Life after turbo props

[bell47]

I was wondering if turboprop pilots are at any disadvantage when interviewing for a major airline? If someone flys a saab or a beech for say Colgan do they have less of a chance than some guy who flew an RJ. i would think that the jet time would have some sort of advantage, although I don't think it would really make someone a better pilot. I know before the RJ's became so popular that lots of regionals flew more turboprops, so there were more "prop" guys out there interviewing. Now with all the RJ's there are probably more RJ guys interviewing for major positions than prop guys. What do you think??

 

[Captain X]

Props are for boats.

 

[BoilerUP]

Props are for boats.

And jets are for hot tubs.

 

[CF34-3B1]

There were 2 turboprop only guys in my SWA class, 1 Saab, 1 Beech. (Both were Check Airmen)

 

[flyer172r]

And jets are for hot tubs.

So, in other words, we're all in the wrong industry.

 

[30West]

Went from Saab to DC-10. Not a problem.

I don't know any more former RJ captains than T- prop's at majors.

It's the PIC time that counts. But even more than that, it's the connections you make at the company you are aiming for.

The only reason you will see a trend towards more RJ guys gettting hired is simple math. They make up the majority of pilots looking for jobs, just as it was T-prop guys back in the day.

 

[bell47]

I didn't want to turn this into a "my jungle jet is better than your prop plane" discussion. Thanks, CF34-3B1 for your input, That's more of what I'm looking for. I'm sure being a check airman didn't hurt, but what about plain ol' line pilots? Keep it coming!

 

[CA1900]

I have several friends at Southwest, Continental, US Airways before they were furloughed, and plenty here at NetJets, who went straight from line pilot on a 1900 to their respective jobs. No problems.


What they all had in common was Turbine PIC time, not jet time.

 

[fatdumbandhappy]

SkyWest lost about 140 CA's last year, 99 RJ and 39 BRO. Considering that there are about 180 CRJ's and about 60 BRO's at SKYW, if you do the quick and rough math, by percentage (99/180 < 39/60), it looks like to T-PROP guys/gals had no problem getting other jobs.

fdah

 

[jackson]

It's all about PIC

gotta have it

 

[CoolSidePillow]

Two pilots walk into an interview. Both pilots have very similiar flight times except one is on jet and one is in t prop. The t prop got his PIC turbine time most likely in a shorter amount of time and probably did more challenging stick and rudder flying in bad weather, out of the way airports, more legs, tougher schedules, older equipment with less support etc. Making it happen as a Captain with bare bones. Very valuable experience no matter what anyone says because that is time honored experience that builds skills that dont come from a book. Dont try to argue because I am right. The jet guy has more experience with jet speeds, jet systems (that get learned from a book), longer legs (being able to hook up a DVD and watch videos in cockpit), staring out the window at FL360 down at featureless terrain, looking at the wonder boxes and saying what a neat toy, turning on autopilot, letting trailing link gear make them look good at landings, but they have a jump start on the kind of flying that anyone who moves up will be doing. So who does the job go to???????????? The better PERSON for the job. The flight time and equipment just show you can be trained and you can fly the line. They hire people and if you are a mental case, basket case, ego maniac, a**hole, have trouble playing with the other kids, a background of deviant behavior, bad reputation as an employee, know the chief pilot's wall paper by heart, or come across as someone the interviewer would rather jump out of the plane rather than spend a 4 day with then you could take all your t prop time or all your RJ time and see if they fit up the dark hole sideways cause that is about as good as it will do you. Then of course if you know someone really really really good and suck up really really really good.... well then you can be a retard with a couple hours and someone will slide you in the right seat at the grown ups table. That sh*t was funny

 

[Whydoitry]

Yeah the real answer is generally who you know. CAL has hired plenty of non pic fo's with the right connections.

 

[ERJFO]

And jets are for hot tubs.

And hot tubs are for your wife.

(Well, she likes mine at least)

Yeah the real answer is generally who you know. CAL has hired plenty of non pic fo's with the right connections.

Are they still giving newhires at CAL the 73's and 75's or have they started sending them through A320 school?

 

[AlabamaMan!!]

Continental has A320's?

 

[Lazy8]

Continental has A320's?

sure don't

 

[ERJFO]

Continental has A320's?

No, United does...

 

[Captain X]

And jets are for hot tubs.

Giggity!

 

[WMUSIGPI]

I'd say the ones at a disadvantage are ones flying King Airs, Conquests, MU-2 Ect. (ones that don't require a type) or ones with the prop mounted on the roof (helicopters)

 

[acaTerry]

I've flown 'em all...props and jets, and I have to say that nobody will ever be as good a pilot as they were when flying those 19 seat props with no FD, no autopilot, no nothing. Shouldn't be a problem getting hired.

 

[trainer8]

EXPERIENCE

Believe me, when a HR department looks at a stack of apps and they can weed out the non-turbojet, non-EFIS, low-time applicants, they will--UNLESS--you know someone. The exception is the regional carriers, who right now, are desperate to find bodies with a 98.6 degree temperature.

It takes a lot less in training costs to bring a guy up to speed in your equipment if he is already qualified in that equipment, or who already has been flying and is familiar with the same sorties somewhere else. Even FSi can punch them out, some with a couple extra hours of SIM. But, when it takes 45 hours of IOE to spool them up on line, they are noticing.

T8

 

[Justino2]

Ask the pilots who have gotten hired at SW, jetBlue, Continental, and North American.
Speak loudly though we can't hear so well.

 

[acaTerry]

EXPERIENCE

Believe me, when a HR department looks at a stack of apps and they can weed out the non-turbojet, non-EFIS, low-time applicants, they will--UNLESS--you know someone. The exception is the regional carriers, who right now, are desperate to find bodies with a 98.6 degree temperature.

It takes a lot less in training costs to bring a guy up to speed in your equipment if he is already qualified in that equipment, or who already has been flying and is familiar with the same sorties somewhere else. Even FSi can punch them out, some with a couple extra hours of SIM. But, when it takes 45 hours of IOE to spool them up on line, they are noticing.

T8

Gotta disagree here. AirTran was scooping up J32 pilots from us like nuts.

 

[Hulk Hogan]

Plenty of Turboprop guys getting on at places like SWA and AirTran. Talked to an XJ guy in DFW who was hired at SWA with only sf340 time and no 737 type at the time of the interview. Experience...yes but not completly based on airplane. I would also think a persons ability to learn plays a roll. I'm sure we all have seen the joker with tons of experience but dumb as a .... I have. cya

 

[Regul8r]

EXPERIENCE

Believe me...but, when it takes 45 hours of IOE to spool them up on line, they are noticing.
T8

Keep telling yourself whatever you got to in order to sleep at night, Betty. The way you tell it, perhaps you were the one who had diffuiculty transitioning over to jets. An added benefit to hiring T-Prop guys - you don't have to teach them a thing about weather!

But I digress...as has been previously stated on here, it's who you are that will make or break the interview.

 

[jhwflyer]

Had a buddy of mine get hired at SWA back in Oct. He went from flight instructing to flying the 1900 at Commutair to SWA in four years. He has a two year degree had 3400 TT and 1500 PIC when they hired him. Knew a couple people there that he used to fly with and that's it. He was just a line pilot. If they like you they'll hire you.

 

[BenderGonzales]

In 1998/1999 nobody required PIC time except for SWA and FedEx. In fact, in July 1998 AirTran hired almost an entire class of former CCAir J31 First Officers.

Look how many major-airline furloughees are out there now without so much as an hour of PIC turbine. Those poor fellows had the rules changed on them in the middle of the game. USAir furloughees with 10,000 hours+ and typed in the 737...still aren't qualified to even apply at SWA.

 

[ERJpusher]

In 1998/1999 nobody required PIC time except for SWA and FedEx. In fact, in July 1998 AirTran hired almost an entire class of former CCAir J31 First Officers.

Look how many major-airline furloughees are out there now without so much as an hour of PIC turbine. Those poor fellows had the rules changed on them in the middle of the game. USAir furloughees with 10,000 hours+ and typed in the 737...still aren't qualified to even apply at SWA.

Thus the importance of getting PIC time when you can.

Back to the original question. I believe that this is a hard question to answer right now. Most people are referencing a period time when the percentage of turboprop aircraft far outnumbered the percentage of RJs. Since the explosion of the RJ, most major airlines haven't been hiring. You can't compare numbers 10 years ago to right now. Of course a lot of people were going directly from a TP to a major in 1995-- there weren't hardly any regional jets operating.

That being said, at SWA there seems to be a much higher percentage of people with jet time being hired than without. However, there are still plenty of turboprop-only guys getting on.

Time will tell (probably within the next couple of years) how this trend will really shake out.

 

[climbhappy]

you're never as quick and sharp as you are on a prop, but i think it comes down to can you get through a training program. a good prop driver can quickly handle the faster pace of a jet and keep up.

flying a jet in the sim the with autopilot on was as hard as drinking a beer after i finish my yard work. what's hard is hand flying a turboprop in the sim when bells and whistles are going off and you have a dip$hip as a sim partner.

on the line , with either one as the captain, you either have the right stuff or you're a nervous nellie pissing everybody off. FAs included.

 

[Alaska82]

I'm upgrading at Colgan in May and we have lost so many Captains out of Houston alone in the past couple months, more than half of the IAH Captains have left, CO, SWA, OMNI, Flex, and a couple left for corporate. The best thing at Colgan is that guys leave, you don't retire at a company that pays 50K. It's all about connections, the more people you make friends with that move on and can help you out the better. The mins and someone walking in your resume can beat any other qualification.