How to become a regional airline pilot ?

[Dave Hess]

I fly about 6 times per month on a regional airline, usually American Eagle.

What are the necessary steps / career path to get hired by a regional airline in 2025 ?

Are flight academies worth the money…. or just a money grab with the promise of an airline interview when the student graduates ?

Just how difficult is it to get a legitimate job offer from a regional airline ?

 

[2.7ecoboostFordBronco]

Pass a class 1 medical would be your first step. Search for aviation medical examiners in your area.

You can use local flight schools or big academies. They each have their pros and cons. Generally you will spend about $75,000 dollars to go from 0 flight time to a flight instructor with 250 hours and then spend a few years working as an instructor for ~$30k-60k/year until you get 1500 hours, at which point you are legally eligible to be hired by the regional airlines. Some university affiliated flight schools have ways to reduce the required number of hours, but usually you pay more to go to those. There are some other jobs besides flight instructing to bridge the gap from 250 to 1500 but they will usually require a willingness to relocate to, for instance, Alaska, or other specific areas. Of course some degree of aptitude is required but being medically fit and having the money to pay for the training are probably the two biggest obstacles for most.

A reasonably wise choice would be to seek out a flight school that has a track record of hiring their pupils as instructors when they complete the training. If you show good work ethic that usually happens naturally but some schools offer written agreements to that effect.

Edited to add: you can also go the military route but most of those pilots do not end up flying at a regional airline, instead going straight to a "major" or one of the big two cargo carriers. The "guard" is a popular way but of course many were also active duty. Flying for the military would probably be the most rewarding but also most challenging (higher risk of failure) route to take.

 

[MolaKule]

If you can afford it, I recommend my alma mater, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

https://erau.edu/hub-spoke/stories/how-to-become-a-pilot

https://erau.edu/degrees

 

[97prizm]

I fly about 6 times per month on a regional airline, usually American Eagle.

What are the necessary steps / career path to get hired by a regional airline in 2025 ?

Are flight academies worth the money…. or just a money grab with the promise of an airline interview when the student graduates ?

Just how difficult is it to get a legitimate job offer from a regional airline ?

At my local airport the jump school has a weird but interesting option. You can go to work for them, (I've been told you give them 2k up front) and then get to fly alot of hours in a King Air or Twin Otter and after two years you get your 2k back. I'm not sure how it's ran after the initial owner died after he crashed his Pitts special into the side of a mountain. From talking with people training for commercial aviation and from how busy my local airport is there are a lot of people looking at this. I can't remember the amount but a significant number of pilots of Legacy carriers close to retirement were told to go ahead and retire leaving alot of experienced pilots no longer in the field. I've heard of horror stories about how at least years ago regional pilots were paid diddly squat and weren't given much in the way of money for accommodations. Not sure if it's still this way.

 

[2.7ecoboostFordBronco]

At my local airport the jump school has a weird but interesting option. You can go to work for them, (I've been told you give them 2k up front) and then get to fly alot of hours in a King Air or Twin Otter and after two years you get your 2k back. I'm not sure how it's ran after the initial owner died after he crashed his Pitts special into the side of a mountain. From talking with people training for commercial aviation and from how busy my local airport is there are a lot of people looking at this. I can't remember the amount but a significant number of pilots of Legacy carriers close to retirement were told to go ahead and retire leaving alot of experienced pilots no longer in the field. I've heard of horror stories about how at least years ago regional pilots were paid diddly squat and weren't given much in the way of money for accommodations. Not sure if it's still this way.

https://www.airlinepilotcentral.com/airlines/regional

It’s all more or less public record. Take the hourly rate and mulitply x 1000 and you will usually be within +/- 20% of every pilot’s annual gross. Usually holds true for regionals but majors are more complicated.

 

[tbm5690]

Competition is somewhat high right now to get hired, as hiring has slowed over the last 6 months. Just because you hit the mins doesn't guarantee you a job. For example, holding an MEI is becoming a necessary differentiator to be competitive even though it's not a minimum requirement. Regional hiring directly correlates to hiring at the majors....it's a trickle down effect. Hiring at majors has slowed, therefore hiring at regionals has slowed. Since hiring at regionals has slowed, hiring at flight schools has slowed, meaning pilots needing to hit their 1000, 1250, or 1500 hour R-ATP requirements are now needing to work harder to get a CFI job.

On the comment of whether or not certain schools are worth it: airlines want to see a 4 year degree, so if an individual is 18 and just out of high school then it is beneficial to look at a university flight school for this purpose. Not the case for someone doing it as a career change with an existing degree.

 

[Brons2]

Pass a class 1 medical would be your first step. Search for aviation medical examiners in your area.

Yeah that's my issue. I'm sure I could get basic med for a PPL as I am in good health, but, I have a hypercoagulability disorder that I doubt would work for an airline pilot career. Besides the fact that I don't think I could get a Class 1 medical, I just don't think it's a good idea to begin with for me.

Besides that, going backwards for low pay as a regional pilot is not on my bingo card. I work in Cybersecurity and while it's not 777 captain money, the pay is pretty good.

 

[Dave Hess]

Competition is somewhat high right now to get hired, as hiring has slowed over the last 6 months. Just because you hit the mins doesn't guarantee you a job. For example, holding an MEI is becoming a necessary differentiator to be competitive even though it's not a minimum requirement. Regional hiring directly correlates to hiring at the majors....it's a trickle down effect. Hiring at majors has slowed, therefore hiring at regionals has slowed. Since hiring at regionals has slowed, hiring at flight schools has slowed, meaning pilots needing to hit their 1000, 1250, or 1500 hour R-ATP requirements are now needing to work harder to get a CFI job.

On the comment of whether or not certain schools are worth it: airlines want to see a 4 year degree, so if an individual is 18 and just out of high school then it is beneficial to look at a university flight school for this purpose. Not the case for someone doing it as a career change with an existing degree.

Good info.

Are you a pilot ?

 

[Just a civilian pilot]

All you need is 500 hours to get on with the regionals in Canada.

Learn to fly, get you commercial anywhere, it doesn’t matter in Canada.

No university/college required up here.

Still a big pilot shortage in Canada.

 

[Passport1]

+1 on all the above advice or join the US military. Demonstrate you have the aptitude, skill and motivation for high level aviation education, flight school, serve your time and the job openings will be calling.

Well worn path for commercial pilots. I know several.

Wikipedia

 

[Dave Hess]

All you need is 500 hours to get on with the regionals in Canada.

Learn to fly, get you commercial anywhere, it doesn’t matter in Canada.

No university/college required up here.

Still a big pilot shortage in Canada.

Is 500 hours too little experience in your opinion ?

That seems like a recipe for disaster if captain had a medical emergency (heart attack) and they are in bad weather for FO to handle.

I understand some FO are better than others.

 

[Dave Hess]

+1 on all the above advice or join the US military. Demonstrate you have the aptitude, skill and motivation for high level aviation education, flight school, serve your time and the job openings will be calling.

Well worn path for commercial pilots. I know several.


View attachment 286807

Wikipedia

I agree. But not everyone can make it in the military.

 

[Just a civilian pilot]

I agree. But not everyone can make it in the military.

If my son wanted to be a pilot , I would tell him to avoid the Canadian Airforce and get on with the airlines as fast as possible while they are still hiring.

 

[Brons2]

Is 500 hours too little experience in your opinion ?

That seems like a recipe for disaster if captain had a medical emergency (heart attack) and they are in bad weather for FO to handle.

I understand some FO are better than others.

From what I hear, they really put new hires through the paces in the SIM before releasing you into the real world. Supposedly a lot of people wash out from the initial training.

 

[Just a civilian pilot]

Is 500 hours too little experience in your opinion ?

That seems like a recipe for disaster if captain had a medical emergency (heart attack) and they are in bad weather for FO to handle.

I understand some FO are better than others.

I am tempted to say yes but that only because I used to fly for the regionals and nobody got hired without lots of experience back then unlike today.

I think a pilot with only 500 hours would be safe if the Captain was incapacitated but they would be pretty dependant on an experienced Captain as a rule.

I fly with 2000 hour new hire pilots at times.

 

[Just a civilian pilot]

From what I hear, they really put new hires through the paces in the SIM before releasing you into the real world. Supposedly a lot of people wash out from the initial training.

New pilots just have to complete the same simulator training any current pilot would require if they switch aircraft.

I don’t have any information about failure rates except I have heard it’s much higher today for pilots upgrading to Captain ( lower experience ).

Very tempting for a young, low experienced pilot to realize they can actually bid/hold a much higher paying position today, unlike before, because of all the growth and hiring. Some do it for the Captain status also.

Make sure you think carefully when you bid Captain because it’s not a high status moment ( everyone hears about it ) when you can’t do it due to low experience ( or didn’t prepare enough ) but didn’t have enough experience to realize it.

 

[Dave Hess]

New pilots just have to complete the same simulator training any current pilot would require if they switch aircraft.

I don’t have any information about failure rates except I have heard it’s much higher today for pilots upgrading to Captain ( lower experience ).

Very tempting for a young, low experienced pilot to realize they can actually bid/hold a much higher paying position today, unlike before, because of all the growth and hiring. Some do it for the Captain status also.

Make sure you think carefully when you bid Captain because it’s not a high status moment ( everyone hears about it ) when you can’t do it due to low experience ( or didn’t prepare enough ) but didn’t have enough experience to realize it.

How many pilots are forced to leave your airline due to poor performance, failing simulator / check rides, etc…. ?

 

[Just a civilian pilot]

How many pilots are forced to leave your airline due to poor performance, failing simulation, check rides, etc…. ?

I honestly don’t have any information about that except when it comes to Captain upgrades because they go back to their previous FO positions with airlines when they can’t pass the Captain upgrade. Thats the same for most unionized airlines ( still a good FO ).

 

[Dave Hess]

Around 30 years old I was thinking about becoming a pilot and imagined being a regional pilot.
I was way too old and decided against that career.

I still wonder the percentage of grads that are actually offered a job as a regional pilot.

 

[Just a civilian pilot]

Around 30 years old I was thinking about becoming a pilot and imagined being a regional pilot.
I was way too old and decided against that career.

I still wonder the percentage of grads that are actually offered a job as a regional pilot.

It used to be very hard, today it’s almost too easy IMHO.

Seems like you have done well in life and have lots to be very proud about.