Airline consideration/credit of Helo flight hours?

[JayPull85]

If you fly helicopters for Navy or Marines, Does it count toward hours in a commercial jet?

So if you flew helicpters in the Navy or Marines none of the flight hours would count torward airlines/commercial?

 

[Rubiks06]

helicopter......does not equal......fixed wing

 

[FLYTPAY]

If you fly helicopters for Navy or Marines, Does it count toward hours in a jet?

NO

 

[Purdue]

If you fly helicopters for Navy or Marines, Does it count toward hours in a jet?

I have no idea what you are even asking this for...

are you under the misconception that you eventually "work your way up to jets" through other airframes?

 

[BENDER]

It counts as turbine time right? Is there a difference between turbine rotary, and turbine fixed?

 

[JayPull85]

does it count torward flight hours that you could list for commercial aircraft?

 

[A4sForever]

If you fly helicopters for Navy or Marines, Does it count toward hours in a commercial jet?

So if you flew helicpters in the Navy or Marines none of the flight hours would count torward airlines/commercial?

Most "traditional" airlines will consider your HELO time as part of your overall, TOTAL flight hours. They will NOT consider it when judging whether or not you meet their fixed-wing minimums for new-hires, however ... I've interviewed & hired warm bodies @ two major airlines, and that's the way it was ... and still is ...

W/ HELO time only ... your choices are slim & none for becoming a "traditional" airline new-hire.

W/ HELO AND Fixed-wing time, your choices/chances go up exponentially ... and at the end of the day, it always depends upon your total time, the "quality" of that time, and your accumulated FAA tickets & experience ....

And since we''re talkin' "time" .... just like in the Navy ... "timing" is everything when getting hired by the airlines.

 

[JayPull85]

"timing" is everything when getting hired by the airlines.
[/quote]

By timing do you mean flight hours or you have to be in the right place at the right time?

 

[BACONATOR]

NO helos won't get you into the airlines without your flying fixed wing on the side (and probably on your own dime) and YES timing is being at "the right place at the right time" 99% of the time.

 

[Flash]

NO helos won't get you into the airlines without your flying fixed wing on the side (and probably on your own dime) and YES timing is being at "the right place at the right time" 99% of the time.

Or getting a VT tour.

 

[BACONATOR]

Or getting a VT tour.

Very true. Although I thought the most important time for the airlines is multi-engine FW time? In which case, that would likely be on your own dime as a helo bubba, right? And that begs the question: how likely is it to get a VT vs HT tour as a helo bubba?

 

[Flash]

Very true. Although I thought the most important time for the airlines is multi-engine FW time? In which case, that would likely be on your own dime as a helo bubba, right? And that begs the question: how likely is it to get a VT vs HT tour as a helo bubba?

I know a couple of helo guys who had no problems getting airline gigs after doing T-34 VT tours. I would defer to the actual airline pilots to say more.

Like you said earlier, timing.

 

[FrankTheTank]

Always seem to revisit this one... But when hiring is tight, qualifications are more stringent and vice versa.. Unless it is at the JV level then a lot less can get one in the door.... Most the T-34 folks I have flown with got their PIC in P-3s/E-6/C-9 and such... All the helo guys got their time on the outside or in C-12s..


For example:
FEDEX

1500 hours total fixed-wing time as pilot-in-command (PIC) or second-in-command in multi-engine turbo-prop A/C or jet A/C or combination thereof, including a minimum of 1000 hours total fixed-wing pilot-in-command in multi-engine turbo prop A/C or jet A/C or combination thereof.
Note: PIC for this purpose is defined as Captain/Aircraft Commander of record, not simply the sole manipulator of the controls.
Note: FedEx considers only pilot time in fixed wing aircraft toward minimum qualifications. This does not include simulator, helicopter, flight engineer, bombardier, navigator, RIO, EWO, WSO, NFO, or Special Crew.

Piedmont

Minimums: 500TT/50ME, with a strong preference to college graduates and those currently employed as pilots.

 

[A4sForever]

I know a couple of helo guys who had no problems getting airline gigs after doing T-34 VT tours. I would defer to the actual airline pilots to say more.

Like you said earlier, timing.

One of the best airline drivers I ever flew w/ was a former Army HELO pilot, circa Vietnam .... but he got a significant amount of fixed-wing along the way to flesh out his logbooks ... a pilot is a pilot is a pilot .... some EXCELLENT former HELO-drivers who I hired in a Part 135 gig were great guys, great sticks, but no cigar when it came to the airlines. And the airlines were "hiring" then ....

Basically: the airlines and their management(s) have been "conditioned" over the past 70 years to favor fixed-wing drivers .... they are ONLY interested in "cheap" time-to-train ... all of which pushes them towards the "proven" quantity -- "proven" in their minds, and that's all that counts -- of fixed-wing Bubba's w/ multi engine turbo time these days ... again, there's ALWAYS the exception in hiring -- I'm just giving you the facts.

Right or wrong -- it's the way it is ...

 

[Gatordev]

Very true. Although I thought the most important time for the airlines is multi-engine FW time? In which case, that would likely be on your own dime as a helo bubba, right? And that begs the question: how likely is it to get a VT vs HT tour as a helo bubba?

Just like everything else, it's about timing and needs. For me, for my community, at that time, VTs was harder to get for a while. I suspect the P-3 pain that was going on in 2004-2005 had something to do with it. Nowadays, it seems slot availability is more "normal" and it's normal to see helo guys coming through the FITU w/ regularity.