No Jobs For The Young Pilots

C

Cessna310

Member
I'm 18 and a newly licensed commerical pilot. ( Single and Multi, 400/50TT). I'm still in high school and I'm working on my CFI.

What are my options as far as the airlines? With that new bill, it's going to be impossible for me to touch a airline jet until 5 years...Is there ANYWAY around this? Does anyone see this bill getting repealed?

After high school I'm going to take some online college courses, and get a 4 year degree.
 
No way the bill will get repealed. Just keep trucking with your 4 year degree. Grab a CFI and instruct while you get your degree and you will be in a prime position for an airline when you graduate.
 
No, I don't think there's any way around it. I would recommend earning your CFI and trying to get a job somewhere that has a steady stream of students (ideally a California or Florida school that trains foreign airline cadets). Once you hit 1200 hours you could fly 135. Or you could go to Alaska and try your fortunes up there flying 135 as an SIC or flying single pilot VFR at 500 hours.

Personally I'd recommend at least trying a brick and mortar university for a few years. If you're smart enough to get your commercial at 18 you're probably smart enough to do well in a major university's curriculum. Get an aviation degree if it's all you want to study, although if you have other interest now may be your only opportunity to develop those into professional abilities (engineering, business, natural sciences).
 
I know I'll sound like grandpa but enjoy being young while you can. Don't be too much of a hurry to jump into this career. It is fun and all but it doesn't compare to the fun I had in my early 20's.
 
The one thing I wish I'd done with my flying career before I got to the airlines was to go fly some fun 135 ops in cool places. I did 6 months of charter flying in the Caribbean and other than the fact I thought I was going to get killed just about every day, it was some of the most fun flying I've ever done and I wish I'd done more (with a better company). CFIing can be a lot of fun too, if you are in a good place and have some freedom to vary your flying so you don't burn out.

Yes, seniority matters at an airline, but everybody is going to be in the same boat once this law goes into effect so you won't be getting behind by going to do something else for a bit. Enjoy it while you can. As good a job as flying a 121 from point A to point B and back can be, I sometimes miss the other stuff.
 
By the time you finish college and time building, considering the cyclical nature of aviation, it very well may be on the upswing.
 
If you get 1500 hours by the time you're 21, you can get an airline gig with a frozen ATP under the interpretation of HR5900. It's what saved my job.
 
Go to transpac and get a bunch of time and a degree there are a bunch of schools and also you will get paid. Or go to college and have a nice real life time and fly on the side.
 
I didn't get on with a regional until seven years after I had my PPL, 4 year degree, an ATP, type rating, and over 2000 hours. It wasn't the end of the world, and I had a lot of fun doing non-airline type stuff. Enjoy it, most of the airline stuff is quite boring.
 
The 1500hr rule isnt the end of the world. Who knows, in that time you may find something that piques your interest more than airline flying.
 
TallFlyer said:
I wasn't aware that there was such a thing as a frozen ATP here in the states.
Click to expand...
Yeah its part of the Bill ...something like if you have 1000 hrs, ATP course, approved college degree, you can get a frozen ATP...something like that
 
I've moved past hating the young'uns for being so driven at that age. When I was that age I was very engaged in a mulitude of time consuming endeavors. The only way they involved work was to find a gal with a good job. Why the headlong rush towards your first furlough?

Wait, that's not what I wanted to say....what I really want to say is; Are you kidding me! 18 and somehow you think there's got to be a way around a 5 year wait. Ok, maybe John Deakin did it but even with him at the helm I would have to be 3 sheets and careless to board. Oh yes, that's right, his pax were just that.

Somebody slap him if he asks who Deakin is/was.
 
3 years ago, I would have been saying exactly what 310 is saying. Now, not so much. Have fun with life. Go find some instructing/banner/tour/anything job, but number one, don't get tied into it (ie. training contract). Go to college and find some fun flying for 3 months in the summer.
 
Great. I can read the writing on the wall. There will now be hundreds of young CFIs willing to fly for free enroute to the magical 1500 hours.
 
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