First flight job recommendations?

[rfresh]

Does your friend want to instruct? He needs to continue to build some time to be really marketable - unless he knows someone who can help get him a flying job.

 

[mcjohn]

Colgan, Great Lakes or similar regional carriers will pick him up. 300 multi ain't bad. Surely that would off set his TT being so low.

 

[Joe Schmo]

A friend of mine with about 500TT/300ME is about to start the search. I've given him my opinions . . . anyone else care to chime in? Yes, I tried long ago to dissuade him from pursuing this profession . . . to no avail. He's dying to be a big shot airline pilot like me (his words, not mine).

500 TT / 300 ME, seems to early to start searching. Definetly would agree with the other recomendations so far, he needs more expierence. People confuse ability and expierence often, and expierence is the one thing you can't read in a book.

 

[Lead Sled]

Right now is prime season for jobs flying circles around the ditch. 500 TT is all he needs.....He can make a boat load of cash doing that, instruct in the off season and he'll have competitive times in no time.....

Around the ditch? You mean the Grand Canyon? That's how I got my start at 500 hrs TT, 5 MEL and no CFI. It worked for me. After 3 years I had an ATP, 3,000 hours TT - 2900 of that PIC including over 2000 hours of 400 series twin Cessna time. Things may have changed since then, but I had what was essentially a 5 day per week, 9 to 5 job, making $30K per year. Not bad money 30 years ago. The problem was UNLV didn't offer the classes at night that I needed to finish up my degree, so I left after 3 years of flying the canyon to go to school full-time. I also decided that if I was going to keep my hand in flying whilst I was back in school I had better get back into the books and pick up my CFI. Along the way, I also picked up the CFII, CFI-ME and CFI-Glider. I'm glad I did, you non-CFI types are really missing the boat. In a teaching situation, it's always the teacher who learns the most. I didn't understand that when I started and figured that I had dodged a bullet by avoiding the CFI experience. I was wrong.

'Sled

 

[Blue583]

Around the ditch? You mean the Grand Canyon? That's how I got my start at 500 hrs TT, 5 MEL and no CFI. It worked for me. After 3 years I had an ATP, 3,000 hours TT - 2900 of that PIC including over 2000 hours of 400 series twin Cessna time. Things may have changed since then, but I had what was essentially a 5 day per week, 9 to 5 job, making $30K per year. Not bad money 30 years ago.

I think that type of job would be awesome to get started. Currently I'm a CFI with about 900 and 50. What companies would you recommend me getting information about?

 

[skydiverdriver]

Umm, all of them?

I would apply to anyone that will take your resume. Try skydiving operations, banner towing (although a bit dangerous), pipeline patrol, traffic watch, instructing, perhaps see if a school might hire you if you get your CFI ratings there. Get a copy of Trade a Plane, and look in the employment section. Send resumes to cargo operators, Fedex feeders, UPS feeders, and anyone else you can think of. Go to the library for a copy of the WAD (World Aviation Directory) and send them out to a bunch of people. Go to a local FBO flight school and ask where their instructors are leaving for. Apply to all the regionals. Hang out at the airport bar. Join a flying club and get to know all the pilots there. Try everything you can. They say that the first 1000 hours are always the toughest. You may have to change jobs once or twice to get what you need. Shoot for the heaviest and dirtiest time you can get. Larger airplanes and IMC time is key.

Good luck.

 

[Blue583]

I don't think I was specific enough. I am a flight instructor at a university right now, that's where I've got my 900 hours. I was more specifically talking about jobs around the grand canyon where you are flying twin cessnas. I understand I have to do the research, I was more specifically asking about the company he worked for or any other compaines that fly twins, to build up my twin time. Thanks for the advice though, I will have to research the Fed Ex commuters, I'm not familiar with them at all.

 

[Lead Sled]

I don't think I was specific enough. I am a flight instructor at a university right now, that's where I've got my 900 hours. I was more specifically talking about jobs around the grand canyon where you are flying twin cessnas. I understand I have to do the research, I was more specifically asking about the company he worked for or any other compaines that fly twins, to build up my twin time. Thanks for the advice though, I will have to research the Fed Ex commuters, I'm not familiar with them at all.

I doubt if the companies that I worked for even exist any more. I'd start by getting a list of operators from the LAS FSDO.

'Sled

 

[TOGA]

DrProc -
Go buy yourself a sense of humor, then come back and re-read my post.

Everyone else -
Thanks much for the input, I'll pass it along!