Letters of Rec

WaterRooster

WaterRooster

Well-Known Member
It seems that every major airline wants you to have letters of recommendation before they hire you. As a FO at a regional and as a military pilot I have access to a lot of people that can write good letters. Now I am about 2 years away from being competitive add in a deployment I have coming up as well. After that I should be able to really put the peddle down and start to apply at a major. So the question is, when do I start collecting these letters? I could have a few now but will they have as much impact if they are over 2 years old? Or should I just wait until I apply and get the bunch then? Are letters from battalion and brigade stands pilots and commanders useful? Also, how do you really go about asking for them from someone you may not know that well?
 
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Collect them now.

A friend of mine was going to write a letter for me years ago but we "had time" on Friday when I talked to him. On Monday I pulled his body out of a plane after an engine failure on takeoff.
 
I kid you not, a United recruiter told a friend of mine he needs more "leadership." He's the Commanding Officer of the unit... Think of a unit of troops larger than a company.

Commanding Officer..

Needs more leadership....

Back on track... I have Marine CO who updates a letter of rec, which was originally written in 2012. I keep in touch and add in a few things I've done since then to tweak the letter.
It's written in Marine-ese, and reads well. Hits on military type things with a sprinkle of aviation.
In your case, having Stans hit on core topics such as safety, crew coordination and leadership in and out of the cockpit will help.

SAAO would be a great person to put his name to a letter of Rec.
Also, letters from PC's will also help.
 
Really, it seems company specific on what they want. Put the research into what the recruiters at the companies you are hoping to go want because they all seem want different things.
 
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