Commercial Pilot Course Part II: Low Time Flying Jobs

Your commercial pilot certificate is practically useless.

Yes, that is the unfortunate truth. There is a widespread misconception in this industry that once you acquire your commercial pilot certificate, you will finally get paid to fly.

Sadly, this is almost never the case.

A commercial pilot certificate, on its own, allows one to be legally eligible, in the eyes of the FAA, to receive compensation in exchange for operating an aircraft. But that legal eligibility is just one piece of the puzzle - and there are many other pieces.

But you probably have figured that out by now, which is why you are looking into taking this course.

If you are like most people, upon completion of your commercial pilot checkride, or perhaps even before that, you probably began to wonder what jobs were available for brand new commercial pilots, and where you might look for those opportunities.

Unsure of where to begin, you might have searched for leads at your local airport by talking with FBO employees, fellow pilots, or flight instructors. You were probably disappointed by the results.

In an effort to expand your search, you might have turned to Google and discovered one or two “entry-level” job openings nearby, but even those listings stated minimum total time requirements well above the 250-hour commercial pilot minimum.

What gives?

You just spent tens of thousands of dollars, and months or years of your life in an effort to reach the 250-hour milestone and to pass your commercial pilot checkride… only to be told now that you need an additional 200-500 hours before someone would hire you?

This scenario - as frustrating and disheartening as it may be - is all too common.

But maybe you were lucky.

Maybe you found a job for which you were eligible, got hired, and your first day is fast approaching. You’ve been dreaming of flying professionally your entire life, and you’ve worked so hard to get to this point. You commit yourself to showing up on day one as prepared as possible.

Where do you begin?

As is common with low time pilot jobs, there will be minimal initial job training provided, so it is up to you to fill in the holes. What can you do to ensure that your first day on the job will go smoothly, leaving a positive first impression with your boss? What can you learn beforehand in order to be successful, and where can you look for that information?

Without answers, self-doubt begins to set in. You think to yourself, Am I ready for this? What if I mess up? Do I even deserve this opportunity?

Thinking back to your commercial pilot training curriculum, you don’t recall being taught how you should go about dealing with your predicament…

…And this is because you weren’t ever taught how to deal with it, which is a shortcoming of most commercial pilot training programs.

In fact, you weren’t taught quite a few of the ancillary skills and knowledge that play such a large role early on in a professional pilot’s career. Most commercial pilot courses cover only what will be asked during the knowledge test, oral and checkride. That is, they “teach to the test.” And make no mistake - such courses can certainly be effective, so long as the goal is to pass the evaluations for which they were created.

But simply passing the checkride is not enough.

Becoming a competitive low time job candidate and successfully navigating the next 500-1,000 hours of your career takes more than knowing how to fly commercial maneuvers or being able to explain how a constant-speed prop system works to your examiner. Indeed, it requires further knowledge and an additional set of soft and hard skills that commercial pilot training programs omit from their curriculum.

It also requires one to be resourceful and driven.

Fortunately, you are both. The mere fact that you are reading this now shows that you are willing to go the extra mile to achieve your goal. You may know of other pilots in your situation who were able to find a job as a low time commercial pilot; pilots who were able to excel in their position and advance quickly - and you’re not so different from them. You know that you’d be a valuable asset to any employer, and you have what it takes.

You just need a little extra guidance - a few pointers and a nod in the right direction.

And that is exactly why this course was created: to help fill in the holes left by conventional commercial pilot training programs and to aid low time commercial pilots in all aspects of bridging the tedious gap between their commercial checkride and the 1,500 hour “ATP” milestone.

With that in mind, you might consider this course as your comprehensive guide to the next thousand hours of your career. Some of the topics and lessons will include:

• A thorough discussion of obstacles to employment that you face as a low time pilot, and how to overcome them

• Specific locations in which you can search for low time job opportunities, including a list of many free online job forums that host tens of thousands of active members

• How to network with other pilots and employers, with real examples of successful strategies

• An overview of low time pilot job opportunities, their minimum experience requirements, typical schedule, compensation, applicable regulations and flight techniques

• How to create the most effective pilot-specific resume and cover letter

• A list of over 60 non-CFI, low time pilot employers across the US, to whom you can apply

• The most critical information to study when preparing to begin a new job or fly a new aircraft, as well as the most effective methods of self-studying

• Gear and personal equipment commonly used by professional pilots

• Practical professional pilot tips, techniques, and knowledge to help bring your airmanship to the next level, including that which covers flight planning considerations, performance and weather

• How to overcome or deal with the seldom-discussed but most significant challenges faced by professional pilots, including external pressure imposed by employers and crew members, imposter syndrome, and mental health.

Over the past 6 years and over 2,000 flight hours, I have worked a number of low time pilot jobs, including as a freelance and flight school instructor, jump pilot, wildland fire patrol pilot, part 135 bush pilot, ferry pilot, part 91 corporate jet copilot, captain, contract pilot, and aircraft manager.

After completing commercial pilot training and moving on to the aforementioned jobs, it became apparent that while commercial pilot training books, courses, and ground school programs had helped me pass the certification tests, they failed to provide the knowledge and tools that I would need after the checkride in order to succeed as a low time professional pilot.

Further, once I was hired, employers frequently provided little, if any, training for the job, so I was forced to figure out what information to study on my own, and how to do so in the most effective manner.

Apart from a few books that focused primarily on advanced pilot techniques, there was no book or course that could provide me with the help that I was seeking.

Later on, as a member of a number of online pilot groups and social circles, I frequently witnessed other low time pilots expressing the same pain that I had experienced: a lack of non-technical guidance resources for low time commercial pilots. I realized that I was not alone in my frustration.

I wanted to contribute to the aviation community by sharing what I had learned through my own journey, and this led me to begin to write a number of individual articles for my website. It didn’t take long for me to realize that a fully comprehensive course would be the best way to present and disseminate the information. In an effort to accommodate students’ different learning styles, I decided to offer the course in book and video formats, and after over two years and hundreds of hours of research and writing, I am proud and excited to finally present this course to you now.

There are few worthwhile shortcuts in life, but this course might be one of them. It condenses lessons learned over the course of many jobs, many years, and 2,000+ flight hours into just a few hundred pages. It is the course that I wish had existed when I acquired my commercial pilot certificate, and I gave my best effort to write it for the 250-hour version of myself.

It is my sincere hope that this course will help you navigate the next thousand hours of your journey and will propel you towards a long, safe, and enjoyable career as a professional pilot.

Michael Carlini

June 3, 2023