my rhyming skills on my resume?)

Seriously, you really need IFR 135 minimums to be freight dogging it up, you've a ways to go yet (as do I).

Dan

 

[YaMama]

Seems like there is the odd VFR 135 job out there (min is only 500 hours). More of them out west I imagine. VFR 135 sounds pretty shady to me ...

 

[skylane58]

VFR 135 is not shady, companys are shady. there are good ones and bad ones, it has nothing to do with what regs they fly under.

 

[skydraulic]

'Shady' minimums: see FAR 135.243(b)
'Non-shady' minimums: FAR 135.243(c)
'Real' minimums: Too dayum tall for this short-timer.

I like to practice hauling freight with students. They screw up and they're gonna bleed! Talk about some good hazmat experience!

 

[inline]

If you want to start flying for a part 135 carrier, start building real time. If you're short on total time, you need to try and get a right seat on anything(prefferably turboprop) and build time that way. Instructing time is gonna get you instructing jobs.

 

[starcheck1]

Time....

If you want to start flying for a part 135 carrier, start building real time. If you're short on total time, you need to try and get a right seat on anything(prefferably turboprop) and build time that way. Instructing time is gonna get you instructing jobs.

I am going to have to disagree with this...since alot of the people I know that are flying for Part 135 carriers have came from instructing backgrounds....including me. Build time anyway you can. Instructing may not pay the greatest...but time is time.

 

[uscpilot]

All part 135 carriers like Airnet care about is meeting IFR 135 mins, and multi (most 100 - 200 hr). Since about the only job you can get before that is instructing then what is wrong with being an instructor? I will go out on a limb (I am sure some here has the actual data) and estimate that 80 percent of the civilian trained pilots were instructors for the first part of their career (myself included). Instructing didnt hamper our careers. The lack of instructing early on could hurt an applicant in the eyes of some interviewers.
my .02 dollars
usc

 

[CitationLover]

instructing is to pilots what 20hr duty days are to new doctors.

suck it up and instruct. you will learn a ton and hopefully have a good time.

 

[pilotbob53]

If you approach instructing thinking it's just a way to build time....don't bother! You need to understand that there's still a lot to learn and teaching is one of the best ways to learn. You'll not only build your own experience but meet people that could help you later in life. When you are an instructor, that's your career at the present time....take it seriously.

 

[buckdanny]

I'll second that

Over 1300 hours as a CFI and still learning something on almost every flight.

Buck

 

[jstanotherpilot]

Don't always need to instruct. My first flying job was as an FE on DC8's. Didn't even have a commercial or multi or IFR rating. Just a private. Got my FE through my A&P license. And I didn't even have a college degree or a high school diploma for that matter. So its is possible to get somewhere without instructing although I would have enjoyed being an instructor. In fact I am contemplating getting it for after 60 work. Good Luck.

 

[labbats]

You can take the above poster's advice, or... take the easy route and buy a lottery ticket. The odds are roughly the same.

In reality, it would be nice to jump into a situation like that, and congratulations to the guy who did it, but in planning your career, moving towards a CFI rating is pretty rational.

 

[skylane58]

The CFI route is not the only way. I did not get a CFI and I am doing OK. I have 1450TT and 250ME, most of which is turbine. I did not PFT either. However, most people are not as fortunate as myself for the time I have gotten. The CFI series is probably the most effective way to gather time and experience, it just wasn't for me. It really depends on your situation, which is probably like everybody elses, CFI until you get 1200 hours and look for a 135 job.

 

[atpcliff]

Hi!

My airline's mins are about 2000/1000, but we R now hiring pilots with WAY more than the mins now.

Cliff
DTW

 

[rbowen]

Like the other posts said. Fly as much as you can to hit at least that 1200 mark.
I was a flight instructor for 1 1/2 years and did gave 900 hours of instruction. It is a good thing to become a flight instructor and teach as you will learn a lot. About the aircraft and about staying alive.
I was a member on AEPS.com and applied to quite a few companies online. After a few months I recieved a call from a 121 company wanting me to come fly the convair 240/580. It was a cargo job and I had right around 1400 TT 100 Multi. I find most people have it hard when it comes to building multi. I had to buy my first 100 hours and then the doors opened up.

If you can split time in a twin it does not cost nearly as much

Good hunting,

 

[Xfr8dog]

I dont want to go off on a rant here but....
when i was a student (not too many years ago) i remember two of the instructors in my school chomping at the bit to get a commuter job. One was an American with a college degree and a dad at a major, the other HS educated and an Austrailian. Times were tough and the native-son took a job at a little place called {xhgd-Air} paid 10k for it and then got his friend a job there... but when HE got hired there was no PFT. About a year later i recall him giving his friend who got him hired... $hit about PAYING for training. You see, he didnt have to. Not because he was morally superior, but because the market had changed.
I've been thinking... turning down a job that you really need (ie: 8k per year in a Grumman Trainer vs. 19k + PFT) and standing the supposed moral high ground makes you ... less money in the long run? A better vulture waiting for the prime road kill? I really dont know.
When people start going up to the guy digging a ditch and ask him.. "please can i pay you 10 bucks an hour to dig that for you?" instead of the digger saying, "man, can i give you my hard earned sweat drenched dollars to come with you into the air?" I'll understand the grief people give to others about "paying for multi time" and "being suckered by a PFT transistion school".

Before you grief... i was a student when times were "right" and got a job flying DC-3's on a pager at 1200 hours. got lucky and ended up flying jets for the last couple of years from 1900 hours til present (4000 hours).
did i say lucky?

times change, the market changes and what gets you there, gets you there. (i'm not talking about scabbing or stabbing your friend in the back) but im talking about not whining because the other guy has bettter credit than you, or more of the drive that it takes to make it in this f&cked up industry.

whew.. i guess i got off the original topic.
get yourself a job doing whatever it takes to get total time FIRST and then turbine time SECOND and then turbine PIC time.... : - ) duh?

well flame away....

 

[Xfr8dog]

after my rant i read back up...

i have to agree with some of them, instructing is incredible experience. You finish learning what you really didn't ever know. It's humbling and illuminating.

P.S. also a great way to build quality time.




good luck to you.

 

[buckdanny]

Hey f8dog...

I got a little confused by your post. Are you saying that if one is really struggling for that ME time, it is ok to say pay 18K for a job at Colgan?

I am in a situation like that... I have students who want to fly a ME, the school doesn't have one, another one who SAYS he's going to buy one, etc... you know how that goes I don't know what to do anymore, because even 135 ops are either overstaffed or asking for 300 ME for insurance!

Buck

 

[Xfr8dog]

(yea it was a late night rant! sorry)

well personally i wouldnt pay for a job. I'm too poor and it would piss me off : - ) but if youre in a position to do so and REALLY just gotta fly something that burns kerosene, go for it. You're going to recoup the money eventually. People are always arguing that its morally reprehensible and its lowering the bar for all your pilot brothers but i'm a believer in the free market, if the ball is in managements hands theyre going to cut thier losses and increase profit ( another way to look at it is theyre "insuring" thier investment) on the other hand when the market is booming pilots hold the cards and can demand better pay, no PFT etc.

my advice though is get your CFI and waste no time getting your CFII, its invaluable experience and times arent going to be tough for very much longer. (my crystal ball says so)

good luck.