Part 135 pilot jobs 500 hours full#

Today, despite a historic pilot shortage that puts the mini-shortage of the late ‘90s to shame, it is still remarkably difficult to land that first flying job-which, with the advent of the 1,500-hour rule, is more critical than ever. Twenty-two years later, so much in the industry has changed, and yet some things stay the same. This first experience proved crucial in jump starting my career-particularly considering the events of that September and the following years of aviation turmoil. I finished them in one week and went on to fly 400 hours in three months. The surprised manager offered me the job, pending completion of my certificated flight instructor-instrument (CFII) and certificated multi-engine instructor (MEI) ratings. Undeterred, I jumpseated to LAX the next weekend and navigated LA’s abysmal public transit to Brackett Field (KPOC). My first email and phone call to the flight school manager garnered a noncommittal response. They didn’t pay much, but their instructors flew a ton, and they were known to hire low-time CFIs. My first inquiries into summer instructing jobs went nowhere.įinishing up an internship with Trans World Airlines, I got a hot tip from a regional pilot at my crashpad about a busy flight school in the Los Angeles area. But even there, in the middle of an instructor shortage, flight schools were rather cool to the overtures of a newbie CFI they didn’t know. As a 20-year-old college student with fresh commercial and CFI tickets, there were few flying jobs available, and that first step from 300 to 1,000 hours looked like a formidable one.įlight instructing appeared to offer the best chances of employment, and unlike many of my peers, I thought I would enjoy instructing and didn’t mind going that route. Flight schools everywhere were jam-packed.Īnd yet, my own options appeared to be surprisingly limited. There were rumblings about slowing business-travel bookings for that summer and beyond, but this did little to darken the sunny outlook.

Part 135 pilot jobs 500 hours full#

The major airlines’ hiring was in full swing, smaller upstarts like Southwest and JetBlue were rapidly expanding, and the regional airlines’ competitive minimums had fallen well below 1,000 hours. It was the spring of 2001, and after years of being foretold, the pilot shortage had finally arrived.