I have been flying helicopters commercially for about 1.5 years and am finally making the transition into the airlines. I have not seen much information about hours requirements and whether or not the regional airlines will accept my time flying rotorcraft when applying(minimums of 1500TT). I am hoping to get into the Envoy Cadet Program for the opportunity of the flow program into American Airlines. I currently have 1350 hours of rotorcraft TT with about 550 hours of turbine rotorcraft experience. Once I complete training with ATP in their Airline Career Pilot Program I will have just shy of 1700 hours TT(airplane and rotorcraft).
Does anyone know if the Regional Airlines would consider me for a FO position? Will they want me to build 1500 hours of airplane TT beforehand? Has anyone gone through the same kind of transition or know of someone who has?
Welcome to the forum, first and foremost you can still qualify for a regional airline given you meet the requirements with your helicopter time listed under 14 CFR Part 61.159. Now I’m not a helicopter pilot nor have more than an introductory lesson in a 2-seater Guimbal, and unsure what your full aeronautical experience equates to, but if you meet the requirements in the screenshot below, I don’t see a problem. While attending ATP’s ACPP “Zero-to-Hero” for airplane, you would complete 245 hours, approx. 75 (off the top of my head) of which would not be considered Pilot-in-Command.
Have you also contacted an Envoy recruiter inquiring your interest? Adam was on a hiring board and would be able to give a more accurate answer, but I don’t see a problem.
No you will not need to build 1500hrs fixed wing BUT you will need to meet all the fixed wing requirements for a fixed wing ATP certificate (FAR 61-159), most notably:
Thank you both for getting back to me. This is exactly what I thought the answer was going to be. I’ve just looked around on google and other airline forums and no one seemed to have asked the question before.
I have reached out to Envoy recruiting by email, but no one has gotten back to me yet. I’m going to give it a week before I just call their recruiting number. I know I would need to finish my private pilot license or be at least 30 days away from getting it before applying to their cadet program.
Now the task at hand will be figuring out who is going to employ me for the small amount of PIC time I will need to fly out before being eligible for a FO position at any regional.
Thank you, Hannah, for sharing this valuable information! We appreciate your effort in finding resources that could benefit us. We’ll definitely look into the Envoy Rotor Transition Program 17. If we have any further questions or need assistance, we’ll be sure to reach out.
