My first jet job was with bmi regional on the 145 and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it. I learned loads. The aeroplane is complex enough to allow you to gain valuable experience and simple enough for it to be a relatively easy transition.

If I had my time again, I would be looking at bmi regional to start my career.

Just for a show of hands, how many of you, in the current hiring climate, would shell out the £20.000 for a job on an E135/145?

I know the benefits of flying "old tech". I came up through a turboprop older than I am without any automation and flying tons of NPAs in crap winter weather. And that experience continues to serve me well. But I also had to deal with the fact that that turboprop was under 10 tonnes and a 19-seater, and a few years ago no one would even give my CV a second look. Some guys had been pretty much stuck on the type for years, as MTOM and seats was an easy filter for job applications. So unless you wanted to pay up for the next rating or knew the right people, replies to applications were few and far between.

So when the current hiring boom slows down again as it inevitably will, those filters will probably come right back and it wouldn't be strange to see a bunch of companies asking for 30+/50+ tonnes MTOM experience. And there you will be with your E135/145 rating, barely anyone flying it anymore, and probably bound to cough up money for another rating to move on. I'm sure there will always be options for connected people. But right now, I don't know why you would take your money to BMI Regional instead of an A320 or 737 operator that wants you to pay for the rating. Unless BMI provides you with the exact lifestyle you desire.

Was your Fokker rating 20.000 pounds self-sponsored though, or included in the offer? If you are expected to put down these amounts of money you better be picky.

it doesn't matter whether it's £20k or not, if this is his only offer and you're prepared to pay the money then take it, all this weight nonsense is irrelevant, the question you have to ask is, do you want to fly for a living or not? If you do then you take what's offered. How many of you Top Guns here who are too above themselves to fly an E145 would honestly recommend the original poster not to take this opportunity if it arose? It would be a brave person to turn it down in the arrogance that you're going to get other offers. One thing is for certain, if you're sat behind a desk there's absolutely no way of progressing your flying career, get your backside in the industry by any means possible, once inside the world is your oyster.

Does the OP have a better offer on the table?

Brexit looms and there is rumblings of European if not of world wide resecession again and we all know what that brings to the industry, which could be kicked off by a hard Brexit when the EU looses the UK cash cow. I would get in now, ensuring I purchased redundancy and loss of licence/critical illness insurance to cover any debts I had.

Good aircraft, swept wing jet, an ideal stepping stone to say Jet2 who are sucking up 250 this year alone if you believe PPJN, or BA or the Middle East etc etc.

Never turn that first job offer down unless you get a better offer before you start.

Is he British, how many UK licence holders will Ryanair want or be able to employ post Brexit to operate his Irish reg aircraft if we go down the hard Brexit route which seems likely with the let's give the EU everything they want deal Mrs May is proposing?

UK licence on a G reg aircraft might be important, the likes of Ryanair might not be so keen on Brits until they know what the fall out will enforce for UK residents trying to gain work in Europe in the future and there are bucket loads of Italians, Spanish etc to fill his right hand seats of those B738's. Could the EU turn round and say sory we have enough of our own 'new airline pilots, Brits not required'?

I would personally be jumping in any jet I could at the moment, subject to due diligence on the short and medium term prospects of the proposed employers business. To spend £20k on a rating with a company that might not last 6 months would be a risk but please understand I know nothing of Midland Regional finances and this is just a general statement.

(PS Never paid for a type rating, vowed I never would but it's a fight to get to top and times have changed I am afraid. Like any part of life aviation is a battle to beat your competitors, some people are lucky to have the odd £20k to chuck around)

Eeeeee, you were lucky. Some of us were stuck on smelly old Piper Chieftains. Still great flying though. :D

Opinion or fact? The fact is you cannot just turn up at Ryanair and say "I've got £20k, give me a job and a 73 rating", it doesn't work like that.

We don't know anything about the OP, is he/she in their early twenties or mid forties? Have they got an offer or haven't they? Have they got a career to fall back on or haven't they? Do they have £20k to burn or do they not?

Are you that confident that you can tell the OP to take a gamble and wait for a firm offer elsewhere before the industry takes a nosedive? At the end of the day whether they spend £20k at bmi, Ryanair, easyjet or some chicken **** outfit in the arse end of the earth it's kind of largely irrelevant, at least they'll be in the industry if they so desire, days got to be better than not spending it and sitting behind a desk wishing you had. Take what's on offer (if it is offered) and enjoy it.

Unlike you I must have been a sky god and deserved to spend my time in the beauty of the sky's, the 7T flying box that made Shorts Sky vans look graceful.

I was very lucky. Wrote to Cobham and got the usual ex military types only on the Falcons. However they had an Islander at East Mids so I went and stuck my CV under the office door at the back of the hanger. They were just upgrading the DO228's at the time, one to replace the Islander at EMA, and the increase in weight meant that the CAA would no longer allow them to fly them single crew but as a single pilot aircraft operated by a mult crew. Suddenly two weeks after being told to get lost by Hurn the guys at East Mids were on the phone as they needed 7 FO's for the three Dorneirs the company operated.

Truly a case of making the effort to putt myself in the the right place at the right time and accepting if I got paid to fly then it was a good job to have what ever the aircraft. Especially lucky as this was just ten months before 9/11.

Obviously as part of his research into the company he will have a good idea of the routes they operate and this is something he could discuss at interview, then again........

Norwegian cancelling type rating courses, could be a lot of rated B738 guys for Ryanair to pick up soon.

Depends on your age. If you are under 25ish I'd definitely be looking for varied experiences in aviation. Going for TP might be a bit extreme, but the 145 is great to fly, you'll get lots of landings and experience of flying, rather than button pushing and you might be knackered, but not bored. In this game, variety is very important. Following the line across the Atlantic might sound attractive (Long haul is definitely something you should do) but like most things, gets boring after a while. Frankly, I've been incredibly lucky to have done everything from GA to widebody and feel sorry for anyone facing 20/30/45 years of Airbuses.
If you're closer to 30 and/or have domestic commitments, big shiny jet is the way to go, I'm afraid.

Must be getting old, the only thing I thought was "MTOM in the Fokker is 20.820 KILO not pounds"....