Major Airlines Hiring Requirements

So you want to be a pilot for one of the major U.S. airlines, such as American, United, Delta, Continental or U.S. Airways, but are unsure how to get hired?

All airlines have minimum hiring requirements applicants must meet in order to be considered for an interview.  However, typically the major airlines have the most rigorous requirements, and regional and some discount airlines have lower requirements, such as lower minimum required flight hours.  It is important to check the specific requirements for all airlines you are interested in flying for. 

To get an opportunity to be hired by a major U.S. airline, you will need at the minimum:

1. FAA Commercial Pilot Certificate with Multli-engine and Instrument ratings (without limitations).

2. Airline Transport Pilot Certificate.

3. Current FE Turbojet Rating or written (FEX or Basic/turbojet).

4. Minimum of twenty-three (23)years of age.

5. Flight experience required: 1,500 hours total time in airplanes, 1,000 hours turbine in airplanes, 1,000 to 1,500 hours in turbine aircraft as Pilot In Command (PIC is defined as Aircraft Commander of record, not simply the sole manipulator of the controls), recency of flight experience will also be considered.

6. Possession of a current FAA Class 1 Medical Certificate.

7. Passing an FAA mandated drug test.

8. High school diploma or GED is required. Bachelor's Degree or equivalent from an accredited college or university is preferred.

9. At least three Letters of Recommendation from any individuals who can attest to the pilot's flying skills, through observation over a sustained period of time.   

Cessna Mustang Certification Expedited

The FAA is expediting certification of Cessna's new Mustang mini jet.  The current regulations don't address some of the unique design and performance parameters raised by the Mustang, and the normal process for adding the rules necesary to accommodate the plane's certification involves advance notice plus a 90-day comment period.

However, the FAA has ruled that since the new criteria apply only to the Mustang, the notice and comment period can be waived, and the certification process can proceed. 

Apparently there is a long list of design and performance criteria addressed in the new rule, mostly relating to the new-design Pratt and Whitney Canada engines and the triple-screen Garmin glass avionics suite. 

More Job Opportunities -- Growing Aviation Sector

So you want to enjoy a career as a pilot?  There are a number of possible job categories.  What most commonly comes to mind is airline pilot, military pilot, fractional jet company pilot, cargo pilot, corporate pilot, agricultural pilot, etc.

Have you ever thought about piloting a private business jet?  Probably not, because these "microjets," are just recently being introduced.  The FAA expects their use to triple over the next decade.

The arrival of these very light and small jets could make corporate planes affordable to more companies and air-taxi services at smaller airports. The jets cost as little as $1.5 million USD, compared to $2.4 million USD for the cheapest corporate jets. 

The first of these new jets, the Eclipse 500, is expected to be certified by the FAA later this year after a safety review.  The FAA said it expects microjets to be popular enough to drive up use of privately operated jet aircraft by more than 10% a year over the next 12 years.  By 2017, the agency estimates these twin-engine jet aircraft will log 9.6 million flight hours, up from an estimated three million last year.

By the end of 2006, it is predicted by the FAA that 100 very light jets will be in operation, increasing by 400-500 additional aircraft each year, and reaching nearly 5,000 by 2017.  Both the FAA and the General Aviation Manufacturers Association's predictions are similar.

"If the microjet and air-taxi phenomena are successful, it could mean great new travel choices," says Gerald Bernstein recently in an article in the Wall Street Journal.  Bernstein is a partner in an aviation consultancy in San Francisco and Washington.

The new jets may also mean viable air-taxi service. DayJet Corporation, Delray Beach, FL, has ordered 309 Eclipse planes and plans to start flying point-to-point service later this year, according to Chief Executive Ed Iacobucci.

Another advantage to microjets is their ability to fly into small, underused airports with minimum runways.  The Eclipse, for example, needs only 2,200 feet of runway for take off or landing.  This opens up community airports.  There are approximately 19,800 landing facilities in the U.S.; commercial airlines, which need much longer runways, utilize only approximately 500 of these.

Learn the skills to fly microjets, turbo props and commercial aircraft today.

Good News for Flight Training Students -- Pilots Needed in Europe

If you've been thinking about starting your flight training, with the career goal to be a commercial  pilot, now is an exceptionally good time to start.  The UK is experiencing the same shortages of pilots as Europe is.  The demand for commercial airline pilots is strong and continuing to grow.

With training in Europe so costly, many students are looking to the U.S. as a more economical place for flight training.  It has been estimated that the cost of getting licenses in Europe is in excess of 105,000 USD (86,765 EUR or 60,000 GBP).  Compare that to approximately 45,000 USD (37,187 EUR or 25,715 GBP) at Phoenix East Aviation, Daytona Beach, Florida, for example. A very cost-effective strategy is to train in the U.S. and receive your FAA certifications and ratings, followed by flight-instructing in the U.S. to build hours (Phoenix East Aviation is always happy to hire qualified graduates as flight instructors), and then returning to the UK or Europe and converting your FAA ratings to JAA for employment in the EU.  European students find the process of converting their licenses to JAA a simple process -- and good value.  You can even finish your ATP theory course and exams while in the U.S. to complete all your training even faster. 

It's the old supply and demand game.  Figures show the number of UK-registered pilots falling from 2,723 in 2002-3 to 2,400 in 2004-5.  At the same time the industry is expanding, fuelled by discount airlines strong growth. British Airways in advertising for pilots now. Ryanair is looking throughout Europe for pilot candidates, and Easyjet has even decreased its minimum flying requirements from 1,500 to 500 hours in the effort to recruit more pilots.

Ryanair, which increased its UK-based routes to 178 last year from 116, is seeking approximately 300 new pilots throughout Europe.  But even with this aggressive recruiting, Ryanair is struggling to keep up with its growth.  At the end of its flying year, many of its pilots will have come close their 900 maximum annual cockpit hours.  As a result, Ryanair had to cut capacity by 100,000 seats in the first three months of 2006.

How much are they willing to pay pilots?  Companies are prepared to pay salaries of up to 100,000 UK for an experienced pilot. Get information on a US pilot training school.    

US Airways Places Embraer Aircraft Order

To all flight training students interested in what you may be flying in the future -- here's what's US Airways is now purchasing.

It was recently announced that under a new agreement with Brazilian aircraft manufacturer, Embraer, US Airways will convert their order for 57 undelivered Embraer 170s into 25 firm Embraer 190 aircraft and 32 additional firm Embraer 190 aircraft, that are subject to reconfirmation by US Airways.  The amendment to their order also includes up to 50 options to other aircraft in the Embraer 170/190 family.  Deliveries under this new agreement will start in November of this year;  These new aircraft will be powered by GE CF34-10E aircraft engines. 

The recent merger of US Airways and America West created the fifth largest U.S. airline, employing 35,000 aviation professionals.  US Airways, US Airways Shuttle and US Airways Express operate approximately 3,700 flights every day, serving more than 230 cities in the U.S., Europe, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean. 

A Poem to Motivate Pilot Training Students

Maybe as flight training students, you've already seen this poem and enjoyed it or if you are considering flight school it can inspire you. If you have read it, you might enjoy reading it again, since it just might express how you feel when you think about being a pilot. 

In case you don't know "High Flight,"  it was written by a Royal Canadian Air Force Pilot Officer, John Gillespie Magee, Jr., an American who flew with the Royal Canadian Air Force.  Some sources say he died in aerial combat during WWII, in a Spitfire, on December 11,1941.  Others say he died later on a training mission.

                                                          HIGH FLIGHT

Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth

    And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;

Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth

    Of sun-split clouds -- and done a hundred things

You have not dreamed of -- wheeled and soared and swung

    High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,

I've chased the shouting winds along, and flung

    My eager craft through footless halls of air,

Up, up the long delirious, burning blue

    I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace

Where never lark, or even eagle, flew,

    And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod

The high untrespassed sanctity of space,

    Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.