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Originally Posted by PGA07  Places like the academies exist to make themselves a ton of money on new but short sighted individuals who only want to fly and they do not care how they get there. Look closely and you will see that they only offer an interview, the rest is in your hands. They take advantage of Shinny Jet Syndrome (SJS).
If you look around you will see that most of these places are looked down upon by fellow pilots. This is because they know what these places are selling, a guarantee in a field where there are no guarantees!
Your statement about most people coming from these academies being life long FO's may not be to far from the truth. Now there is a difference between individuals who wish to remain an FO and bypass the Capt. upgrade due to scheduling, pay and QOL and the FO who can not upgrade because they went through one of these programs and was hired with such low time that they can not achieve an ATP. If I am correct the ATP requires 2500TT. So your turbine time and your multi time don't mean squat because you are short of the federal mins. to upgrade to Capt. and ATP status.
With regards to worrying about a seniority number, while it is one of the most important things in the commercial side, it can be over rated. Again this brings us to why places such as the academies exist. They advertise that the hiring phase is now and you need to be here now to get that job tommorow. The fact is, even in slow hiring years, there are jobs available. My favorite add was from Pan Am Academy talking about the Tarver Report and how much you stand to lose in income if you wait to start this career. What they neglect to say is how far behind you will be financially if you take out a loan and go thru their program.
Again, each route into this career exists for the different ways individuals wish to enter the field. However, the sooner that the mass population realizes that by taking these offers (academies, extremely low time hires, guarantees) they are short changing themselves and the industry the soon the industry will start to turn around in terms of pay and QOL.
All we can do is try to pass on the reason JC was formed............
To Educate Everyone Interested In This Career About All Aspects Of The Field, Both Good and Bad.
juskl said it right and took up a lot less space than I just did!  |
Just want to clarify something.
Although I am not a huge fan of some of the big academies, they do produce some good pilots. Remember everybody has to take the checkrides and pass to get the tickets. Also the ATP requires 1500 hours not 2500. While there are problems at SOME carriers with people not having the total time to upgrade it is not as common as you might think.
Also the academy route is not the ONLY way to get hired with low time. There are several jobs out there that require only 500TT like banner towing, skydive pilot, traffic watch, and yes some regionals. Of course there is also the CFI route. I did a little CFI work and also have flown Air Tours and both were great for expanding my knowledge and skills. Both are legitimate ways to gain knowledge and experience.
Main thing is that you need to do what is right for you. There are many paths that lead to the same place. There are good FBO's and Bad ones also. There are good academies and bad ones also.
The main thing you should concern yourself with is the quality of the instruction. Fancy planes and facilities don't mean squat in your logbook, and they sure will not help your skill level.
That's just my opinion anyways. The best suggestion is to find the guys on here that have the Job you want and seek their advice. You will not always like what they have to say, but believe me they know a hell of a lot better than you or I do.