Turbine PIC

[av8tor4239]

Looking for opinions on the best way to get turbine PIC. I was with Coex and furloughed, and now with ASA and been doing the regional thing for about 4 years now ( including 1 year furlough). Upgrade is still a long ways away, best guess is another 4 years, and then who knows how long as a reserve cptn to get the coveted 1000 Turbine PIC.

I am considering pursing a job with a cargo outfit like ameriflight or corportate flight department with the goal of making it to the left seat at some point before all my connections at die or retire.

Does anyone know if there is a way to fly left seat fast anymore.. I remember pre 9/11 upgrade times were a matter of months, and many cases of hireing cptns off the street. Does it exist, or are we all in for the long haul?

Seems like I am always reading post about people wanting to get into my position with a regional carrier. I have not read any post about regional FO's (not on furlough) wanting to pursue other job options.

 

[milehigh6080]

Airnet has some Caravans and they're hiring with 135 minimums. I was just hired there and I'm still waiting on a class date, so I couldn't tell you how many Caravan seats are open right now, but that might be worth a shot. From what I understand, airnet guys easily exceed 1,000 hours a year.

 

[Guitar Guy]

You might ask this question of some of the pilots at Great Lakes. Traditionally, upgrades have ebbed and flowed there with industry hiring. I don't know what the wait is for upgrade at this time, but it's worth asking. After all, even though the pay isn't the best, you'll still get Part 121 PIC time there.

 

[FurloughedAgain]

Join the club.

Join the club! Remember this 1000 PIC Turbine thing is a relatively new development. Up until the mid 90s only SWA and FedEx required it! So there are several hundred major-airline furloughees, some with tens of thousands of hours, who dont meet that requirement. I looked around for a year or so after my last furlough to try and find a place where I could go directly (or quickly) to the left seat. My problem was that most of the companies who were willing to do so were NOT companies where I could feel good about working.

After a while I found a good regional that would have me -- as an F/O -- but with a contract that was reasonable.

Ultimately I changed jobs again -- this time in pursuit of job security and a good, family-friendly schedule.

At some point you have to sit down and critically look at what your expectations are of this profession. What would make you happy? Where would you like to retire and why? Will you only be satisfied with Southwest or Jetblue? Will airlines like Jetblue, Airtran, Spirit or Frontier even EXIST in 25-30 years when you're ready to retire?

Dont put on the golden handcuffs and be so single-minded in your pursuit of the 1000 PIC turbine that you miss a career that might be right under your nose.

Good luck!
Sincerely,
Former 737-300 Driver who is NOT QUALIFIED to even apply to SWA.

 

[boxjockey]

I worked for Airnet for a year, and flew the Caravan about 250 hours there. The turbine PIC time helped me to get my current job for ExpressJet. Be wary however, that some carriers require aircraft weight to be more than 20,000 lbs. You'll have to look into each one individually to find out the specifics.


box

 

[fly4ever]

1000 hrs single-engine, single-pilot turbine PIC time other than military time probably isn't going to help you get on with a larger airline. They can be very selective given the supply of qualified pilots that exists.

Multi-engine turbine is much more valuable and, mentioned earlier, 20,000 lbs or heavier is better.

 

[wheelsup]

1000 hrs single-engine, single-pilot turbine PIC time other than military time probably isn't going to help you get on with a larger airline. They can be very selective given the supply of qualified pilots that exists.

Southwest is cool with it. However, most others aren't.

~wheelsup

 

[Flying Illini]

Did I read a while back that Gulfstream was hiring into the left seat...for a fee?

Amerijet, or USA Jet might be options. Those are over 20,000lbs. Another question, is it really going to be a tremendous help, with the current state of the industry, if you had that 1000 TPIC now or in a year? I agree with the above posters, don't do the Caravan thing.

 

[singlespeed]

1500 PIC-T is not doing me any good right now. At SWA or Fed EX you will need at least 2000 hrs 121 PIC-T and a check airman status to be in the run nowadays. My insiders tell me at Airtran you need allot more than 2500 hrs PIC-T to get a call and maybe some gray hair.

Look at what/where you want to be in 10 years and go from there. Do you want to be stuck at Lakes or on-demand cargo with 10-12 days a month off? I was looking into this on-demand but I have a family with ties to home and need more time off. Try Pilotyip he was a lot of help.


I don't want to be negative but these are the sign of the times. On the positive side things are looking up in certain areas and in a few years people won't want to go to LCC's like in the 90's.

I would stay at your current position unless you can find a company out there that can upgrade you in a year. I’ll tell you what, I’ll trade you positions you can fly a King Air and a Crustation and I’ll take your seniority number at ASA. Oh yeah I forgot to tell you about the cell phone never leave home with out it

 

[fly4ever]

singlespeed,

You most definitely don't have to be a check airman to get on with SWA. We have had several leave for SWA from XJ recently and none of them that I'm aware of had check airman status.

Respectfully,

Fly