The key to survival in a declining environment is to make yourself as competitive as possible. In the USA after deregulation and even just a few years ago flying jobs worth anything were not easy to come by. It was and still is highly competitive. It's not all about the hours. It's the quality of the time you have (ME/PIC/Turboppop/Jet/Military). In addition your education is also important. Major airlines in the U.S. had a requirement for a college degree. While some have since dropped that requirement, it is still one of those things that weighs in when a candidate is evaluated. When I first joined a small commuter airline back in 1989, the minimums were 1500 hrs total with 500 multi engine. That was for flying a BE-1900C. If I remember correctly it paid around $1200/month. Even so, there were hundreds of candidates trying to get hired with much more than the minimum. At my most recent airline, the average new hire pilot (F/O) had over 5,000 hrs. One important point to remember that in the USA when it comes to flying jobs at unionized airlines there is an expression "No one cares what you did before you got here except your mother."! Simply put, while your experience is important in getting you hired, you start at the bottom and work your way up. If I were to go back to my old airline after over 6 yrs of seniority (assuming they would hire me) I would be a new hire F/O again at the bottom of the list. It's all about date of hire. That is what rules the seniority list/roster,nothing else(not the relative theory ie. brother-in-law or Haldirams!). On my last month at AirTran my F/O was a splendid gentlemen who retired from DAL (early) after 23 years. He was a B-777 checkpilot and examiner and now flying for my airline as an F/O. It does not always seem fair but that's just the way the system is. And by the way F/O pay is around $35,000-40,000/yr for the first year. The only way to be hired as a Capt is to go to a new start-up airline, a non-union carrier or join an airline through their training department. A friend of mine at American Airlines flew once with a former Space Shuttle Commander who was hired by AA and now was the F/E on a B-727-200! AirTran has a former Thunderbird pilot etc etc who also started as an F/O.
My advice for a youngster getting into aviation is to also pursue a college education and advanced degree. It will help when you need to write up an airplane!! It is preferable that your degree is outside the field of aviation.
Thus if there is a market downturn you will be able to switch gears. You must have skills that are transferrable--flying an airplane does not count---you are essentially a glorified bus driver! Without being a "brown noser" absorb all you can at the airline. Enhance your qualifications with professional courses, etc etc. Build your resume and constantly say to yourself, I can learn from someone. The day you have the attitude that someone cannot teach you something new, you are doomed. Realize that you are blessed with great opportunity and make the best of it. Just ask the former military aviators the sacrifices they have made over the years with no real welcoming opportunities in civil aviation for a long time. Of course during war time as one former AF pilot eloquently stated-- everyone was quite ok with having the military guys pull chestnuts out of the fire!!
Last edited by Nevrekar; 23rd Oct 2007 at 03:40.