Amerna8ter
5th Jan 2011, 18:41
Hi all.. Hoping for some help/advice
Im Currently doing my PPL(as a hobby) but now with hopes of doing my CPL/IR/MCC etc etc etc...etc
Following my research It seems that most employers (currently)wont look at you unless you have 1500 hours with minimum of 500 multicrew cpl.
My question is how/what is the best way/means to gain your required hours, mainly of multicrew cpl and remaining current if no one will even look at you with out these hours.??????????????
Many thanks
CAT3C AUTOLAND
5th Jan 2011, 20:42
In the current market airlines are starting to recruit again, however as you mentioned they are only taking type rated guys with experience, which may appear to be a disadvantage, however it does have its benefits.
Take British Airways for example, lets say they recruit 200 pilots from the latest recruitment program. These pilots will come from other airlines and it will free up jobs within the market, and eventually give guys with minimum experience the opportunity to slide into the right hand seat of a turbo prop or even a jet. When I joined my company, some 4 years ago, the company recruited around 60 pilots, and the majority of them came from the 200 to 1000 hour (ab-initio graduates and instructors) bracket. Of course they were bonded to the company, but the type rating and line training was provided for them. So to put emphasis on one of your points, airlines will look at you with minimum hours and no multi crew time, as long as you hold a frozen ATPL.
With respect to the above, the problem that lies with most people is the fierce competition that lies ahead. There are literally 100's of pilots all going for the same job.
The only way you are going to get multi crew experience is to fly a multi crew aircraft.
Sadly, with this industry, like most other industries its not what you know it is who you know. A lot of the guys I work with came from some of the big schools, and of course they have links with the airlines, which a lot of time leads to an interview with the airlines. There are also a lot of people who know people within the airlines and can recommend them to that airline, that is what happened with me. Networking goes a long way.
I have said this many times here on PPRUNE, but everyone that considers this career must think it through thoroughly, and do some serious research. You cannot afford to pop out the end of your training and think the world owes you an airline job because you have busted your ass for the last 18 months. You have to be proactive. Staying involved in aviation will most likely give you a degree of creditability, especially when it comes to your first airline interview. I know if I was interviewing someone I would be interested in 'what they did' after their training.
It will be interesting to see what happens in the next 12 months as people go to the likes of BA and Virgin, it would be great to see some new faces embarking on their first airline job.