Captain from Bizzjet to Airline
 

Hi there,

Just curious, how easy is it to change ops as a skipper? A friend of mine (FO) got the opportunity to become a captain on a light business jet (2 crew, for example: Learjet 31/40/Hawker 400, MTOW8,000kg). Not really corporate flying, but it is on a light business jet. From what I have seen with airliners, they want mostly PIC on >27,000kg or atleast FO hours on >27,000kg.

Sometimes I have been reading things like: take the command asap, never turn back a command etc. Also things like, if airlines are really desperate, they will hire anyone if you will have PIC hours etc.

Will it be doable/easy to switch from bizzjet a/c as a captain to airliners?

It will depend on the market. Big airlines will require x hundred hours on aircraft heavier than 20t, 40t or 50t (pick one), so in normal times (when will they return?) you will most probably end up at some low cost airline to allow you earn hours on type and then jump on to a better airline. At the moment, there is almost no chance to do anything of this.

Hello!

Everything is possible. I know quite a few experienced bizjet captains (> 3000h command time) who moved to an airline and were upgraded to captain within a year. I even know one who had never flew a jet before but piston twins instead and became a 737 captain in less than a year, but that was over twenty years ago. Probably no longer possible. I know zero bizjet captains who went to an airline and flew as captain from day one of joining. And I also know quite a few (experienced) bizjet captains who moved to an airline and still fly in the right hand seat after many years. It all depends on the person and the circumstances. And luck and fate and networking and what else there is.

Regards
Max

I transferred from biz jet to airline, Da900 to B737. I did six months in the right hand seat and then upgraded.

it is possible. I know a few examples:

Cessna Citation Bravo to Dash 8-400
Citation CJ3 to Airbus A320 (straight to the left seat...)
Embraer Legacy 600 to Airbus A320

and so on. Hours on aircraft above 20T will help alot.

It depends on the timing and market situations. Most Airlines avoid direct entry Captain positions and promote internal upgrades which works better for them and keeps the workforce happy...

Can't speak for our European brothers/sisters but you could have 10,000 PIC in Gulfstreams and you will still start at the bottom of the F/O list on an Airbus or Boeing here in the USA. Direct entry Capts are virtuall an unknown, with the few regional exceptions in the past. Maybe a new start up, but don't hold your breath.

What about if you already have hours on Airbus/Boeing? Lets say 2000-3000 hrs as FO before you become a bizjet captain? Is it in that case easily possible?

I would say that it is easily possible on a part 23 aircraft like the Cessna CJ series. You can do your typerating in the left hand seat and get checked out as PIC right away. For a private operation that is all you need to fly as captain. But you don't need 3000 hours on a Boeing for that, a PPL (and an insurance company) is basically all you need...

On part 25 aircraft and especially within a commercial operation (23 and 25) you need to go through the operators approved command upgrade training and supervision. And pass all the checkrides. Maybe there are exceptions in some countries where a private operator can have someone trained to fly as captain right away also on a part 25 plane, but I have never seen one. And then there are FO who never get upgraded to captain on any type of aircraft (apart from a Cessna 152 maybe) because they continue to fail their checkrides. I have encountered quite a few of those already.

Who in their right mind would leave corporate to go to airlines in today's desperate climate?

You mean "why exchange desperate for desperate"? Around here (Germany) the airlines - or rather: some ailrines - at least get governmnent funding to help them survive the crisis, whereas I have not heard anything like it with respect to bizjet operators. I just got a flight cancelled for the weekend because the passengers rather stay home than comply to the requirements of the destination country: One PCR Covid test 72 hours before departure and another test not longer than four hours before. A few more such cancellations and I can also start applying to the airlines...

There were a few global captains that went direct airline PIC, and that was possible because they meet the minimums, which was a PIC MTOW of >45t or something. That said, I heard from tre's that although a couple were very good indeed, overall the quality was somewhat "variable" and some really struggled (PIC&FO fastrack), so I don't think it will be repeated. It was a pity because most of them came from one particular operator which is not known for consistent standards amongst it's crews.

Probably tougher to go from airlines to corporate, I know a few corporate Chief Pilots who don't look at airline pilot resumes.
There is a this view out there that airline pilots generally can't handle the on call and last minute changes, "extra duties" etc.

I have first hand knowledge of a airline pilot who my operation hired, when he was being shown where to brew the coffee and grab the catering he replied "I don't do that" the CP thought he was joking and laughed and then the guy said "No I was hired to fly not be a flight attendant"
He was walked to the front door and I witness the chief shake his hand and said "I'm sorry this isn't going to work out, thank you for your time good luck".
The look on his face was a stunned 1000 mile stare.

I'm not saying that is fact of course it depends on the pilots background. I knew a few who went airlines and came running back a year or so later and others who hated corporate.

It all depends on the operation, there are good corporate gigs and bad just like airlines, but as others have stated depends on the market.