500 hour jobs
 

Greetings fellow young and open-minded aviators,

I have reached a magic number of 500 hours total time and whilst I have already applied to some operators with minimums of 500hrs, would be open to responses from others suggesting operators I may not have heard of whom look for pilots with at least 500 hours.

Any responses appreciated. Thank you.

This is not a bad 500 hour gig if you have the rest of the requirements.

https://career.jetstar.com/jobview/j...-c82a1e1b7110/

Hardys - Darwin, NT
Chartair - Darwin & Alice Springs, NT
Territory Air Services - Darwin, NT
Aviair - Kununurra & Broome, WA
Hinterland - Cairns, QLD

These are all pretty reputable aviation businesses with internal progression onto something a little bigger (Twin & Turbine etc)

Hardy's you need closer to 1000 hours, and wouldn't bother with Hinterland unless you want to fly a van

I highly doubt you’d be getting a job with the likes of Hardys or Hinterland with 500TT.

With 500TT I’d be targeting employers with both piston singles and twins. Chartair, Aviair, Shoal Air, Katherine Aviation (HM Air), Cape Air Transport, Black Diamond Aviation etc.

Expect to start in the single, keep out of the politics and good chance you’ll progress to a twin (most likely a B58 or C310) in 6-12 months.

It's 2023 and the job market has changed, Hardys advertise 800 TT on their website, but I've heard of people within the 500-800 TT range.
Van time is just as useful as Twin Time in regards to airline applications, have a look at Jetstar, Network & Qlinks most recent job ads.


- Katherine Aviation does not exist anymore.
- Black Diamond Aviation does not have any single pistons also have a look at the Baron/C310 bond they offer, it's a f**king joke.
- I mentioned reputable operators, but a couple you've mentioned doesn't fit those criteria.

I heard whispers that they had trouble insuring their aeroplanes after a couple of bad accidents in the last couple years.
HM completed the purchase of the business in December 2023 and inherited most (I think) of the C210s and BE58s including the pilots. HOFO left to greener pastures and a relatively fresh bloke (sub 1000hrs) stepped in as the 'Type Specialist - Fixed Wing'.

How many of those are command?
You could be close to being able to apply for survey work.

Do the likes of Qlink & Jetstar have programs in place these days to get you the 500 multi command (well ICUS) required to issue you an ATPL and upgrade you to a command or are you just a first officer for life by applying at these places without an ATPL or 500 multi command?

500 Multi Command is not required for the issue of an ATPL, some companies might have this requirement in their ops manual etc but its not an ICAO or CASA requirement.

Not sure where I got the idea then. Was it a requirement before part 61 or something?

Airlines used to be very rigid about 500 multi command and even Rex needed to jump through some hoops to get some ICUS program approved to get their cadets the 500 multi command to be upgraded to captains...

Yes, they do as a number of cadets have now got commands at Jetstar. BTW, you don't need 500 multi command for the ATPL.

https://www.casa.gov.au/licences-and...rtpilotlicence

I'm not sure 500 Multi command was ever a CASA thing.

But as mentioned, some companies have their own requirements, I know a few people who've had to a long ICUS program with the likes of Rex and Air North to get the 500 Multi Command (ICUS) to be eligible for a command upgrade.

I would say very few 500 hour people have this from Jetstar job ad.

• 200 hours in command of a multi engine aircraft (excluding PICUS); or
• 200 hours in command of a turbine powered fixed wing aircraft; or
• 200 hours on aircraft certified for operation by a crew of two pilots (multi-crew aircraft)

500 multi PIC used to be the min for upgrade at a low capacity AOC company. Rex is or was low capacity but Qlink is high capacity so qlink had no need need for you to have 500 multi PIC to upgrade.


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Possibly targeting Rex cadets as they would have 200 multi-crew in their 500 hours. Rex seems to be a steady supplier of pilots for the Qantas Group.

Has anyone got through without having all the atpl subjects complete yet?

Is anyone actually getting hired at these low hour mins for jetstar etc?

500 Multi PIC IFR was a requirement in CAO 82.3 for RPT operations other than high capacity.

Which back in the day was a lot of operators including a lot of Regionals.

Hey Clare, do you know of any survey operators who would take in a pilot with 500TT, 300PIC?

Do you have the low level rating?