Southwest is hiring 8,000 pilots this year alone... EIGHT THOUSAND.  And that's just ONE low cost carrier that's suffering in this hiring market.  In the airline's history, their maximum they've hired in a year was 5,000.  These times are unprecedented.

No more "5 year flow" to the majors if you're a helicopter guy with over 2K hours and a FW license (i.e. there's not much more needed to make you hireable in this market).

https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Airline-News/Airlines-offer-perks-alleviate-pilot-shortage

Notice they're opening hiring up to Aussies to make up for the shortfall, Delta has dropped bachelor's degree requirement, EVERY airline's starting pay is going up pretty much so only one or two years of painfully low pay and then - WHAM - $100K+

THE TIME IS NOW!!!!

BUT: Make sure you've studied up and come prepared.  Don't be a bozo...

An unrestricted ME-ATP and fog a mirror will have you offers for classes without even interviewing. Wish I was 30 years younger.

Excerpt:

"According to its website, about 14,500 openings for airline and commercial pilots are projected each year, on average, over the decade. That means nearly 150,000 new airline pilots will be needed by 2030.

That number seems stark, but a November 2020 pilot job outlook by CAE (NYSE:CAE), the global commercial training provider for airlines and other private entities, not only corroborates this, but doubles it, saying the global requirement for new pilots over the next decade could be as high as 264,000. 

CAE attributes this to two things:        

• Airline pilots retiring at a rate of 3.8 percent a year, due to pilots reaching the FAA mandatory retirement age of 65.
• Projected growth in leisure and business travel."

From Flying Magazine full article here: https://www.flyingmag.com/where-have-all-the-pilots-gone/

 >

To be clear, this is for an Ultra Low Cost Carrier starting in a niche market, but what this points to is the STARTING price point all carriers will probably shift to this coming year.

Full article here: https://simpleflying.com/avelo-incentives-new-pilots/

As a helicopter guy with almost no FW experience beyond a PPL, you could do just one year at a regional and then end up at this airline at that level of STARTING pay.  That's guaranteed pay to just sit around and be on call (called "reserve" in airline speak).  As in, you'll make more than that if you're on a line (a normal monthly work shift).

Low Cost Carriers are even starting to consider taking former military rotorheads with a commercial airplane add-on and 250 PIC hours (assuming you're a very qualified candidate from helicopter career thus far).  Any additional ratings will help of course (airplane instrument add-on, airplane multi-engine, ATP-CTP course complete, ATP written complete, etc.). 

They're really that short that these are serious discussions the airlines are considering.  

These aren't hypothetical numbers, gentlemen.  This is for real.  Don't settle for HAA peanuts.

I worked HAA and O&G as an A&P, got into the airlines after some effort a few years ago. I can tell you at a premier airline, we are training anyone willing to put forth the effort to be a pilot from other divisions in the company. Mechanics are not far behind. As our GM told us last month, it's a sellers market and the checkbooks are about to open up. Why? Because the majority was retirement age before the pandemic and many took the packages to retire. dumb in a way I know, they should have seen this coming.

All in all, it will raise wages. If your wages are low, well it won't be for a lack of options, though there are many cheap operators that would love to work you for free while they go out and buy $80k vehicles...

Looks like Frontier is now acquiring Spirit airlines too.

Odd days for sure.

If you are under 45 and have done  all the fun stuff in helicopters that you wanted to, it doesn't seem like a difficult decision towards security and financial stability.

Will there be a few bumps - sure, but you won't be relegated to a tent, crashpad or trailer. For the lucky few who work close to home, paying for that home and your kids education will be far easier in the long term.

walking in not prepared, i.e. knowing the environment you're about to be asked to work within, is fatal for any applicant.  Either you know what is in front of you or ur not going to get hired.  Not getting hired, if you really want that job, is not going to be a pleasant experience, at all.  Not to mention the time and money squandered chasing the potential.

Who u wanking?

8000?

What u smoking'?

That's over 650 pilots a month. Maybe 800 would be more realistic.

Month 120.

I don't know about SW, but the industry is hiring that many every year for the foreseable future.  Biggest regret for me was not going for it.

reasonable.