Approximately how many hours does one take to get into a regional carrier( competitively) ? I keep hearing about 2000 hours to 2500 to be competitive . whereas a few years ago the average was just above the ATP min of 1500( about 1700 to get hired)
Jeff,
For the last several years there’s been a pilot shortage and Regionals were snatching up pilots as soon as they were close to 1500hrs (even offering conditional offers with as little as 500). That was before this pandemic and right now no one is getting hired regardless of how many hours.
Once the industry recovers I do believe the shortage will return as well, but that could very well take a few years. Until things ramp back up completely I’m certain things will be competitive for a while so sure they’ll grab pilots with higher times first. How many its too soon to tell but more is always better.
Adam
Jeff,
I would also point out that when hiring resumes, it might not be just the flight time that matters. I think we will see a return to a time when qualifications matter and this means things like having your ATP license, or at least the ATP-CTP portion of it complete when applying to the airlines. Not huge hurdles unto themselves, but certainly a return to airlines look at qualifications in addition to flight time. I personally feel that this is a good thing.
Chris