Minimum hiring age for the regionals....

[Midnight Flyer]

I know some young guys could use better decision making skills, but just because you are young does not mean you can't make great decisions. What about all those young guys protecting our country? Don't they have to make decisions? Probably tougher decisions than we make most of the time in a 121 atmosphere.

I dont' mind flying with young guys, as most of them seem eager to learn, but every now and then you get the cocky spikey haired backpack ipod type that just drive you nuts. Being a newhire in the right seat of a jet was not very common 20 years ago, but now these regionals are begging for rj copilots. I've seen some of these kids display the attitude like they are doing the airline a favor by working for them, and the airline "owes" them a job.

I do however enjoy flying with the humble ones that leave the attitude at the gate, are eager to learn and have a positive attitude. They will make Excellent captains come upgrade time.

I didn't mean that 100% of all young airline pilots can't make great decisions, there are some very good young ones out there who I feel safe putting my family in a plane with, but many of them need a little more experience under their belt before they jump in the left seat and have another 1000 hour wonderpilot as their copilot.

If you're a kid and got hired with 1000 hours or so into the right seat of an rj and this is your first job out of flight instructing, I think there needs to be several years before that pilot is able to upgrade. I don't know how else to say it without offending the youngsters out there, but that's just my opinion.

 

[urflyingme?!]

FWIW I think 5 years in the right seat might just teach you how to be a 'real' airline pilot.

Not taking away from the other routs, but geeze

 

[pilotlbs]

18 at some regionals, 21 at others. I know TSA, Great Lakes, Express Jet, Horizon, and a few others accept 18 and up. However Horizon wants a four year degree. Feel free to PM if you or your friend have more questions.

 

[Flyer1015]

wtf?

Why wouldn't you wanna go to college and get a degree in a non-aviation field?


So when this 18 year old F/O gets furloughed at the age of 22, he/she might actually have something to fall back on.

Or what if they lose their medical at age 30 or 35 as a RJ captain?


Bottom line is that in the world of today, high school education is no longer the benchmark.

Nowadays, having a Bachelors is a MINIMUM, it's the benchmark.


Give it time... soon, the benchmark will be a masters degree.



It's the trend.


Anyway, why would an 18 yr old want to jump to a regional and not go to college is beyond me.

 

[infiniti757]

My friend is doing a degree online that isn't aviation and he's a pretty sharp pilot. I put him upfront in the Citation the other day while my FO took a break, we gave him a ride to Sacramento where we were going for some maintenance. He did ok though you could tell his turboprop experience was different from the X. I think that he'd do OK in an RJ and probably be fine as a Captain after 4 years as an FO. So back to my original question are there any regionals that wouldn't hire him based on age? I saw that Eagle has a 21 age limit also though I understand there are ways around it.

I hadn't thought about the four year degree thing either. Though I do think that the degree thing is overrated just to get a job in aviation, (but not necessarily a bad idea as a backup). One of my best friends captains a Falcon 900 for a pretty major corporation and is just now finishing his degree at the age of 26. I am at pretty much the same place as him careerwise but four years agewise behind him (i.e. older), because of a four year stint in college. (now i have a B.S. in Aero Sci and and M.A. in Architecture)

We both are going to end up at big carriers but he'll have more seniority and longevity by virtue of being younger and conversely more money etc, etc. I went on that seniority calculator page and will end up in the top 50 if i retire from my dream airline. My friend will end up as number 1 if he gets hired at the same airline.

This is my primary reason for trying to find this out for this kid. It seems like it would be better to get your time in earlier if at all possible. Any thoughts on the matter anyone.

P.S. I went to school with the captain that crashed the RJ and that captain was an accident waiting to happen at any age.

 

[gliderguider]

very scary if you ask me.
stick and rudder skills can be learned. What scares me is the level of maturity and how well developed their judgement & descision making skills are. Someday they may turn into excellent overall pilots, but that develops over time.
Remember the RJ on a 91 ferryflight that crashed because those to yahoos wanted to go real high and have a little fun? Kids

In Europe low time/young f/o's are common. Over the summer I talked to a Swissair crew who were confused on why I had 1,300 hrs and was still in school instructing. They said when they were my age (19 at the time) they were DC-9 f/o's with 250 hours. And now they are flying A330's trans atlantic. I think it all depends on your training and supervision.

And infiniti757, you should tell your friend to make it a point to get a bachelor's degree somehow, online if he gets a job, but doing a little campus time also wouldn't hurt.

 

[QuasarZ]

I would suggest college as well.. not only is it a good backup, but you will have a great time. I have met so many great friends that I will never forget, and I still have 2.5 years to go.

 

[Midnight Flyer]

Do you fly with many 1000 hour spikey-haired youngsters at Capital Cargo? As an FO? I'm lost.

Not at that company, but I have at another.

 

[infiniti757]

Yeah my friend is getting his bachelors hes about a year and a half from finishing.

 

[Alltheway]

Hes young, do somthing fun in life while you will have the time, college was a blast, traveled half the world and what not.....flying will always be around