Desperately seeking B737 job
 

Hi guys,

I am running out of options right now to find my first job on B737. I was a captain on metroliner, I had to quit my job and then i did my type last june.
But since then not a single job interview... Though I applied to many such as jet2, norwegian, qatar... I applied almost everywhere and I did not even get any answers from the line training programs... :ugh:
So I come to a point now where I am pretty desperate to find a job even though I have my full ATPL and 1800 hours total time I do not have a single hour on B 737 and it seems impossible to get a job when so...
So I am seeking the community help there, If anyone knows about a plan to get to do some hours on type anywhere in the world then I am all ears!!
Maybe I do not know where to apply and how to do it properly...
Please help

Can we make this one a sticky as a warning to the P2F brigade?

@PURPLE PITOT
Like you said I think the he did P2F!I can think of 10-15 companies that would hire anyone with the time he/she has.Deal with the consequences!

Don't Lionair take guys with no hours but with a 737 rating?

Good for building hours just keep an open mind about how your Skipper operates and don't use it as a benchmark. With the greatest possible respect the standards in Indonesian LoCo are questionable.

Also I'm not sure whether Jet2, Norwegian et al look favourably on experience gained in those operators.

Hope this helps somewhat :sad:

Does always amaze me that people get this desperate before doing some research. Whereas dropping the cost of a type rating with no job at the end doesn't warrant any!

In addition, most decent companies see someone with zero hours on a type as a negative. You'd be expected to do better in a sim check then someone without one, and you'd more then likely be expected to do a full type rating again anyway?!

How many times will people make this mistake??

Do what's right for you, your own career and livelihood. No one else is going to sort your life for you and asking the opinions of those who've had it easy (or easier than you) is useless. Most of them have no idea what some of us have had to go through since 2009. The rot in the industry started a long time ago and is now in the advanced stages. This cancer cannot be cured. Either become "part of the problem" or give up. If you give up and stay away from P2F, no one will realise or thank you for it. You'll end with no work at all, being forced to live away from home/family or best case flying the same old planes for measly pay with no chance of career progression no matter how many hours you have. If you do join a P2F scheme, you'll discover that hundreds in your position make this difficult choice every year. Some succeed, some don't (about 60/40 in my experience). The road is long and treacherous but in the long run you'll be a 2,000+ hour pilot with the right background and the right rating to gain employment on a medium category twin jet virtually anywhere in the world. The fact that you've had no line training provider even respond to you shows that the waiting lists are already huge and nobody wants your business. A 737 rating was perhaps not the best choice.

Good luck

It is too late to lecture you now, as the damage is already done, but it is ludicrous to spend money on a TR without even the offer of a seasonal contract at the end.

There are so many guys on the market with around 300-500hrs on Type from the likes of Lionair/ airBaltic that your only chance now will be to pay one of these crazy "hrs on type programmes". If the local Captain doesn't fly you into the sea on short final Lionair is probably the best way to get hrs quickly. For what it is worth I know Norwegian (for instance ) has taken ex Lionair guys, so it does not ring the death knell to your career as some have questioned.

So you quit your job and spent any money you had on a 737 TR ?

I remember someone I know doing this in 1995 and it seemed a bad idea even then !

Turkish Airlines? I trained some local ex-mil pilots for B737 type rating. Obviously they had zero hours on type and were sent to the TQ by Turkish. I'm not sure if they still have a Turkish national filter for new F/O's. There are various Mediterranean based charter operators that are not top of the pile. They may be short and offer seasonal deals for this summer. If you get no response from airlines direct then I'd phone all the agencies. They WILL answer the phone and you can plead your case. If their customers end up short for the summer you may be able to talk yourself into the RHS via the back door. It will all take a lot of effort and hard work.

Thanks for your answers. From what I read I will focus on indonesian research then.
Cheers guys. Hoping for a clear sky soin :)

In effect, you are going to have to trawl a bit to find the companies that most of us have mentally "blacklisted". Blue Panorama also springs to mind. If you "like" the Facebook page of "Stop Pay to Fly" ( https://www.facebook.com/stop.paytofly ) you will find a list somewhere there of the sorry woebegones of companies that may be able to get you a bit further forward in this mess you have gotten yourself into.

I think you have been a silly chap, nonetheless I wish you all the best in recouping your investment.

From what I understand, you have zero hours on type on the 737?

In Indonesia, with the regulations created a couple of years ago, you need a minimum of 250 hours on type if you are to be hired as a foreigner on an airliner.

Yeah thats right! And I also remember this about indonesian regulations...:ugh:

Have you thought about returning to turbo props?

Your present path seems to have reached a dead end?

At least you are a more reasonable prospect on TPs?

Probably not what you really want to hear, but I think it is something you need to consider?:ugh:

Firstly I wish you well in your direction.

However must say what a stupid idea it was to do a 737 rating with no offer of a job at the end.

Sadly you have 6,the to get a job other all training worth will be gone.

You should have bought an instructor rating, got some experience and then worked your way up rather than trying to go route one.

Sorry, first command decision, and it was the wrong one.

The thing is that the only thing these people want to hear is the sales pitch from P2F salesmen.

The biggest problem IMHO is that instead of letting them learn from their mistakes, colleagues are actually still helping these people.

It's a vicious circle;

*) they chose a career as a pilot despite all the warnings and need to be bailed out with a job,
*) they go for the quick upgrade on a TP during the good times, instead of making a long term career move as an F/O job with a stable company on a jet
*) then they get all frustrated that they're not flying the shiny jets, so despite all the warnings, they join a P2F circus

...and now they again rely on the charity of others to help them find a job.

These people are NOT mature IMHO, not even close, and it's even quite scary to think that he/she has already been a 'commander' on a turbo prop. It's these people that are actively ruining our jobs and industry, so I propose to just let them figure it out themselves!

It will be a valuable lesson in making well thought out CRM-friendly decisions and keeping the long term and big picture in mind, instead of just a quick short term selfish gain.

The situation for finding a job as a B737 First Officer is appalling. I have 2500b hours on B737, and did a re qualification in 2012, then spent two years emailing CV's to every operator in the world and not one reply.

There are hundreds of jobs for B737 Captains, but very few for First Officers and the very few there are wont even look at your CV unless you have recent time on the type and don't count simulator as valid.

Agencies are the same, simulator time is not valid even if you have just passed a type rating and have 10,000 flying hours, if you haven't flown a real B737 within the last six months there is no chance.

So my question is, where are the airlines getting their B737 F/O's from ?

Hundreds of jobs for captains every day.
Almost no jobs for F/O's.

Captains continually retire.
Existing F/O's move up to Command.

Thousands of B737's flying around the world.

Where are the airlines getting their B737 F/O's from ? it a mystery and very frustrating, for me it has ruined my life, because I not only fly B737 for a living I do it because I love this aeroplane, know it well and can fly it safely.:ugh:

It all comes down to ECONOMICS ~ supply and demand

Unless and until the P2F supply declines significantly, the present scheme will remain.

Market forces at work. It is that simple. ;)

Whatever you do, please do not accept to pay to fly and do not fly for free or for peanuts. I was always paid for my flying, and that is the only way it should be.

Look for a company that operates both turbo prop and twin jets, hope to get the transition to jets one day.