Piece Of Advice
 

I need your opinion, what is better,TRI/SFI on ATR 42/72 500, or FO on an A310, taking in account the fact of A310 old age and instable future of these old planes.......

Personally, I would go for the TRI position. That is transferable and quite desirable. Very useful.

I can see the benefits of a jet endorsement though.

TRI/SFI. The very fact that you have training experience will stand out. As redsnail says, this is transferable and will lead to other things further down the line.

thank you for your responses, I am in a big dilemma however......

Of course you're in a dilemma. The jet will challenge you for a bit, ie a bit faster and a bit higher.. but once you've mastered that, sorted..

Now, the TRI qualification will challenge you during the training and will challenge you continually when you meet new candidates. :)

sorry for butting in.

but whats a TRI???

Type Rating Instructor

You'll be amazed at how much you learn as you re-learn to fly the plane with each successive student. Your technical knowledge will be fantastic, CRM impeccable and you'll constantly find new challenges. Oh, and employers LOVE people with instructional backgrounds.

I was TRI/TRE on a large turbo-prop (regional airline): NO ONE cared about that experience! The only question I kept hearing during interviews was "Do you have ANY jet time?"

Nowadays I have some 737 hours, and guess what? All of a sudden I qualify for jobs, because jet pilots are better pilots! :ugh:

(Just to be sure: That last statement is complete bull****, but that's what employers really seem to think, ridiculous as it is!)

I hope you went for the Airbus. Seriously!

Yup, 'tis a fact...JET TIME is what an employer wants to see from a new First Officer.
Later on however, when command is achieved, that TRE and or TRI can be very useful.

I must agree, the jet qualification and experience will lead you into a new world career wise as well as being a more satisfying, enjoyable and rewarding job.

Surprised nobody actually conveyed this before me, especially as we're 10 posts or so in.

My advice is, which job allows you the best opportunity to fulfil the lifestyle you (and your family - if you have one) aspire to, location, upheaval, challenge, the advancement in your career to where you'd like to be and finally the job stability/financial reward?

Whither its a jet or a prop that offers that is irrelevant to your personal circumstances. After all we work to allow us to enjoy our private life to its fullest, most of the population dream of finding a job that's their hobby.

For me I'd like to pilot the 747 eventually, as a result I've steered my career as much as I can towards it. However not to the detriment of my relationships and quality of life.

My opinion would be that the TRI qualification would be the best to go for, and for all the reasons given so far. It is an opportunity that will be harder to repeat as well. Jet jobs are relatively 10 a penny, but if you go right seat on a an Airbus it will be at least 3-5 years before you get the opportunity to become a TRI again. Whereas if you get laid off as an FO you are stuffed. I speak as a 737 FO with 5.500 total time, and 2.000 on jets (5.000 civil air transport on turbo-props and jets) and no job for 13 months now.

The most difficult step in an pilots career is to get from that turboprop onto a jet. Took some time to get that change. Grab it with both hands, if you want to end your career flying jets and in the end want to improve your salary.

Lets face it , the money is been made on the jet fleet, not on the props. I can also confirm that nobody gives a rats if you where captain/tri/chief pilot on an turbo prop, just does not count (how sad indeed).

On the other hand you must really like your lifestyle now as 99% of the guys wouldn,t even ask this question. If thats more important to you than future income increase, stay where you are!

It doesn't matter what you fly, it matters which offers more stability in terms of trying to make a career out of this mess. If you feel that the Turboprop job offers more stability, then do it. If the jet job offers more stability, then do that. I flew the 747 and there was no job security where I was working. Not having peace of mind was a complete nightmare. I haven't been able to work/fly for 21 months.

Morale of the story: Find a company that offers a somewhat secure job (tough to locate, but some are better than others). I'm assuming you have some seniority where you are. Don't flush that down the toilet in pursuit of a shiny jet. The ironic thing is that the turboprop is probably more difficult to fly than the jet. (less levers on the jet and handles much better during engine out procedures). There is nothing difficult about transitioning to the jet. The only difficult thing is the stupid mindset that exists concerning TP to jet transition.

energy management??

airman, I see you are nearly 40. If you want to move on to a jet at some time, I would take the jet job now before people tell you you're too old. Normally, they won't be interested in your training history when you go to another company, they will have their own training team, with their own ideas. The ATR doesn't offer much more scope than the A310 job wise, both in limited use within Europe anyway these days.

Whilst they are different generations, the A310 experience will stand you in good stead should you ever transfer to the 320/330/340 (or 380!). I say this as one with a couple of thousand hours on the 310 and currently on the 320.