Major mins

murl

murl

New Member
I have read alot about regionals lowering their mins here lately, I was just wondering if this ever happens at the majors? It is fairly obvious that most would rather lower the mins than raise the pay. Don't misunderstand why I am asking, I definetely think that you should be qualified and work your way up for what you want to do. I don't think you should look at lowering the standards as an opportunity, or an excuse to sit around and wait for it to come to you. Everything you read says there will be pilot shortages, and I was just wondering what will happen with the majors if this occurs.
 
They won't lower their minimums because they really are minimums -- competitive candidates (the ones who get hired and aren't the son-in-law of the CP) have a great deal more.
I think continental's minimums are 1,500 TT, 1,000 PIC, 1,000 turbine. Try getting an interiew with that.
 
In addition to the above answer, the regionals and military have provided a pool that is, literally, inexhaustable, as they will always be hiring replacements for those hired, and the shear numbers of qualified applicants is larger than the pool of available jobs. I do not see the quals for the majors changing anytime soon.
 
Back in the late 1960's, airlines were so desperate for pilots that some very low time pilots were hired. We're talking 300-400 hours. A friend who is a UAL pilot told me about one UAL guy that interviewed with only a CPL, no IR. They told him "Get your IR and we'll hire you. He did, and they did.

Those days may come again. Flight training costs and salaries being what they are, a lot of people who might have considered aviation, are choosing other careers.
 
I do understand the difference between mins and the competitive times. I don't guess it will ever get that bad again.
 
skydog said:
Back in the late 1960's, airlines were so desperate for pilots that some very low time pilots were hired. We're talking 300-400 hours. A friend who is a UAL pilot told me about one UAL guy that interviewed with only a CPL, no IR. They told him "Get your IR and we'll hire you. He did, and they did.

Those days may come again. Flight training costs and salaries being what they are, a lot of people who might have considered aviation, are choosing other careers.
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Not a chance. In the 60s there weren't a large number of regionals to supply experienced pilots. Totally different scenario now.
 
seagull said:
Not a chance. In the 60s there weren't a large number of regionals to supply experienced pilots. Totally different scenario now.
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I agree, there are always regional guys looking to get on with a major. You'd have to be looking at it getting really bad, maybe to the point of all the regionals requiring commitment contracts, before the airlines would need to lower them any further. Heck, Delta's posted mins of 1200 total and 1000 multi turbine (with no pic requirement) are pretty darn low! I've been told that actual interviewees are averaging around 5,000 total time, a big difference from published mins.
 
Baradium said:
I agree, there are always regional guys looking to get on with a major. You'd have to be looking at it getting really bad, maybe to the point of all the regionals requiring commitment contracts, before the airlines would need to lower them any further. Heck, Delta's posted mins of 1200 total and 1000 multi turbine (with no pic requirement) are pretty darn low! I've been told that actual interviewees are averaging around 5,000 total time, a big difference from published mins.
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Unless the majors would not hire someone with some sort of commitment contract, people would just break them to go to a major.
 
seagull said:
Unless the majors would not hire someone with some sort of commitment contract, people would just break them to go to a major.
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If the penalty for leaving early is high enough, it'll make it hard for people to afford to leave... heck, just court costs if they took it to court...
 
There may be a shortage of 'appropriately qualified' applicants, but in the history of mankind, there will never be a shortage of CMEL's.
 
Baradium said:
If the penalty for leaving early is high enough, it'll make it hard for people to afford to leave... heck, just court costs if they took it to court...
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That would make it harder for the particular regional to recruit pilots also, so they'd have to offset with a lot higher pay. Either way, it's going to cost them to do that. If they increase the pay enough, that would solve the problem also.
 
seagull said:
That would make it harder for the particular regional to recruit pilots also, so they'd have to offset with a lot higher pay. Either way, it's going to cost them to do that. If they increase the pay enough, that would solve the problem also.
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Precisamundo.

If the majors are hurting bad enough for pilots, increase pay and benefits and then the airline business becomes a competitive option for military pilots and highly experienced regional pilots.
 
Doug Taylor said:
Precisamundo.

If the majors are hurting bad enough for pilots, increase pay and benefits and then the airline business becomes a competitive option for military pilots and highly experienced regional pilots.
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Which would be a nice way for it to go... from your lips to God's ears. ;)

Some of these regionals now are getting so big they really are almost to the major's category anyway, but people will still work for them at the lower wages becuase they still think of them as a "smaller" carrier.
 
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