Airline Captain Upgrade curriculum

[ckcrew]

Airline Captain Upgrade Requirement

Does your airline has a requirement to be upgrade as a captain such as :
1. how many years you have to work for the company?
2. How much jet flight time you must acquired?

PS: How about United, Delta, America or Southwest Airline?

[MarkerInbound]

Curriculum is normally considered the course outline explaining the subjects taught. I think the term you are looking for is requirements. In most US airlines upgrade is controlled by seniority, your time with the airline. You can hold a Captain position when all the pilots with more seniority than you hold a Captain position or (by not bidding for Captain) have said they don't want to be a Captain. That being said there a FAR regulation that says a Captain must have 1000 hours airline experience as a First Officer. Many regional airlines are running into the situation where pilots would be able to hold a Captain position by seniority but they don't have the 1000 hours airline experience. So someone with less seniority is able to hold a Captain position. As soon as the pilot gains the required 1000 hours they can (if they want) bid for Captain and then regain their position on the seniority list.

[ckcrew]

Thank you for your reply. So the company do not have any flight hour or years of service to the company requirements since the FAR says 1000 hours as a first officer (I should look it up in FAR) and the company seniority. Therefore you are all qualified to be a captain after about a year and a half (1000 hours as FO) but wait until your seniority. You were saying about Regional.... Major airline the same?

[TowerDog]

Originally Posted by ckcrew

Thank you for your reply. So the company do not have any flight hour or years of service to the company requirements since the FAR says 1000 hours as a first officer (I should look it up in FAR) and the company seniority. Therefore you are all qualified to be a captain after about a year and a half (1000 hours as FO) but wait until your seniority. You were saying about Regional.... Major airline the same?

Not every airline is the same, Major, Minor whatever.
Seniority and recommendations from Captains you have flown with over the years may make a difference:
If you are sharp, your internal file should have good letters, if you are a dork the file will be full of “Do not, ever upgrade this guy, (girl) under any circumstance”.
You have to prove yourself every day in this line of work, in both seats, and even in all 3 seats if you fly long haul.

[ironbutt57]

Originally Posted by ckcrew

Thank you for your reply. So the company do not have any flight hour or years of service to the company requirements since the FAR says 1000 hours as a first officer (I should look it up in FAR) and the company seniority. Therefore you are all qualified to be a captain after about a year and a half (1000 hours as FO) but wait until your seniority. You were saying about Regional.... Major airline the same?

the simple answer is yes, most FO have the basic requirements to be captain when they join an airline, no 200hr ab initio system anymore in the USA that I'm aware of, there were through a couple of universities, but were short-lived...so get the job, perform well, have no HR or training issues, and when your number comes up, start your upgrade training

[MarkerInbound]

Most major airline new hires come from the regional airlines so they have there airline time. Some of the majors do require 1000 hours turbine time. The reality is most of the major airline's new hires are way above the bare minimums.

[ckcrew]

Our company requires at least 5000 hours and at least 5 years of experience as a FO on jet aircraft (in our company) in order to qualified to be a captain.

[zondaracer]

Majors also hire a lot of military pilots, and those are not eligible to upgrade right away, because they can only credit 500 hours towards the 1000 hours of experience credit required to upgrade by FARs.

My current airline only has the requirement that captains must have the FAR minimums to upgrade plus 2500 hours of total time. If someone gets hired with a restricted ATP At 1000 hours total time, then they cannot upgrade when they reach 2000 hours (1000 hours of 121 time plus 1000 hours previous time). This restriction is due to insurance costs.

[flyboyike]

Originally Posted by TowerDog

Not every airline is the same, Major, Minor whatever.
Seniority and recommendations from Captains you have flown with over the years may make a difference:
If you are sharp, your internal file should have good letters, if you are a dork the file will be full of “Do not, ever upgrade this guy, (girl) under any circumstance”.
You have to prove yourself every day in this line of work, in both seats, and even in all 3 seats if you fly long haul.

I'm curious what US carrier requires "letters from Captains you've flown with" to qualify for upgrade. I'm not aware of any, at least not to become a line Captain. Now, if you're talking about becoming an instructor, that's another matter.

[TowerDog]

Originally Posted by flyboyike

I'm curious what US carrier requires "letters from Captains you've flown with" to qualify for upgrade. I'm not aware of any, at least not to become a line Captain. Now, if you're talking about becoming an instructor, that's another matter.

Some airlines ask the line captains if an FO is ready for upgrade, not major airlines, but smaller companies who upgrade on merit rather than seniority. (I worked for at least 4 of those)

[flyboyike]

Originally Posted by TowerDog

Some airlines ask the line captains if an FO is ready for upgrade, not major airlines, but smaller companies who upgrade on merit rather than seniority. (I worked for at least 4 of those)

My condolences. With my direly poor political skills, I'd be a PermaFO at all of them, I'm sure.

[TowerDog]

Originally Posted by flyboyike

My condolences. With my direly poor political skills, I'd be a PermaFO at all of them, I'm sure.

Perhaps you are confused: No political skills needed, arse-kissing in the cockpit does not go very far. (Insert rolling eyes smiley )

Flying skills are probably an advantage if upgrades are based on merit rather than politics. Good luck.

[flyboyike]

Originally Posted by TowerDog

Perhaps you are confused: No political skills needed, arse-kissing in the cockpit does not go very far. (Insert rolling eyes smiley )

Flying skills are probably an advantage if upgrades are based on merit rather than politics. Good luck.

Is that so? I would have thought by the time we get to the airline level (even with smaller operators), flying skills should be more or less a given. Then again, what would I know, I'm on my third airline and just started my third year in the left seat.

Good luck to you as well.