Originally Posted by
Flys4Funs
I notice that some legacy carriers seem to be dropping the PIC requirements in their stipulated minimums. Some now specify SIC and 1,000 TT. Is this a a sign of pilot shortage impacting available qualified candidates? Not sure what the actual recruitment minimums are in practice but would be interested to hear.
...wondered what routes would be open to me. Anybody know what level of hours LCC’s like Jetblue, Southwest, Frontier are after?
F4F,
Those are good and logical questions. Problem is, little reliable data is available to answer them and some answers would require clairvoyance. If carriers are posting actual quals of those they hire, I haven't seen them. Perhaps someone with access to ALPA data might be able to locate this info. And then, by the time you finish school and become competitive, it all may have changed.
As for your potential future return to the US with 1,500 hours to fly at the airline level, your best
planning parameter would be to think in terms of a regional.
The data we do have is mandatory retirements for many of the US carriers (see Airline Pilot Central for airline profiles). Attrition out the top of the food chain will drive hiring demand (not factoring in a recession or other major negative event which could slow or even stop hiring...growth is too much of a wild card to call). The data I can lay my hands on quickly says that for AA and DL, as examples, the retirement bell curve peaks somewhere around 2024/2025(+/-) with impressive numbers after that but still the downside of the curve.
As for "legacy carriers" dropping requirements, not too sure about that; min requirements aren't reflective of who actually gets hired. FARs here require an ATPL for F/Os in Part 121 ops so r-ATPL min flight times would be required. While ex-mil can get a r-ATPL at 750 hours, I'd
opine that legacy carriers aren't hiring them or any applicants at min FAR flight times. The competition is just too fierce for min time to be competitive. There may be some alterations such as dropping the turbine PIC time requirement for example but that doesn't make the competition less intense in terms of total experience.
I'll venture a guess that the LCCs are similar with essentially equal competitive factors at work. Some of these LCCs are morphing into career-destination spots. No airlines at the legacy/LCC/ULCC levels are hard up for qualified applicants.
I wish I could answer your questions with some confidence in the accuracy of the answers but I can't. Other opinions will follow.
Hang in there and stay tuned.