I had many responses to my previous article about obtaining as much experience as possible while waiting for hiring to resume. Many of the responses were similar in nature so this is an attempt to answer your concerns. For those who missed my earlier article, I encouraged those who are stuck in the regionals or at a corporate job to try to pick up another type rating to make themselves more attractive to the hiring managers. I explained that the competition will be quite fierce once the majors start hiring again. It is important to separate yourself as much as possible from everyone else and one way to do that is to gain as much experience as you can.
There’s good news! It appears that we may soon see some hiring trends in the majors which will free up spots below and make the whole system start to hire. In other words, once the majors start to hire, the regionals will then need to backfill. Once the regionals need to backfill, they will take from the schools and small operators. Those in corporate jobs looking to go elsewhere will also start to pick up positions and the need will arise to backfill those spots. We have seen Jetblue start to hire, Airtran has brought the furlough back and is hiring, and Delta is slated to hire 300 starting in August. But, as I mentioned, the competition will be fierce. Let’s look at Delta. Out of the 300, some will be taken from the flow-through program with Compass. It is anyone’s guess how many slots will be left for those applying outside of Delta. However, with so many experienced pilots from the majors out on the street, you know it will be very competitive.
The word ‘professional’ when attached to the word ‘pilot’ means much more than just flight ratings and number of hours at the controls. In my 18 years of providing career advice to professional pilots I have learned a great deal about how non-technical characteristics can help you rise to the top of the applicant pool…and ultimately allow you to achieve your highest career goals.
