Year 2: Building Experience and Preparing for the Airline
Month 14-16: Time Building and Certified Flight Instructor (CFI)
- Action: After getting your CPL, start building flight hours. One of the most common ways is by becoming a Certified Flight Instructor (CFI).
- Goal: Obtain your CFI License and CFI-Instrument (CFI-I) if possible. As a CFI, you can get paid to instruct other students, which allows you to log hours and build experience.
- Time Commitment: 2-3 months for training, then start instructing to build hours.
Month 17 - 27: Flight Instructing/Time Building
- Action: Work as a flight instructor to build flight hours. You’ll need around 1,500 hours total time to qualify for an Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) license.
- Goal: Aim to log at least 800-1,000 hours this year to reach your ATP hour requirement as soon as possible.
Month 17 - 27: Multi-Engine Rating (Concurrently while Instructing)
or
Month 11 - 13: (while building flight hours to qualify for Commercial License)
You Need 50 hours of Multi Engine Time to Qualify for the Airlines and for the ATP. You’ll get this by getting your Multi Engine Rating, Multi Engine Instructor and Paying for 20 to 30 hours of Multi Engine Time for time building. A total of $20,000
- Action: Obtain your Multi-Engine Rating to be able to fly twin-engine aircraft, which most airlines require.
- Time Commitment: 2 to 3 weeks.
- Add $5,000 to training cost
Month 17 - 27: Multi-Engine Rating (Concurrently while Instructing)
- Action: Obtain your Multi-Engine Instructor Rating to build additional multi-engine time as an instructor and get paid for it.
- Time Commitment: 2 to 3 weeks.
- Add $7,000 to training cost
Month 26-28: Obtain Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) Certificate
(Do Concurrent with Instructing)
- Action: Once you have accumulated 1,500 flight hours and 50 hours multi-engine time, you can apply for an Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) license. This is the final certification required to become an airline pilot.
- Requirement: 1,500 flight hours total including 50 hours Multi-Engine Time plus passing a written and practical exam.
- Time Commitment: A few weeks of preparation, and then the checkride
Month 24-28: Apply for Regional Airline Jobs
- Action: Start applying to regional airlines. With your ATP and enough flight hours, you should be eligible for an entry-level First Officer position.
- Goal: Secure interviews and job offer from regional airlines like SkyWest, Republic, Envoy, or similar.
- Preparation: A few weeks of preparation, and then the checkride
Month 28: Start Your Airline Career
- Action: Begin training with your airline, which typically includes ground school, simulator training, and a checkride with the company. Once this is completed, you’ll be able to fly as a First Officer for the airline.
Comments are closed.