SWA/competitive minimums to get an interview

[vetteracer]

Mil. Mins to get interview
Regionals 4-5K total with 2-3K turbine
Part 135 - ??

I have 5K + total, 2200 Turbine PIC, 3500 ME, 2 BS degrees, no jet time, 737 type, Clean records, and no call. Called Kim a year ago to make sure my app was ok and she said it was, but I was not competitive.

The above numbers are from friends and the guys that I stayed in touch with from my HPA type class.

Mark
Who knows, just waiting my turn.

 

[Snapshot]

Not true, i did not have a degree when i was down in DAL for the interview and no one even asked me about my lack of one.

So....................were you hired?

 

[Captain Morgan]

AA717Driver: Haha! What if I did all that before college, does that make me go up in competitiveness? That last part about picking up toothless chicks in Carhartts and a toolbox in a F150 doesn't really sound that bad at all.

 

[pilotyip]

But look how it enliven this thread. Nothing like a little controversy to pep things up. According to the latest Air Inc. stats 7% of SWA new hires do not have a degree. People were asking about mins for SWA, it was simply a statement of fact. As the worldwide pilot shortage spreads, the college degree wil loose importance to basic flying skills and expereince in a cockpit. The other 170 airlines already know that.

 

[momalley81]

As the worldwide pilot shortage spreads, the college degree wil loose importance to basic flying skills and expereince in a cockpit. The other 170 airlines already know that.

How does a college degree get loose? Is that kinda like Nascar speak?

 

[pilotyip]

yea it won't stay in the center, it will drift up to the high bank,. Used be the degree was main stream, like right in the middle, but now with the hiring pressure it is gettin loose and driften up to the not so important path. But you'll figured it out anyways

 

[Oh-ryan]

Why is it that no one knocks them dead? Is it the standardization that college instills in people? Not being able to think outside the box? I'd rather hire someone who didn't automatically go to college out of high school just because it's the thing to do. I think most people are at a disadvantage because they are not mature enough to get the most out of what college has to offer when they get out of high school. Take someone who waited to go to college and went into the real world. They know what it's like to work humble jobs and they meet humble people. When you've mastered being intouch with reality, and you learn that everything isn't handed down from the government or the bank of mommy and daddy, pay for school from your own pocket. Then you will truly appreciate it. I'm not saying don't go to college at all. I'm saying you don't have to go through a pilot mill school or party your college time away like "everybody else" and maybe walk away from college actually learning something. PilotYIP is entitled to his opinion just as you are yours. Or, did they not teach you that in school. As you were gentlemen.

Capt Morgan,
I am not gonna throw my dog into this fight because I think there are valid arguments on both sides. I do have a bit of an issue with this statement though. I didn't go to college because "it was the thing to do". I went to college because I knew that if I didn't go I would be at a huge disadvantage in today's world, regardless of whether or not I would become a pilot. This is something my parents ensured I was aware of and something I will pass down to my kids. If I were to ever be in an HR department I would be just as inclined to hire the "high school to college" applicant as I would be to hire "the high school to real world to college" applicant. Much of the real world training that folks got when they left high school and skipped college is that they realized they wouldn't get very far in the real world without a college degree. Making the commitment to college immediately after high school tells me that the applicant is aware of how important a bachelor's degree is in many professions. Does it make you a better pilot though... not necessarily.

 

[pilotyip]

No full time college required

Nope Orion, the proven path to the cockpit is college part time, while building quality flight time, so at age 25 you have college degree, in what doesn't matter. You also have 4000TT, 3000 MEL, 1000 121 TJ PIC, two jet types. Plus no debt, because your employer helped pay for your college. We are only talking about airline careers right now; not Engineering, not Medical, not school teacher, only airline pilot where many have succeeded without 4 yrs of continous on-campus education.

 

[pgcfii2002]

7 pages...minimum.

 

[FmrFreightDog]

As the worldwide pilot shortage spreads, the college degree wil loose importance to basic flying skills and expereince in a cockpit.

I disagree. In my opinion, as the pilot shortage spreads, the college degree will become more important... as will who knows who. Basic flying skills, on the other hand, will be pushed to the sidelines in the interview process. HR types no longer want pilots. They don't want guys who know how to shuttle freight around the country in crap weather. They don't want guys who know how to babysit new FOs down the river visual in DCA. They don't want guys who can intelligently discuss losing an engine on takeoff in RNO. What they want is button pushers with personality. They want people who will let them check off all their oh-so-important HR boxes on the application. The ability to actually fly and command an aircraft is meaningless in the new hiring paradigm. It sickens me, but that's the way it is. PilotYIP.. unfortunately guys like you don't do most of the hiring in this industry. We'd all be better off and better paid if you did..........

 

[pilotyip]

Thanks, I am trying to do that on a daily basis.

 

[jmreii]

I agree with formerfreightdog, from what I am seeing the college degree will be of more importance. I expect some airlines to soften or eliminate the pic-turbine requirement.

 

[Oh-ryan]

Nope Orion, the proven path to the cockpit is college part time, while building quality flight time, so at age 25 you have college degree, in what doesn't matter. You also have 4000TT, 3000 MEL, 1000 121 TJ PIC, two jet types. Plus no debt, because your employer helped pay for your college. We are only talking about airline careers right now; not Engineering, not Medical, not school teacher, only airline pilot where many have succeeded without 4 yrs of continous on-campus education.

That may be the quickest path, but that doesn't make it the proven path. So, it's all perspective. If I'm the one doing the hiring this is what I see:

Your guy - 4000TT, 3000MEL, 1000 121 TJ PIC, two jet types, Bachelors degree in toenail clipping from obscure online university, 25 years old.

My guy - same/competitive quals as your guy, BS degree from a full time accredited university (and maybe a ROTC guy), 30 years old (and maybe in the reserves).

On paper I am leaning towards my guy. Who I hire depends on the interview.

So again it's perspective. If all you want to do is fly an airplane, by all means do it whatever it takes to get you there as quick as you can (except cross a line). Will that make you a better/worse pilot compared to someone who took five years longer (because they chose to go to full time college first), not in my eyes. In fact, I would even go so far as to say if you put all of your eggs in one basket for a career in aviation you are foolish. The last 6 years haven proven that you need to have a backup. So, that gives my guy even more points... again, in my eyes.

 

[Lear70]

That may be the quickest path, but that doesn't make it the proven path. So, it's all perspective.

The problem with that thinking is that the person selecting the two candidates for the interview has no idea what these guy's ages are.

For all the HR person knows, the person with the online degree is in their 2nd career and is 30-35 as well. They'll find out when they get to the interview, but if the guy is in his late 20's versus early 30's, age may be too close to call.

Additionally, the degree is likely going to be in something useful from an accredited university (several have good online programs), so don't muddy the waters with some "underwater basket weaving" degree from East Podunk Univ.

I agree that a 4-year full-time accredited degree makes a person a more well-rounded individual. However, if your goal is aviation, getting in early to the regionals, building time while getting the degree online, and being a 27 year old RJ Captain with 2 types and 7,000 Total time, 3 years of RJ PIC (2,500 PIC Jet), plus 7 years of building contacts within their airline at majors as their older peers move on, plus having the degree makes them every bit as likely to get that major airline interview.

I see guys like that at my current Major every day; 28-30 year old Captains with half my experience, but they're the ones making $130k at the same age I was schlepping along at $55k in an RJ after my freight company went TU prior to 9/11.

I don't like it, but that's most definitely the quickest way to make it happen.

 

[pilotyip]

Orion, your cheating, you brought in the miltary flight training which is a whole different equation in the hiring business and of course you need a college degree to do that everywhere except the Army.

 

[Oh-ryan]

Orion, your cheating, you brought in the miltary flight training which is a whole different equation in the hiring business and of course you need a college degree to do that everywhere except the Army.

fair enough. Take away the ROTC/military stuff and I am still leaning to my guy over your guy (at least on paper). Agree to disagree I guess.

 

[pilotyip]

OK Orion, that’s what we will do. Isn't that great about the US we can disagree without killing each other. Our argument about who would get hired first is probably moot. In today’s hot job markets, they would be in the same class.

 

[Diesel-9]

In the old days, all you did was the b.s. in the interview and hire the one with the biggest t*ts.

 

[EAW0506]

Just curious Scrapdog, what ANG unit flies the F-22?

 

[motch]

Virginia Guard out of RIC is suppose to transition to them but out of Langley, and Hawaii Guard may trade their Eagles for Raptors as a stand alone unit. So I've read in AW&ST and other publications.

Not a bad gig, being a guard bum flying an F22 part time!