TP PIC vs. TJ PIC ... yes, again..

[greedypilot]

Are there any airlines the implicitly / explicitly refuse or dislike hiring pilots without turbojet/fan time?

Say for instance, one possessed 2000+ hours PIC in a Saab or Beech, could this person easily be hired by Continental, AirTran, Alaska, NetJets, UPS, FedEx, FlexJet, et cetera without having some major strings pulled? (I know rec's are everything, regardless of experience.)

Anyone having gone through this process; I would greatly like to hear your story.

Thanks.

 

[CA1900]

Well, if it's any indication, CommutAir (a Beech 1900 operator) has had pilots hired at every single company you mentioned, along with many hired at Southwest, US Airways/America West, American and United (when they were hiring), FlightOptions, CitationShares, and plenty of others I can't think of at the moment.

About the only one that won't look at Beech pilots is JetBlue, because of their arbitrary 20,000 pound limitation. Their loss, IMO.

 

[Snakum]

In my experience, limited though it may be, it is a tad more difficult to fly a B200 than a CJ. More thingees to move and more stuff to watch, in the turboprops. Certainly the speed at which everything happens in a jet might take some getting used to. This in mind, is it possible that the airlines merely want someone who has learned to deal with turbofan speed? Izzat it, perhaps?

Personally, if I was starting my own airline (i.e. if I was utterly insane and had a lot of money to throw away :nuts: ) I would only hire guys who had flown night freight in Navahos, Barons, and C310s or C402s. Seems to me they have even more thingees to monitor and move than turboprops and the freight doggies also have to deal with night, hard IMC, ice, etc. Sort of like Graduate School for pilots. Of course ... military rotorwing pilots would go to the head of the line, as well, for pretty much the same reasons.

 

[Knob]

Luckily us pax carrying pilots don't fly at night, in HARD IMC, or ever deal with ice! I do have a lot of respect for the freight dogs though! Flying recips in wx will definitely put some hair on your chest!

 

[fartknocker]

Get 1000+ hrs. PIC turbine as fast as you can. It doesn't matter if it's a jet or a t-prop. I am going to FedEx in a few weeks, and most of my PIC turbine time is in the ATR 42/72 and Saab 340. I have a friend here in the same situation.

They key is networking. Get to know as many pilots as you can at the particular airline you want to work for. These are the folks that can get you in the door for an interview.

Good luck!

 

[NEDude]

I went from fours years on the 1900 (1700 of it PIC) to the CRJ. Any airline would be crazy to overlook a 1900 guy in favor of a CRJ. After flying the Beech, transitioning to the jet was cake. I have to wonder why people make a big deal about glass/FMS experience.

That being said, I didn't go from the Beech to a major. But as CA1900 said, there have been many guys go from CommutAir to majors.

 

[Tram]

Whoo Hoo.. I knew this J32 time would come in handy..

 

[CopilotDoug]

Of course ... military rotorwing pilots would go to the head of the line, as well, for pretty much the same reasons.

I thought the hierarchy in the military from toughest to easiest went: Fixed Wing, then Rotorwing???

 

[Tram]

Flying a heli is like trying to balance a basketball on the pointy end of a pool cue.. A good buddy of mine used to have a relatively easy heli to fly (Bell 47) and it wasn't easy..

Heli's are cool but if your lookin to get to a "major" I've heard it's better to have VD in your health record than heli time in your log book..

 

[CopilotDoug]

LOL, I did not know that!