Hi everyone, I’m currently at an interesting career crossroads and I would like to hear your thoughts on it.
I stumbled upon this website and think it’s a great idea to have very experienced and knowledgeable pilots mentoring new and lower experienced pilots!
I’m currently in my mid 20’s and working as a captain at a regional airline in Canada flying the Q400 based in Toronto. I have around 2500 hours total time, with around 1300 on the Dash 8, with 500 or so of those being as PIC. I am currently waiting on my meeting with the FSDO in order to complete the conversion of my Canadian ATPL to the FAA ATP.
With my goal of being an airline pilot for one of the majors in the US, (I am a dual citizen and can therefore work in the US) I am wondering if you could shed some light on a few question I have with regards to what would be considered more ‘’valuable’’ on an application for a major airline!
Is ‘’part 121’’ time specifically more valuable then my regional time in Canada? Once things pick-up again, I am thinking of applying to a regional airline in the US and was wondering if I would be better off just building time up here in Canada or going down to the US?
What amount of total time do majors usually consider you attractive enough to be hired? I’ve heard around 4-5000 hours. Is this true? And if so, would you recommend building them as fast as possible (moving the the U.S. regionals and therefore moving back to an F.O. Position) or staying up here for a slightly slower time building, however it being as PIC?
Not really to do with major airlines, but what would be considered the most important aspect of looking for a regional if I were to pursue this avenue? Upgrade time? Pay? Equipement?
Thank-you for your time in advance and I look forward to hearing from you!
While your time in Canada is obviously not 121, it’s the Canadian equivalent and I believe has as much value. While I’d like to see your TPIC a little higher, flying for a US Regional would provide better networking so it’s kind of a wash. In light of the current COVID situation and subsequent hiring freezes, you might not have a choice.
4-5,000 is a good number but I always recommend applying as soon as you meet the mins. Airlines like to see the interest early on. You can just keep updating as you build time but it shows you in the system AND you never know!
what’s most important is what’s most important for YOU. For many its pay, some it’s location of bases, others it’s aircraft type, etc. Honestly all the Regionals have comparable pay and bennies due to the pilot shortage. With the current economic downturn it might come down to who hiring.
To expand on your answer for #2, at what point do you reapply to a Major (or for a regional if times stay tough for a while) that you already applied to and either initially got rejected from or passed over (perhaps they just had stronger candidates than you at the time of your initial application)? Will they even give you a rejection or does it stay in their system until either you withdraw your application or they call you up? Or is it an annual/quarterly application window you just have to keep reapplying to until you (hopefully) get hired? Thanks for the insight.
It’s recommended to update your application at least every month. If you are not hired, the typical answer an airline will give is, “Come back in 6 months.” So, if the hiring window is still open, that’s when you could reapply.
Thank-you for the great answers! I hadn’t thought of the networking opportunities that working in the states would open up, but that’s a pretty important factor to consider. Especially, since I don’t personally know anyone at the majors and having a couple contacts could only be beneficial!
As you said, with the current situation there might not be too many options available so It would be wise to keep the seat I currently have, but I will keep my eyes out for openings once things start up again. For now, ill get going on those applications! Never too early like you said!
It varies with the airline. As Tory said if they allow it and keep it in the system you just keep updating. Some airlines only accept applications for short periods of time so you’d want to reapply whenever their hiring window is open. If you should get an interview but not get hired some airlines will make you wait a period of time (usually 6mos or a year) before you can apply again.
I am certainly not a professional recruiter, but I would think:
Part 121 time is just the US way of saying airline time, which it sounds like you are already getting flying for Porter Airlines.
I have always heard that 5,000 hours is a good number, but there is more to it than that. PIC time also matters greatly. I would probably stay where I was a captain.
Quality of life and speed of upgrade time.
All of this being said, I think you need to contact some recruiting departments directly and perhaps even attend a few job fairs to get answers to your specific questions.
Thank-you very much for your insight on this! With the information that you and Adam have provided it sounds like I have some emails to send to recruiters at regionals and a lot of thinking to do… good thing I have a lot of time on my hands! Once things settle down I’ll look into attending some job fair.