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"What's the difference between a large pizza and a regional carrier first officer job?" "The pizza can feed a family of four." That used to be an accurate jok

"What's the difference between a large pizza and a regional carrier first officer job?" "The pizza can feed a family of four." That used to be an accurate joke, but now even the regionals are starting to have to pay somewhat more competitively and, in many cases, offer 5-figure signing bonuses to join for a multi-year period. If I end up retiring from tech in my mid-50s, I may even go seek an airline job. (I have the 1500 hours already, so I could reasonably quickly walk onto a regional.)

aSockPuppeteer 4y ago
A friend was interested in this. Bachelors degree not required any more. It costs $93k-$115k, $900/mo housing, and food not included for 13 months at an AZ, Texas, or Florida school to get all certifications to fly to become a pilot instructor. Spend 2 years as a pilot instructor (somewhere) at a paid $17.25-$20 per hour to get your 1500 required hours. Housing? Multi-engine certified for 100hrs gets an $860/mo bonus. 4.5 years as a regional airline pilot: 2 years first officer paid at $90k/yr minimum 2.5+ years as captain paid at $135k minimum (75 hours per month guaranteed for both) 7.5 years total to become a major airline first officer. $74k to $120k per year for first officer minimum pay. Can pick up trips also if available. 13.5 years total to become a captain (6years as a first officer). $285k salary minimum. 20 years total and 6 years of seniority as captain: $337k 66% make it to retirement at 65 due to medical requirements. 36% are able to work at that age as they are considering extending the age to 67 domestically due to a pilot shortage. One carrier tried to reduce hours to 750 to become a regional pilot but that failed.
throwawaymobule 4y ago
does the time required for the 1500hr rule have to be done in the US? would it make sense to grind out those hours someplace without the rule?
- sokoloff 4y ago
  It does not need to be done in the US. To get an FAA unrestricted ATP certificate, you need to build on top of other FAA certs, but you can use experience gained worldwide to satisfy all but a trivial amount of specifically called out instruction hours. If a pilot comes in with enough experience, it's a quick process to convert their foreign certs to FAA certs (which usually involves checkrides).

aSockPuppeteer 4y ago

A friend was interested in this. Bachelors degree not required any more. It costs $93k-$115k, $900/mo housing, and food not included for 13 months at an AZ, Texas, or Florida school to get all certifications to fly to become a pilot instructor. Spend 2 years as a pilot instructor (somewhere) at a paid $17.25-$20 per hour to get your 1500 required hours. Housing? Multi-engine certified for 100hrs gets an $860/mo bonus. 4.5 years as a regional airline pilot: 2 years first officer paid at $90k/yr minimum 2.5+ years as captain paid at $135k minimum (75 hours per month guaranteed for both) 7.5 years total to become a major airline first officer. $74k to $120k per year for first officer minimum pay. Can pick up trips also if available. 13.5 years total to become a captain (6years as a first officer). $285k salary minimum. 20 years total and 6 years of seniority as captain: $337k 66% make it to retirement at 65 due to medical requirements. 36% are able to work at that age as they are considering extending the age to 67 domestically due to a pilot shortage. One carrier tried to reduce hours to 750 to become a regional pilot but that failed.

throwawaymobule 4y ago

does the time required for the 1500hr rule have to be done in the US? would it make sense to grind out those hours someplace without the rule?

sokoloff 4y ago
It does not need to be done in the US. To get an FAA unrestricted ATP certificate, you need to build on top of other FAA certs, but you can use experience gained worldwide to satisfy all but a trivial amount of specifically called out instruction hours. If a pilot comes in with enough experience, it's a quick process to convert their foreign certs to FAA certs (which usually involves checkrides).