Originally Posted by
bafanguy
Sailvi767,
Yes, someone mentioned that the proposed 500 hour r-ATP for mil pilots would help new reserve/guard folks get in the Part 121 game sooner via a regional. Good point I wouldn't have considered and not an unreasonable premise (most regionals will take a 750 mil r-ATP candidate now). The regionals would gladly avail themselves of the widened candidate pool although they likely couldn't hold them much past 1500 hours TT in the current hiring environment…and more so over the next 10+ years.
But that premise raised a few questions in my mind. I don't know the answers:
(1) How many folks entering a guard/reserve unit have ZERO flying time vs some previous flying time ?
Seems like I remember reading that competition is fierce for limited slots and some prior flight time is at least "preferred" if not tacitly required. I've got a source asking an ANG commander what he's doing lately in this regard but haven't heard back yet [people have better things to do than answer my idle questions :-)) ]
(2) Does a mil pilot need ALL the currently-required 750 hours to be MIL time to meet r-ATP criteria ?
I would guess that "…total time as a pilot…" means just that but this does come from the FAA, so… and I've seen the statement on another forum that the POI overseeing Piedmont, for example, requires that mil r-ATP candidates have ALL 750 hours as mil time. Stuff like that is bound to happen. The FAR in question a bit is fuzzy:
§ 61.160 Aeronautical experience - airplane category restricted privileges.
(a) Except for a person who has been removed from flying status for lack of proficiency or because of a disciplinary action involving aircraft operations, a U.S. military pilot or former U.S. military pilot may apply for an airline transport pilot certificate with an airplane category multiengine class rating or an airline transport pilot certificate concurrently with an airplane type rating with a minimum of 750 hours of total time as a pilot if the pilot presents...
(3) Would all this mean that many if not most guard/reserve-only pilots really aren't hampered by existing r-ATP restrictions of 750 hours in the final accounting ?
It's a puzzle...
The local guard unit where I live has quite a few new hires scrambling to get to 750 hours. All have multiple offers from regional airlines to start class the day they get to 750. Most have between 40 and 100 hours of civilian time prior to being hired by the guard. The AF like most pilot training agencies has increased the use of simulators and reduced flying. UPT has about 200 hours of actual flying. The C130 training program is now down to about 30 hours of flying. A new pilot could arrive at the squadron with as little as 230 hours and will get only 10 to 15 hours a month with the current poor state of military funding. Civilian time does count toward the 750 hours do many rack up a bunch of 172 time to get to the 750.