turboprop vs. jet time (all 121)- do majors care?

higney85

higney85

Property of Scheduling
Well I am in the hunt for a regional job and understand that you typically make more money flying a jet (bigger equip) but the upgrade and experience seems more valuable at the turboprop jobs- lots of hand flying, flying THROUGH (not over) the weather, and alot more attention to detail is required alot of times because there isnt an FMS running the show. I have also found the upgrade times to be far quicker. My goal is to be a capt at age 23 (gives me 2 years) so I need to find someone with a 2 year or less upgrade. Would a turboprop job be more or less beneficial on a resume. I know many carriers like jet time, but others require 1000multi turbine PIC, which takes out a jet/tprop barrier. Just curious at opinions on this....
 
higney85 said:
Well I am in the hunt for a regional job and understand that you typically make more money flying a jet (bigger equip) but the upgrade and experience seems more valuable at the turboprop jobs- lots of hand flying, flying THROUGH (not over) the weather, and alot more attention to detail is required alot of times because there isnt an FMS running the show. I have also found the upgrade times to be far quicker. My goal is to be a capt at age 23 (gives me 2 years) so I need to find someone with a 2 year or less upgrade. Would a turboprop job be more or less beneficial on a resume. I know many carriers like jet time, but others require 1000multi turbine PIC, which takes out a jet/tprop barrier. Just curious at opinions on this....
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If upgrade is that important...go to great lakes.
 
higney85 said:
.... lots of hand flying, flying THROUGH (not over) the weather.....
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I dont care if i am flying a beech1900, B747 or space shuttle. I would always choose to fly over the weather not through it. And i dont drive a prop, but I have a feeling they fly AROUND the wx, not THOUGH it. A super pilot uses his superior judgement over his superior skills.

and TP vs. Jet, I have heard some airlines have a weight requirement, like 20,000kg or something similar.
 
Go to Piedmont and you'll fly the Cadillac of turbo-props...the Dash-8.:rawk:
It has an autopilot and an FMS and an APU and a lav and you can stand straight up in it.
And the -300 has 50 seats and has a take-off weight of up to 43,000 lbs.
All that's missing is the jet performance!

Oh...and we don't fly through the weather either. It tends to scare the peeps.
 
I dont mean flying through the weather in a literal sense, yet as far as the actual time- the tprop guys typically get more and must use more wx management/dodging judgement. i am looking at regions air since i have some good connections there and the upgrade is known to be very quick. Thanks guys
 
higney85 said:
I dont mean flying through the weather in a literal sense, yet as far as the actual time- the tprop guys typically get more and must use more wx management/dodging judgement. i am looking at regions air since i have some good connections there and the upgrade is known to be very quick. Thanks guys
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I think both types of time have value in the eyes of a major. In my opinion, given your age and assuming you are single, go fly the prop around get the PIC time since you can afford to make some sacrifices. Once you get 1500 PIC Turbine you will always be able to "check the box" on the app which is very valuable. But like many people say, go to the airline that offers you a job with a few exceptions of course.
 
To answer the question, the majors don't care. It all goes in the same column in the log book. Although, if it were me, I wouldn't put any time frames on it. Be careful by saying "I wanna be ___ by ___." You might back yourself into a corner somewhere. For example, Airline A is hiring a lot and has quick upgrade time they fly mainly TPs with a few jets on the side. Airline B is all jet, and is hiring, but upgrade time is slow. Due to passengers saying "I don't wanna fly those death traps," Mother Airline reduces flying at Airline A and gives it to Airline B. Now the tables have turned, and all the upgrades are on the B side. Fast forward five years, and it switches back.

You also don't want to sell your soul for upgrade time, either. You might find yourself getting burned out quickly flying for $25/hr in the left seat in exchange for a quick upgrade.

For a while, I wanted to fly TPs for darn near the same reasons you listed (minus the weather part). I'm not even sure B1900s are certified for flight into known icing, so that puts a big restricter on them in the northeast winters. I was shooting for Colgan, but Pinnacle called first. Upgrade time fluctuates everywhere, and it's impossible to gauge down the road. If it were me, I'd flood the market and go with whoever calls first. If you've got a choice, great. If not, jump at it. You never know when the next call is gonna come.
 
the way I see it ( so far) the majors here in th USA categorize turbo prop and jet time together as turbine time....on the other hand in some foreign carriers like eva..they don't consider turbo prop time...they specify JET.
 
The only difference I can think of now that I've though about it is jetBlue. I think they have a turbine PIC over a certain gross weight requirement.
 
I think when UAL was hiring, they anything less than "X" lbs didn't qualify, I can't remember the matrix.
 
The Alaska Airlines F/O I flew with once told me straight turbine PIC is what they wanted. Didn't say anything about weight req. but I do know that a bunch of Lakes pilots are getting hired at UAL, and other cargo outfits.

I agree with the earlier post about upgrade time. I think you'll enjoy (at least you should) your time flying for the regionals regardless if you upgrade fast or not (except maybe Me$a :)). Its all what you make of it.

-ColM
 
ColMustard said:
The Alaska Airlines F/O I flew with once told me straight turbine PIC is what they wanted. Didn't say anything about weight req. but I do know that a bunch of Lakes pilots are getting hired at UAL, and other cargo outfits.

I agree with the earlier post about upgrade time. I think you'll enjoy (at least you should) your time flying for the regionals regardless if you upgrade fast or not (except maybe Me$a :)). Its all what you make of it.

-ColM
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I dont think any pilots are being hired at UAL, but i'd take a stab in the dark and say they're being called back!
 
Bigey said:
I dont think any pilots are being hired at UAL, but i'd take a stab in the dark and say they're being called back!
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As far as I know all the furloughed pilots at UAL have been called back, and they have already started to hire again. I think thats why SkyWest has been hiring again, a lot of their pilots were furloughed UAL pilots, but are now back with UAL again.
 
ColMustard said:
As far as I know all the furloughed pilots at UAL have been called back, and they have already started to hire again. I think thats why SkyWest has been hiring again, a lot of their pilots were furloughed UAL pilots, but are now back with UAL again.
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There is still close to 2,000 UAL pilots on the street. There are still UAL pilots at SKYW. One just upgraded with me in Feb. Your looking at 2.5 to 3 years at the minimum before United starts hiring again. Thats if fuel doesn't go to 100 bucks a barrell. Thats only if theres not another economic downturn. Thats if..........you get the idea.
 
mrivc211 said:
There is still close to 2,000 UAL pilots on the street. There are still UAL pilots at SKYW. One just upgraded with me in Feb. Your looking at 2.5 to 3 years at the minimum before United starts hiring again. Thats if fuel doesn't go to 100 bucks a barrell. Thats only if theres not another economic downturn. Thats if..........you get the idea.
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Good to know, must've heard wrong. I figured that was a pretty quick turnaround for United! ;)

Maybe it was the news that they're out of Chapt. 11 or something like that.........I know, they were now serving peanuts on ALL flights, that was it!!

-ColM
 
seagull said:
Fastest upgrade to PIC multi turbine is what you want.
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<CapnJim puts dryer vent tubes on his arm, flaps them like a robot>

"Danger, Will Robinson, Danger!!"
 
United is hireing Flight attendents however , so that may have been what you heard. One of the girls at the station got hired there as well as JetBlue and Comair. She decided to stay with us and is going to training at the end of this month.
 
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