I too had the question as to how to log the PIC/SIC in a single pilot airplane. There are some companies that won't accept the PIC (Southwest) but for the most Airnet is doing a service for low-timers. I found the following interview in my research of the company when I was lining up my ducks to head that way:
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Time Building with AirNet
AirNet offers a paid time-building option to pilots who do not yet qualify to fly as pilot in command in Part 135 operations. Under this arrangement, time-builders go through the same initial training program, but fly in the right seat with a captain-qualified pilot on one of AirNet’s piston twin routes until they build enough total and PIC time to take over the left seat responsibilities. Washka says pilots applying to the second-in-command program need about 900 total hours to be competitive for hiring.
“That would be excellent, because then it would take about three months to build enough time to become an AirNet captain and we think that’s optimal,” he says.
Inevitably, when AirNet’s SIC program is discussed, some pilots become confused about how to log the time. Washka recognizes the issue and says AirNet received so many questions on the logging of flight time “that we actually went back and sat down with the FAA in Washington to get interpretations and make sure we’re doing everything right.
“In a nutshell, what they said was not only can pilots log time in the right seat of our aircraft, but they can log it as SIC time because we require an SIC to be there,” he explains. “It used to be that we had them logging only their PIC time and the other time was just added to total time. Well, the
FAA came back and said, ‘Look, even though the aircraft does not require a second crew member; because of the rules you operate under and your operations specs, you can assign a pilot to a plane and they can log their time as SIC time.’
“When a time builder is on board, as long as he’s trained and checked in the plane, he can log the time he’s actually flying the plane as PIC. If he’s not flying the plane, but acting as a crew member, he can log it as SIC time,” Washka states. “It’s totally legal and it’s important to understand. There’s no gray area in the logging of flight time as far as AirNet and the FAA are concerned.”
Washka also emphasizes that when AirNet hires a low-time pilot, he or she is immediately added to the company’s full-time pilot seniority list upon successfully completing initial training.
“It used to be they had to build up enough time to become a captain before they moved up to the full-time seniority list, so this change is a great perq for a pilot,” he says. “Their seniority is only determined by the day they pass their initial checkride, so if they hustle and do a good job, it can really pay off later when they’re higher on the list.”
— Ian Tocher
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From
here
Airnet is using the part 61 definition of PIC - sole manipulator. The pilot is SIC certified, required to be there (per ops specs) and as such can log SIC, and PIC when they're flying. Apparently, the FAA doesn't have a problem with it - other airlines might however.
~wheelsup
