Advice from the crowd requested

N

njboeingfan

Well-Known Member
Hey All,

As some of you might recall, the older cfi who is making the career change to the airlines. I was instructing, slowing reaching my goal of 1,500 by end of this year. Had a few regional job offers and liked ZW. Biggest thing i flew was a seminole. Recently, i had an offer to go 135, two weeks on, two off. No contract. 7 weeks of training and sim for the learjet.

Now, it seems pretty common sense to go this route vs stay teaching until 1,500. I recently had a few friends wash out of regional 121 with same background as me. Will the 135 SIC help prepare me for the 121? Can you go from 135 PIC to a major? I’m just over 1,000 TT. thanks!
 
I think it depends on what kind of 135 and the experience you gain by working there. I’d honestly wait for 1500 hours.

If you look on here, most guys who go 135 tend to go 121 eventually anyway.
 
njboeingfan said:
Hey All,

As some of you might recall, the older cfi who is making the career change to the airlines. I was instructing, slowing reaching my goal of 1,500 by end of this year. Had a few regional job offers and liked ZW. Biggest thing i flew was a seminole. Recently, i had an offer to go 135, two weeks on, two off. No contract. 7 weeks of training and sim for the learjet.

Now, it seems pretty common sense to go this route vs stay teaching until 1,500. I recently had a few friends wash out of regional 121 with same background as me. Will the 135 SIC help prepare me for the 121? Can you go from 135 PIC to a major? I’m just over 1,000 TT. thanks!
Click to expand...
Which Lear? A year with them (try not to burn a bridge with less!) could be a great way to grab some jet time and learn the 135 world. You'll have something to compare your first year at the regionals to and you could even do some contracting (maybe) to offset first year pay. Maybe a bonus if you find out that 135 sic time counts toward that 1000 of 121 to be captain. (does it have to be 135 pic?)
 
bucksmith said:
Which Lear? A year with them (try not to burn a bridge with less!) could be a great way to grab some jet time and learn the 135 world. You'll have something to compare your first year at the regionals to and you could even do some contracting (maybe) to offset first year pay. Maybe a bonus if you find out that 135 sic time counts toward that 1000 of 121 to be captain. (does it have to be 135 pic?)
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It does have to be pic time

On the OP question - I found my prior 135 time helpful, but we had guys straight out of 172 do just fine too.
Go read up about ZW training on APC, come prepared and you'll do ok.
Basically take whichever route gets you there faster
 
njboeingfan said:
Hey All,

As some of you might recall, the older cfi who is making the career change to the airlines. I was instructing, slowing reaching my goal of 1,500 by end of this year. Had a few regional job offers and liked ZW. Biggest thing i flew was a seminole. Recently, i had an offer to go 135, two weeks on, two off. No contract. 7 weeks of training and sim for the learjet.

Now, it seems pretty common sense to go this route vs stay teaching until 1,500. I recently had a few friends wash out of regional 121 with same background as me. Will the 135 SIC help prepare me for the 121? Can you go from 135 PIC to a major? I’m just over 1,000 TT. thanks!
Click to expand...

I thought 1500/ATP was now a prerequisite for airline work. How did you get a job offer at 1,000 hours?
 
njboeingfan said:
Hey All,

As some of you might recall, the older cfi who is making the career change to the airlines. I was instructing, slowing reaching my goal of 1,500 by end of this year. Had a few regional job offers and liked ZW. Biggest thing i flew was a seminole. Recently, i had an offer to go 135, two weeks on, two off. No contract. 7 weeks of training and sim for the learjet.

Now, it seems pretty common sense to go this route vs stay teaching until 1,500. I recently had a few friends wash out of regional 121 with same background as me. Will the 135 SIC help prepare me for the 121? Can you go from 135 PIC to a major? I’m just over 1,000 TT. thanks!
Click to expand...
If it helps, I turned down an offer from a 135 for good money and just got a CJO from ZW. Finishing my time building flying survey and skydivers. I also have a PIC type in a Citation, so I have some jet experience as well. Everyone I talk to about training at ZW says as long as you have a positive attitude and are showing progress, they'll bend over backwards to help you succeed.
 
njboeingfan said:
Will the 135 SIC help prepare me for the 121? Can you go from 135 PIC to a major? I’m just over 1,000 TT. thanks!
Click to expand...
The short answer is, yes & no. Being a 135 SIC won't help you with 121 training, they're two completely different programs. You can go from a 135 PIC to a major, however, it doesn't happen too often. If I were you, I would stay and instruct till you get 1500 and go to a regional of your liking.
 
Seven weeks of training? I'm assuming that this would be at FSI or CAE?

If you've already had offers, why? What useful purpose would it serve?

Personally, I wouldn't.
 
Thanks all! I thought my lack of flying anything but 172s and seminoles would hamper my success in training. Good thing I asked or I would have made a huge mistake. thanks all!!!
 
Finish up instructing and get to ATP mins. In this hiring environment, I’d get to 121 ASAP. I went from CFI-121 without any issues and so did many others.
 
From what I've heard the people who struggle with 121 training are those who have lacked a professional mindset for years and thus have developed poor discipline in flying. The cfis in my new hire class all did fine it was the bucket listers and guys who weren't career oriented from the outset that struggled to get up to speed.

With that said I spent all my timebuilding at a 135 and was fortunate because the turbine and glass experience helped a lot in the transition to the jet. I would recommend doing it if you're not in a rush to make it to the regionals at absolutely the soonest possible date. Or do it and keep instructing on the side. It will pay dividends to get exposed to the terminology, conduct with another crew member and vastly increased pace of flight before you jump into 121....but by no means is a requirement.

At OO they help guys who might need a few extra sims so long as the candidate has a good attitude and desire to perform better. If you run into trouble make sure to keep your attitude positive and focused on becoming better.
 
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njboeingfan said:
Hey All,

As some of you might recall, the older cfi who is making the career change to the airlines. I was instructing, slowing reaching my goal of 1,500 by end of this year. Had a few regional job offers and liked ZW. Biggest thing i flew was a seminole. Recently, i had an offer to go 135, two weeks on, two off. No contract. 7 weeks of training and sim for the learjet.
Click to expand...
7 weeks!?
What the heck kind of Lear are we talking about?
 
ozziecat35 said:
If it helps, I turned down an offer from a 135 for good money and just got a CJO from ZW. Finishing my time building flying survey and skydivers. I also have a PIC type in a Citation, so I have some jet experience as well. Everyone I talk to about training at ZW says as long as you have a positive attitude and are showing progress, they'll bend over backwards to help you succeed.
Click to expand...
Im one of the instructors at ZW. Can confirm. We want all new hires to be successful and will do everything we can to help. Just have a positive attitide and a willingness to learn and you'll do fine.
 
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