PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - US regional vs. a King Air FO position?
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Old 18th Feb 2010, 14:37
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NGjockey
 
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@ zlocko2002:

True, but not always. It depends on the situation. If a company is looking for type rated pilots, a type rating will be worth a lot more than PIC time.

I also doubt that King Air PIC time is really appreciated by the airlines. First of all the King Air is not a JAR 25 aircraft, and as far as I know it is not necessarily a multi crew rating. What airlines like to see is experience on JAR 25 airplanes, which basically means that someone has an idea of handling a turbine airplane in a multi crew environment. If I had to hire pilots for an airline operation I would definitely prefer pilots who know what the "pilot flying - pilot monitoring" - concept is about. Years ago I was working in the training department of a regional operator, and no offence to the GA guys, but some (let me stress the word SOME here!) of those 2000+ hour King Air pilots who applied for a job were unable to adapt to a multi crew cockpit. That doesn't mean that the other guys with multi crew experience were better pilots, but as a result of that applications of multi crew experienced pilots would be preferred, even if they had flown only as F/O.

It really depends on the market. In good times all you basically need is a current licence. In lean times sometimes not even a current 747 PIC rating will get you a job...
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