Realistically-how long from Private to right seat for Southwest?

[clickclickboom]

advice

true, but she is the type of person that cant understand that and needs a general time frame. I know I know, but that is just one of her quirks.

If you are working on your MBA and you are considering this take my advice and stick with business!

I can all but guarantee that it will cost you a marriage , family or both..

Unless you are at a financial point in your life that you can decide not to work and then spend 6 figures a year flying around as a playboy I would advise against it.

There are turbine jobs out there that you can buy right seat time but they are very expensive and usually the foreign pilots will come over here buy some right seat time and go back to Europe with 500 turbine and slide right into the right seat on a 747.. Not here! Any Major airline is going to want to see substantial experience ( 4000-8000 thousand hours ) ( Jet PIC Time)

Lets say that you cashed out your life savings dumped your family and went at it 100%. 5 years later you have 3000 hrs a bunch or turbine sic time and some pic.. I think that you are going to be at a disadvantage in the hiring process to an guy that started at the local airport, washed planes, gopt the private went to college, got the comm and inst multi, flight instructed, flew checks, then right seat of a regional or frac, left seat regional or fraactional for 5-7 years then on to the majors..

That person may not have more book knowledge but they will most definately have a better cumulative knowledge having flown through several seasons and winters etc...

The best advice i can offer is for you to pursue your business degree and in the meantime earn your private, inst, comm, multi.. Look for local opportunity and build your time.. If you ultimately decide that a major airline is not your thing you can march out and buy yourself a personal plane and fly for fun and business..

It WILL be more fun flying your Cherokee or Cub on a Sat Afternoon then flying an Airbus Trust me I know

 

[lurker]

He's going to need a lot of luck to be competitive in 3 years, 6 years or 9.

From the "how come no second chances?" thread on the majors section of this forum...

Right, but it wasn't that long ago that majors were hiring people that didn't have much over the minimums. again, granted those hired with low times usually had some kind of connection or advantage, but it did happen.

Who knows what will happen in 3 years. If I've learned one thing in this industry, it's that things are cyclic. maybe with continental hiring, and other majors slowly recalling, it will dry up southwest's pool of applicants and they'll hire lower time people. Maybe the guy has an uncle on the decision board. Of course I know the opposite could happen....there could be a terrorist attack, economy turns to crap, the industry goes tango uniform, and there will be thousands more on the street.

As I said twice in my previous post, I think 3 years is unlikely and extremely optimistic....however, possible. I was just offering another perspective.

 

[joe_pilot]

I'll be the voice of optimism here...

I'll say that with the right connections, timing, and luck, it's conceivable to go from private to SWA in 3 years. Unlikely, but conceivable.

balls to the wall, you could get required ratings in under a year. From there, a place like Lakes hires low-timers. when I was there a few years ago, my sim partner had less than 300 hours. Granted he was in intern, but still, half my class had under 500 hours and weren't interns. maybe some current lakers can update me as to what kind of time they're hiring people with these days. anyway, it's possible to get hired there with very little time instructing. Yes, the pay & QOL sucks, but the good news is you would probably upgrade at 1500 hours, which at 100+ hours a month, is only a year away. Again, at 100+ hours/month, the magic 1000 PIC could only take a year. That would get you bare-bones minimums at SWA, which would be where your connections, timing, & luck would have to come in. Yes, I know that to be competitive at the moment, you need considerably more than that, but in 3 years, who knows.

Admittedly, my 3 year guess is on the extreme optimistic end of the spectrum. In all likelihood, it'll more than twice that long. I'm just offering another perspective.

I guess my advice would be the same as you'll hear a lot around here: go to a place where you can get turbine PIC quickly. airlines don't really care if it's turboprop or jet time. don't get sucked into the SJS.

good luck!

That reminds me... A friend of mine started at FedEx four years (almost to the day) after he got his instrument rating. Instructed, went to lakes with about 800/50, upgraded, now an FE.

Results are not typical. Individual results may vary

 

[Melon]

12 years and I still can't get an interview.

Don't forget the fact to get there asap, you'll have to fork over $7000 to get the 737 type to improve getting the interview. That's after you have maxed out the Lakes payscale of maybe $30K/year for the 3 years you worked there. You could also pay to play at GIA, but I would say you will get little respect for doing so, at least from the people on this board. It will be tough, good luck to you.

 

[FN FAL]

That reminds me... A friend of mine started at FedEx four years (almost to the day) after he got his instrument rating. Instructed, went to lakes with about 800/50, upgraded, now an FE.

Results are not typical. Individual results may vary

For every story like that, I'm sure there are 10 that went the other way.

We have a NWA FO flying caravans with us, as well as a few others that found an un-anticipated segue from flying wide bodies. I still don't know what the resigned regional pilot friend of mine wants, I'll call him this weekend, I have a feeling the move to ORF was not going to work out with his family life.

 

[Jim Dandy]

Ok, ok, this is a serious question. If a person was to go balls out training, that already has their private and working on their instrument, "guessing" how long would you say, how many years, could right seat be attained for flying for southwest?

Buy the time said person has the time to apply at Southwest, Southwest will be bankrupt, Delta will be out of business and PanAm will be flying something supersonic and be the Major American airline again.

The industry is far too unstable to ask such questions, last year people were asking "how long until I have the time to fly for Independence"

40 years from now we'll all be out of a job when they invent the teleporter al la Startrek.

 

[phishn@daves]

Off Topic.

Hey Click, That is the best Christmas movie ever!

 

[FN FAL]

Buy the time said person has the time to apply at Southwest, Southwest will be bankrupt, Delta will be out of business and PanAm will be flying something supersonic and be the Major American airline again.

The industry is far too unstable to ask such questions, last year people were asking "how long until I have the time to fly for Independence"

40 years from now we'll all be out of a job when they invent the teleporter al la Startrek.

It's not going to take 40 years...gas prices going down was only temporary.

 

[flint4xx]

The typical new hire class average age is usually around 40.

 

[MarineGrunt]

Do we have to wait untill you're dead AND gone?

Ouch man............... ouch........ :nuts:

 

[joe_pilot]

For every story like that, I'm sure there are 10 that went the other way.

We have a NWA FO flying caravans with us, as well as a few others that found an un-anticipated segue from flying wide bodies. I still don't know what the resigned regional pilot friend of mine wants, I'll call him this weekend, I have a feeling the move to ORF was not going to work out with his family life.

Very true FN, it's just that lurker's comments reminded me of my Bud. Besides, didn't you read the disclaimer at the bottom of my note?


Results are not typical. Individual results may vary

 

[cforst513]

Ok, ok, this is a serious question. If a person was to go balls out training, that already has their private and working on their instrument, "guessing" how long would you say, how many years, could right seat be attained for flying for southwest?

I bet you all-atps could get you from 0 time to right seat in a weekend.

 

[FN FAL]

Very true FN, it's just that lurker's comments reminded me of my Bud. Besides, didn't you read the disclaimer at the bottom of my note?


Results are not typical. Individual results may vary

I'm not trying to dig on you too hard bra, I know somebody without a degree and minimal times that actually went through the hire process at NWA about 7 years ago. No college, no jet time, some "pic" riding in a B90 King Air and maybe 2,500 total time. His big goof up was the 747 sim ride they gave him...had he told before hand that he was going, I would have told him to get some sim time on the credit card before going. He's a salesman now, filling the soap dispensers on his sales route, taverns, gas stations, stores. He's "harry chapin" flying now.

I think the realistic thing, is to not give the original poster false hope, but not discourage them from following their dream.

To say 3 years is not realistic, though it could be. To say 5 years, is more realistic. Who knows? Like YOU said...your milage could vary.

I'm going to stick with what I said before, if your life long goal is find yourself in the profession of flying aircraft and you find yourself professionally flying aircraft, you're there.

I have several friends at SWA. In fact, one of their long time captains is the reason I struck out for a flying career. We used to work together at a sporting goods store back in the early 1980's. There was a time that I would have tugged on his coat tail for the favor, now I'd just like to hook up with him, grill out and catch up on old times. In fact, I think I might just do that, he was a hell of guy.

 

[RUNNINHORN]

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I guess my advice would be the same as you'll hear a lot around here: go to a place where you can get turbine PIC quickly. airlines don't really care if it's turboprop or jet time. don't get sucked into the SJS.



what is the SJS?

 

[RUNNINHORN]

That reminds me... A friend of mine started at FedEx four years (almost to the day) after he got his instrument rating. Instructed, went to lakes with about 800/50, upgraded, now an FE.

Results are not typical. Individual results may vary

yea, thats who I currently work for, Fedex as a manager (express). Would love to fly for them, just dont think I can train on the side and still be a manager and go straight into a fedex pilot seat.