Need advice for a future at the majors

[phoenix 23684]

So I need some thoughts from the community,

As some of you may know I left Colgan to come to Afghanistan for a year to pay some needed debt. I have an opportunity now to fly here and log PIC king air. My dilemma is that I can come back in September and try to get my job back at Colgan and continue that route, as we know the economy is not good for that option and may not even be able to get a job. Choice two is stay here another year or so and fly.

Right now I only have 830 hrs of part 121, that's not my TT. If I stay here and get 1000 PIC with the King Air and lets say the majors begin to hire can I realistically get a job or will it be better to have 1000 PIC part 121? Added benefit is that I can probably have my house paid off in another year, so I would return with zero debt and no mortgage, but I'm also 34 going on 35 this year and well we know I'm already at a disadvantage.



Thanks

 

[Piperflyer]

I would stay and log the PIC, it's much better than SIC 121 time. And I imagine the pay is much more realistic than being an FO.

 

[bafanguy]

My dilemma is that I can come back in September and try to get my job back at Colgan and continue that route, as we know the economy is not good for that option and may not even be able to get a job.

Wish I could offer an informed opinion but can only ask a question and make a comment. If you return to Colgan, would you go to the bottom of the seniority list as a new hire or are you now on a LOA that would allow you to step back in at your previous seniority number ?

Is your present position something that might lead to flying something bigger "over there" ?

Turbine PIC seems to be king and no one knows what the airlines will want in two years, if they are even hiring then.

Tough call...good luck either way.

 

[Number1atNumber2]

I'd say stay and get the PIC time.

 

[A300Capt]

Right now pilots with a 1000 PIC turbine are a dime a dozen. The last hiring spree at UPS they wouldn't even look at your resume unless you had 1000 PIC in heavy jets. That's 1000 hrs PIC in something like a MD11, DC10, C17, B52, Heavy Airbus or B747 (you get the drift) time in their logbooks. International and glass cockpit experience plus a 4 yr degree was preferred.

I suspect that if any of the majors begin to hire anytime in the near future, the first on board will be the furloughee's and then the remainder back filled by Regional airline pilots with several thousand hours PIC in scheduled 121 environment who have pure jet/glass experience.

If I were you I'd try to get the 1000 PIC, move back and work on getting on with a scheduled 121 Regional and begin applying to and maintain an update with the majors. Your age is not an issue!

 

[loubetti]

I'd stay with the King Air (provided you can). Despite our government's efforts to destroy biz aviation, it will rebound, and you might be better off looking for a job with something like Net Jets than with the majors.

It's not a pretty picture right now.

However, I would still side with the biz jet side of things as opposed to the majors.

Let me also add, though while not easy, companies like FedEX and UPS, etc, might not be a bad idea either.

 

[FlyChicaga]

Definitely stay. Returning with 1000 PIC turbine and ZERO debt will tremendously increase your options. Particularly the zero debt part.

At 35, you still have 30 more years of 121 flying available to you.

 

[phoenix 23684]

Hey thanks for the replies,

Yeah the no house payment is very tempting, right now I'm already debt-free except the house. I don't think I'll have a problem staying and flying the King Air, the only downside is well a year here, not much to do except work 7 days a week.

I know the majors will take sometime to open back up due to the very qualified surplus of pilots, plus the estate of the economy. I just want to make sure that turbine PIC from a King Air will be enough to fill that requirement.

M

 

[JoelT]

I just want to make sure that turbine PIC from a King Air will be enough to fill that requirement.

M

A word of warning, Delta will not look very highly at that. They have always been very wary of non-military and non-airline flight time. I'm not saying that it is impossible to be hired with that but, it will be that much harder.

I'd say get the 1000 PIC (can't hurt too much) and get debt free (that's the biggie). Then, get your butt back to the US and in the 121 world.

 

[HeyEng]

I am also one that would say to "stay". How quick has time gone so far? Probably pretty quick, huh? If you have NO debt...you will have the advantage, by far!!! That is my #1 goal in life right now...NO MORTGAGE. Without a mortgage, my AF retirement will let me do whatever the hell I want to do...that is empowerment IMHO. With no debt, you may not want to go back to 121. You find a nice part time corporate gig that is fun flying with good QOL...priceless my friend, priceless.

As for the 1000 TPIC...I can show you many folks that have WELL over 1000 TPIC in the C-5 (can't get much heavier than that) and can't get a decent job...so that whole 1000 TPIC should be filed away in the "back in the day" pile.

 

[bafanguy]

phoenix,

You've got a tough call to make. If you return to the US and Colgan at the bottom of the list, in this environment, how long before you have access to the 121 PIC time that seems to be so critical ?

There are several operators "over there" flying bigger airplanes and I'd bet you're making lots of contacts. What is the chance of getting into a job in a 737 someplace in the neighborhood? There are a few in DXB.

Maybe you'd have to get yourself a 737 type rating but it might be worth it under the circumstances. My buddy in DXB says that is 100% the case: no type...no job...no exceptions.

P.S. Please...I don't want to start any PFT slagging match. I'm vehemently against that here in the States but we're not talking about the States in this context...and it's an ugly world out there these days where the facts of life probably overrule other considerations. :bandit:

P.P.S. I also understand no one will slide into a captain job with no time in type but a year in the right seat, at the amount they work people there, should fill that square nicely.

 

[falconvalley]

Just a thought to keep in mind...like Capt. Caucasian mentioned, some airlines want recent 121 time. I was reading minimum requirements for a company a while back (can't remember which company). One of the requirements for consideration was 121 experience within the previous 2 years.

 

[seagull]

Right now pilots with a 1000 PIC turbine are a dime a dozen. The last hiring spree at UPS they wouldn't even look at your resume unless you had 1000 PIC in heavy jets. That's 1000 hrs PIC in something like a MD11, DC10, C17, B52, Heavy Airbus or B747 (you get the drift) time in their logbooks. International and glass cockpit experience plus a 4 yr degree was preferred.

I suspect that if any of the majors begin to hire anytime in the near future, the first on board will be the furloughee's and then the remainder back filled by Regional airline pilots with several thousand hours PIC in scheduled 121 environment who have pure jet/glass experience.

If I were you I'd try to get the 1000 PIC, move back and work on getting on with a scheduled 121 Regional and begin applying to and maintain an update with the majors. Your age is not an issue!

I agree, but I would go for 1500 PIC turbine in the Kingair, then come back and get on with a regional.

 

[Boris Badenov]

Not too different from the boat I'm in. Got the 1000TPIC and change, but it's all single pilot 135. The way I figure it, 1000TPIC is another box you need to check to get to the interview. Once you're there, you're going to have a hard, hard uphill climb, especially against guys with lots of glass 121 time AND the TPIC. That said, once you're in the interview, your winning personality and connections are more able to come in to play. In my case, obviously, just the connections.

Plus, I cannot fathom how anyone over about 23 can live on a regional F/O salary. Get debt free, come back, try to get some glass/crew/whatever time, but remember...you're friggin debt free. If you don't wind up at United or American, maybe those guys can carry your golf clubs when they take their next double digit paycut.

 

[PGT]

Not too different from the boat I'm in. Got the 1000TPIC and change, but it's all single pilot 135. The way I figure it, 1000TPIC is another box you need to check to get to the interview. Once you're there, you're going to have a hard, hard uphill climb, especially against guys with lots of glass 121 time AND the TPIC. That said, once you're in the interview, your winning personality and connections are more able to come in to play. In my case, obviously, just the connections.

You can totally spin that your way. There's going to be a ton of RJ guys with 1000TPIC but it will separate you because you flew an MU-2, single pilot IFR in the MW.

 

[jtrain609]

You can totally spin that your way. There's going to be a ton of RJ guys with 1000TPIC but it will separate you because you flew an MU-2, single pilot IFR in the MW.

Maybe, maybe not. Once you're actually in the interview your time means a lot less than you'd think.

 

[Boris Badenov]

Yeah, well, and to be fair, a guy with a lot of time in a jet with a copilot and sixteen computers is, all machismo aside, bringing more to the table for a job in a jet with a copilot and six hundred computers. But as jtrain says, getting your foot in the door is the hard part, once you're there (from what I hear and fervently hope), it's sort of tabula rasa...yours to win or lose. Here's hoping. Regardless, I think the OP would be nuttier than chinese chicken salad not to tough it out...you could come back and lose your job the next day.

PS. There is the "exotic" factor going for freight dogs. Sort of like how Hugh Grant had to "sample" Divine Brown, even with Liz Hurley at home. There's hope for us yet, ladies and gentlemen of the night!

 

[MikeD]

Right now pilots with a 1000 PIC turbine are a dime a dozen. The last hiring spree at UPS they wouldn't even look at your resume unless you had 1000 PIC in heavy jets. That's 1000 hrs PIC in something like a MD11, DC10, C17, B52, Heavy Airbus or B747 (you get the drift) time in their logbooks. International and glass cockpit experience plus a 4 yr degree was preferred.

UPS doesn't care much for military time in tactical jets?

 

[jtrain609]

UPS doesn't care much for military time in tactical jets?

Airlines do weird things man.

There was an F-15 driver at the interview with me at Eagle. Real cool guy, guess he was based out in Hawaii or something. He went to a job fair back when things were still moving and he had gone to talk with all the companies he wanted to work with. Southwest, FedEx, UPS, blah blah blah. So what happens? They all look at his resume, with 20 years in the F-15 (somehow he managed to say on the thing the whole time) and said "Hey that's great, but you're not current on the F-15, so this doesn't really mean much to us."

His plan was to go to Eagle for a year and then head over to one of the mainline carriers. I'm willing to bet that plan got a tiny bit messed up.

Another funny incident during that interview with the same guy; we were sitting around, watching the "Welcome to American Eagle!!!!" video. This first officer starts talking about Eagle this or Eagle that on the video and F-15 dude says, "Holy crap, I know that guy!"

Turns out they were both assigned to be liaisons to an AWACS bird after some friendly fire incidents out in the sand box. He couldn't believe that he was still at Eagle as that guy had retired from the AF a while ago.

 

[Boris Badenov]

UPS doesn't care much for military time in tactical jets?

Hey comeon. You guys already own FedEx. That place is one big squadron reunion. Kidding, sort of.