Any job leads for a young 800 hour pilot?

AlphaPilotFlyer

AlphaPilotFlyer

Line Up and Wait
Joined
Dec 15, 2020
Messages
509
Display Name
AlphaPilotFlyer
A bit of networking here…… young lady I mentor and that used my airplane for training and check rides has 800 hours total, ME, and SE CFI, aviation degree, currently flying Cessna caravan SIC for a 135 operation that may be downsizing and letting junior pilots go, may need another job soon.

Hoping someone may have insights on a flying job besides CFI. Or maybe a busy CFI job time building more than 50 hours a month. I trained her for most of her rides and she does a good, professional job and is a great person.

Any job leads appreciated. Thanks.
 
I don't have any leads for you, but it might help if you mentioned a location, unless she's willing to go anywhere.
 
Alaska. @DavidWhite did it back when he was a low-timer.

I would also plug my native PR, since most Anglos don't want to make that move, but it could serve to gain some work in a low hiring environment if one is willing. Beggars can't be choosers at her life stage, unless you're str8-up grooming a sugar mama like someone I know, then you can act uppity about work again. :fingerwag:
 
she searched for jobs in PR and other island nations, but most are small operators and contacts seem to be key, especially in slow hiring phases.
 
Has she checked with companies such as Plane Sense and Tradewinds.
 
yes....she has apps out to a lot of those operators. many want 1200 or atp ready. it seems not a lot of movement right now and inside info is key . thanks
 
Getting past 1200-1500 hrs is going to be key right now. That may change, but not before she could accomplish that. It really doesn't matter what type of flying it is, so anything that she can get her hands on.
 
It's going to be difficult. In the current environment she was lucky she ever had the Caravan job with 3-digit hours to begin with. Might have to go down a rung.
 
Half Fast said:
Military?
Click to expand...
It don't quite work like that for someone off the street.

If the young lady doesn't have enough crony connection to get an 800 hr turbine SIC job paying peaunts and the unsociable work schedules that come with them, methinks she also isn't friends with the proverbial adjutant general in her home state to get a preferred UPT slot at the next Air National Guard board. Yes we put some of these neophytes in cool rockets that qualify them to make Big4+ money without having to do time in FFD purgatory (some still have to, rotor in particular). But no, we're not a pilot hire of last resort. If you need a non-flying paycheck? Sure, we're always def hiring for that.

As to active duty, entry via OTS (USAF) is the smallest entry conduit, by orders of magnitude. ROTC would have been a much better bet, but that requires having some semblance of genuine desire for military service that was pre-thought beyond "PlAnEsEnSe wOnT cAlL waAH". Even so, OTS still doesn't guarantee pilot selectable. So she may end up getting a nav/ABM spot and a 6 year sentence (though I've seen some manage to re-cat to pilot, but then it re-starts a 10 year commitement, so it becomes a 20 year career by default).
 
hindsight2020 said:
If the young lady doesn't have enough crony connection to get an 800 hr turbine SIC job paying peaunts and the unsociable work schedules that come with them, methinks she also isn't friends with the proverbial adjutant general in her home state to get a preferred UPT slot at the next Air National Guard board.
Click to expand...

Two different sets of cronies. It's possible to know one group and not the other. And of course, I'm sure you could pull a few strings for her and get her the flying job of her dreams.....
 
It seems to me, with a four-year aviation degree, She’s only 200 hours from the rATP. Then there are any number commuter/regionals that will bring her onboard due to the “pilot shortage.” Soon she’ll be living the dream of flying 50 seat jet into Podunk, USA. The finish line is almost there – beg, borrow and steal to get that last 200 hours. ASAP.

or

Mr. Half Fast would have you join the military for the next 10-20 years.
 
I cold called shady 135 operators until one called me back, slugged it out 2.5 yrs, then went to the best airline known to mankind.
 
Yea, she has reached out to several 135 but most want min 1200-1500 and few hiring. Seems hiring slowed down from a few years ago for sure. My airline hiring about 2400/yr as with the other big majors but seems the regionals have slowed ….. as a result a lot more higher time candidates.
 
Had a couple of members here also PM me some contacts and she is reaching out to them as well. Seems to be a far different job environment than just a couple of years ago. Last week I had 4 relatively new new hires with a regional wanting a jump seat on my flight out of Tokyo , all looked fresh out of high school, and using new jumpseat privileges to see the world on days off….all went right from CFI at their college to regional carrier at 1000 hours with ATPr and starting at $99/hr….

Her carivan job only flying about 20 hrs/mo right now but going into class B busy airports, and pay is less than a barista. But it’s 135 turboprop experience. I lend her my experimental to fly around as well (she took her PP training and checkride in it years ago) to log a bit more time….. the carivan job requires min 1200 hours for Capt as part 135 mins but there’s not much upgrading going on there. Her degree doesn’t have atpr so needs 1500.

Any more job leads appreciated, and thanks to those thy reached out.
 
What is her ultimate goal? 1500 to fly for Delta/etc.?

If that then I'd suggest get the CFII and do the CFI/CFII dance at a flight school. Suck it up flying as many hours possible in crappy Skyhawks on hot turbulent summer days and sprint to the 1500. Think of it as being a barely paid teachers aid in college.
 
WDD said:
What is her ultimate goal? 1500 to fly for Delta/etc.?

If that then I'd suggest get the CFII and do the CFI/CFII dance at a flight school. Suck it up flying as many hours possible in crappy Skyhawks on hot turbulent summer days and sprint to the 1500. Think of it as being a barely paid teachers aid in college.
Click to expand...

pfft... bona fide teachers in college don't get paid either. A short lived attempt at trying to build an honest life as a career "instructor" in academia quickly disabused me from continuing the pursuit of a Phd in Aerospace Engineering.... So I became a blue-collar-adjacent stick monkey instead.

The second time I sniffed around at academia, it was worse. They offered me a dual-role [non-tenure, because of course] assistant prof/chief flight instructor position...for about what I was making as a "3/4 time" low-time .mil pylet. I declined, and the rest is username checks history.

Depressingly, nothing about the education market has much changed in the 18 years since, even with the advent of remote workers and geoarbitrage wrecking local housing economies. I figure absent a DPE unicorn gig, my teaching days are about as as over as my flying ones. BL, our economy doesn't value support/developmental roles, it's all front-line revenue generation or you're a "cost center". Frankly the whole thing is misanthrophic to a fault. Oh well, "at least I got chicken".

Back to the topic. Yeah I concur with your advice, if the OPs mentee is your BasicPilotTM121-or-bust hydraulic stamped copy, the CFI churn is probably the way to go, much as it contributes to the denigration of the teaching profession.
 
Last edited:
AlphaPilotFlyer said:
Last week I had 4 relatively new new hires with a regional wanting a jump seat on my flight out of Tokyo , all looked fresh out of high school, and using new jumpseat privileges to see the world on days off….all went right from CFI at their college to regional carrier at 1000 hours with ATPr and starting at $99/hr….
Click to expand...
What you didn't see is how many other pilots applied for those 4 jobs and didn't get them.
 
If she would seriously consider coming to Puerto Rico, I can try to connect her to another female pilot with Tradewinds. It might take a little bit to get the contact. She is a friend of a friend I met at a wedding. But when I was talking to her, it sounded like they were definitely looking for pilots. And the busy season is right around the corner.
 
I believe the OP said she contacted TW already. Another poster said at least with Planesense with 800hrs was a pipedream in present circumstances. The inference I made was that TW would be in a similar boat, but perhaps not.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top