Regionals vs. 135 King Air PIC

Off In The Jungle

Off In The Jungle

Well-Known Member
Hey Folks,

Anyone know what may look better to the majors: 121 regional time vs. 135 King Air 90/200 PIC?

I am looking to switch jobs this coming fall from 91 to one of the aforementioned options. I don't know much about the regionals, or how long it would take to move to a left seat. Another company I have been talking to said i would move to the left seat in about two months in a King Air, but I am not sure if the Major Airlines would weight one more than the other. I am looking at a two to three year time frame to hopefully be ready for a major.

So in one instance I may still be an FO with a regional in three years, and the other i would be a captain for nearly three years on a king air 90/200 but no 121 or turbojet time.

Any thoughts?
 
Look at the requirements for a major, will you meet those in 3 years with whatever route you choose?

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk
 
Usually the majors require turbojet time as a hiring minimum. There may be some out there that don't and maybe with the retirements coming up their minimums will relax a little. Just a thought .....
 
And if you decide to take the regional route, let me know where this 135 PIC job is, I got enough jet time. I will trade you.
 
Does the King Air job come with a regular schedule with lots of flight hours? Won't matter that it's PIC if it is only 300 hours/year. At most airlines you'll be booked for 75- 85 hours per month, bumping your total time faster. And a regional airline will add the reputation of that airline to your resume, making your experience "validated by association", whereas nobody heard of your King Air operator.

Once you are "majors" ready, with a total time of 4000-5000 hours, all of a sudden, you are a candidate for many other attractive jobs that require those kinds of TT as well. I'd take the route that gets you there fastest.

(I spent over 3 years in a sluggish PIC position that only yielded 300 hours/year. Great lifestyle, practically vacation for a lifestyle, but not a career booster. I still have to spend more years flying something anyone cares about).
 
I met a pilot at a regional airline that had close to 3000 pic in a Lear60 and around 4500tt. He wanted to go to a major but he said that they wanted some 121 time in his logbook.
 
The threshold for getting at call from Delta is about 4000 hours TT for a civilian. You can have 2000 hours jet PIC and be below 4000 hours and it won't flag you for an interview. Keep that in mind.
 
spilot said:
Does the King Air job come with a regular schedule with lots of flight hours? Won't matter that it's PIC if it is only 300 hours/year. At most airlines you'll be booked for 75- 85 hours per month, bumping your total time faster. And a regional airline will add the reputation of that airline to your resume, making your experience "validated by association", whereas nobody heard of your King Air operator.

Once you are "majors" ready, with a total time of 4000-5000 hours, all of a sudden, you are a candidate for many other attractive jobs that require those kinds of TT as well. I'd take the route that gets you there fastest.

(I spent over 3 years in a sluggish PIC position that only yielded 300 hours/year. Great lifestyle, practically vacation for a lifestyle, but not a career booster. I still have to spend more years flying something anyone cares about).
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Yep, I was in the same boat as you. Absolutely CAKE job flying a citation around for 200 hrs/yr. But it wasn't taking me anywhere, except perhaps another citation job.

There may be some outliers that made it to a major by flying a King Air around, but it's extremely rare and not something I would bank my career on. Basically it comes down to what you want... Do you want a nice little King Air gig making $70k/yr, or do you want to work at a Major? If you want to work at a major, you're probably going to have to do the regional thing. I made the switch about a year ago, and I don't regret it.
 
If money is a concern, do remember that 70k a year from now until retirement is substantially more money than any airline will ever pay you.
 
z987k said:
Do the math.
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$70,000 a year for the next 30 years is $2.1 million.

$40,000 a year for 5 years, then $80,000 a year for 5 years, meaning 5 years as an FO at a regional, then 5 years as captain, then 10 years at $100,000 a year as an FO at a mainline company, then 10 years at $200,000 a year as a mainline captain means $3.6 million.

I'm not so good at math, but $3.6 million is usually more than $2.1 million.
 
jtrain609 said:
$70,000 a year for the next 30 years is $2.1 million.

$40,000 a year for 5 years, then $80,000 a year for 5 years, meaning 5 years as an FO at a regional, then 5 years as captain, then 10 years at $100,000 a year as an FO at a mainline company, then 10 years at $200,000 a year as a mainline captain means $3.6 million.

I'm not so good at math, but $3.6 million is usually more than $2.1 million.
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You forgot the 2 furloughs. :aghast:
 
You can get "furloughed" from the king air job, too. Except it's called "let go". If you can take the financial hit and your sole burning ambition is to get to a "major" (assuming that's going to be a meaningful term much longer), I'd think the regional is probably your better option.

That said, I'd take the KA job, myself. I'm long past the point of believing in pie in the sky by and by.
 
One more huge issue, is the major that is hiring the one you want to work for and do you have to commute or based where you live. Not commuting is worth way more than money.
 
jtrain609 said:
$70,000 a year for the next 30 years is $2.1 million.

$40,000 a year for 5 years, then $80,000 a year for 5 years, meaning 5 years as an FO at a regional, then 5 years as captain, then 10 years at $100,000 a year as an FO at a mainline company, then 10 years at $200,000 a year as a mainline captain means $3.6 million.

I'm not so good at math, but $3.6 million is usually more than $2.1 million.
Click to expand...

If anything, you're being conservative (in favor of) the King Air job. If I had been able to come to SkyWest a few years ago instead of my years of flying King Airs and Citations, I'd already be significantly further ahead financially.
 
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