Thinking of a career change to 121 / 135 flying.. thoughts/experiences?

Ted DuPuis said:
This has been changing recently. I've seen several people get directly into majors without any prior 121 or military time. However they do typically have more significant 135 time and a pretty good resume.

Haven't tried it myself, but it seems to be less impossible than it used to be.
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True but as you said. They have good resumes. They weren’t pulling gear on a king air and they are still a very small percentage of new hires at the major level.
 
NealRomeoGolf said:
Yeah, that's why I am a bit crazy to think about this. If I do this it will be a massive pay cut (more than 50%). At this point, my career is killing me so I need to do something different. The money doesn't seem to be worth it.
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Only for a couple of years. The bigger financial hit is missing the 401k contributions and match (if any) and/or any deferred comp during those couple of years.

But you know that.

There are creative ways to get the hours quickly and keep some money coming in. It just depends on whether you can do some contract flexwork and are flexible on where you live.

Realistically, you could be earning CFI dollars in probably 100 hours or so of flying, can’t remember if you have your IR or not or want to CFI or not.

What I notice in the work I do with transitioning veterans is those with a plan on how to get into the workforce do so faster and at a higher pay rate than those who don’t.

You know the ATP minimums and the type of flying pros do: IFR long XC to a bunch of different destinations in day/night/ actual conditions. ME and crew experience on top of that isn’t a bad plan.

Make a plan and execute it. Try to live at the reduced income level for a while before now and then, as you build up that wallet to make it all happen.
 
Did a little poking with friends who are FO's and Captains, and found someone who's willing to interview at 700TT and 100multi for SIC in Citation 560. Got me feeling better about not having to do the time all on my own.

Seems like a productive thread, thanks to everyone who shared their experiences!
 
So are you going to go with the buy a twin and build time plan?
 
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