Originally Posted by
Flys4Funs
Thanks for the insights Sunrig very helpful. Those hours seem pretty reasonable, especially the LCC entry point. As Bafana mentioned I would certainly see the likes of JB/SW as career destination airlines.
Your question is a fair one and we each have our own circumstances, and both routes certainly have their pros and cons.
For me personally I managed to get onto an airline scheme with a reputable LCC in Europe that will guarantee me a job in the RHS of a 320 in 18 months time (assuming I pass the course with no issues). So in four years time I hope to have around 2000 hrs TT plus my original 250 training hours.
If I was younger I probably would have gone the US route, and tried to join one of the legacy feeder regional airlines. But given this is my second career, time is of the essence, and the way I looked at it in four years time if I trained in the US I’d have completed my training in about 10 months then instructed for the next 3 years to build the required 1,500 hours. Then I would have to hope that regional airlines are still in a good position to start building some 121/TT.
Going the European route in four years time I could convert to FAA (which seems more straightforward than converting the other way - albeit still painful and expensive) and if it was still a good option at that point try and get a job in a regional or LCC stateside.
If things have changed or I don’t get any luck in the US then I would not be far off a command in the Euro LCC.
Not sure there was a right answer - but that’s my thought process and where I’ve ended up.
In the U.S. the most common path is 10-12 months of training, 1.5 years CFI and move to a regional with 1,500 hrs TT.
The majors have stated in the last they really like 1,000 hrs of 121 Captain experience. There’s always exceptions but people should try to get their resumes to agree with the majority of the new hires vs choosing a path few get hired from.
The path to getting 1,000 hrs Part 121 TPIC starts with upgrading to Captain about 2-3 years after starting at a regional. TT would be in the 3-4,000 range. Add in 1,000 hrs 121 TPIC in the next 1.5-2 years and it’s a 7-9(?) year path. 4-5,000 TT and 1,000 hrs Part 121 TPIC.
Check out airline pilot central.com. It’s specifically focused on U.S. airlines.
US legacies have required an avg of 4-6,000 in TT in recent years.