You Can Be an Airline Pilot.

Yeah, Colgan Captain had failed several checkrides and then passed on re-tests. His time at Colgan, flying as Continental Express, he was commuting to work. I forget if he commuted to the Northeast from FL or ND. So he had spent the previous day riding as a passenger and only slept a few hours in the pilot lounge before starting his long day.

The pilot hiring boom is so red-hot these days that Embry-Riddle, my school, can't keep instructors. Instructors are barely working as instructor for a year before hiring on with regionals. Regionals are hiring them so fast you have 2 Embry-Riddle former instructors flying as crew at the regional. One a new-hire and the Captain with about 1-2 years experience.

Air Wisconsin has a deal where they will hire civilian instructors with only 500 hours. AW pays them to keep being civilian instructors at the school where they are now but when they get their experience to qualify for Restricted Airline Transport Pilot license they move to Air Wisconsin.

 

Times have changed. I came onboard the airline scene during the controversial “pay for training” days in the ‘90’s. I funded my Saab 340 training at Northwest Airlink. I certainly don’t regret it but it definitely was a different platform for hiring.

 

Swift Aviation Academy

 

Pretty sure that's CRST*






*Crash 'n Roll Stunt Team

 

This video is a good deep dive into the issues.

 

Yeah, pay for training was what caused me to give up flying, that and hunger. Guys were getting Flight Engineer jobs by passing the FE written and then paying someone like Freddie Laker $10k to ride sideways. You could count 750 hours as FE toward your ATP 1500. If you were an American and you got really sick or injured in the Bahamas, your were flying back to the US in a Lear where both pilots paid more for the job than the job paid. My last roommate in FL got hired as second-in-command on a Lear 35 and spent more time washing the boss's car than he did flying before he quit went back to instructing.

 

I was fortunate in that I had the money. I’d been working in the medical field for several years and away from the industry so I considered it a solid educational investment. I think I only had maybe 100 ME at the time. It all worked out.
Never was a fan of corporate simply because I have never been a fan of brown nosing. I’m probably just cynical. The time in citation and Lear was fun but having to vaccum the boogers out of the carpet of the bosses jaguar when not flying... not so much.

 

As much as I want to get my pilots license just to fly for a few years before I get too old , Lately I have observed just how dangerous this OTR is also


Thinking of returning to my captains license and delivering yachts again if rates go back in the toilet.

Not worth the Legal and Financial risk for pennies when you have every Scum Bag Kid coming out of law school Shooting at you .

What do you call Ten Thousand Scumbag attorneys found with a bullet to the back of the head

A waste of ammunition. Shoulda drowned them. But than you need to decontaminate the water.

 

One thing I haven't seen mentioned here is to get on with the Majors to make the big bucks you pretty much have to have a college degree. I looked into it seriously. Realistically was going to be a 10 year plan to make it to the big money.

 

Air Canada Flight 759 - Wikipedia
Air Canada Flight 759 nearly landed on a taxiway which already had four fully loaded and fueled airplanes holding short for takeoff.