Airlines at 750 hours?
Posted by Atley101@reddit | flying | View on Reddit | 20 comments
Curious if anyone here has gone the military Guard/Reserve route into the airlines, specifically through the Army C-12 pipeline.
I currently have my civilian PPL with around 250 hours TT. I’m in Army flight school right now and am one of the lucky few who will be flying C-12s for my advanced airframe.
I’ll likely finish with roughly:
\~120 hours FT in the UH-72 Lakota during IERW
\~84 hours FT in the C-12 course
Combined with my current time, somewhere around 450 total time after training
Along the way, I’ll also be building time in experimentals on the weekends.
My long-term goal has been the airlines, and I’m wondering how realistic it is to get hired at restricted ATP minimums (750 total time) after graduation.
An additional few questions for anyone who’s gone this route:
How valuable was the C-12 time to airline recruiters?
How quickly were you able to build time with your unit?
How competitive were you for regionals once you hit ATP minimums?
Would I still need CFI/CFII on the civilian side to be competitive?
Any "gotchas" with logging military time for civilian certificates (especially with the restricted ATP)?
Did you use any specific pilot pathway programs?
Anything you would do or not do if you were in my shoes?
StillAnxious2493@reddit
750 r-atp is totally doable from guard/reserve, just depends how much your unit actually flies and how fast you can snag sorties. c‑12 multi turbine looks great on apps. get your faa exams done early, grab cfii if you can, network your ass off. r-atp paperwork and mil logs are a pain so keep everything clean from day one. shouldn’t be too hard compared to trying to do this as a pure civilian in this crap hiring climate
Physical-Program-509@reddit
Does everyone in the c-12 log turbine pic, or is sic in a king air enough to get to a legacy with r-atp these days?
Gabriel_Owners@reddit
Ain't nobody going to a legacy with an r-atp and 750 hours. They're going to a regional.
And no, you're not logging PIC until you upgrade to aircraft commander.
0621Hertz@reddit
C-12 time is valuable, it’s multi TPIC. I know someone who went from C-12s to Delta. 2022 I hire…. I know, but it’s possible.
You probably don’t need a CFI, but if flight hours progress slows then it wouldn’t hurt to get it if you have the means to do so.
The big “gotcha” is only add the 0.3 hours to military sorties if the prospective employer specifically asks for it.
You’re in a good position to get a job at 750 hours, none of the regionals have taken an official stance against it. It might take longer to get a call back but it’s entirely doable. Don’t let anyone here tell you otherwise, because there are accounts here that think R-ATP is useless despite not being a recruiter or are in any position to say so.
Physical-Program-509@reddit
Wow people are still going fresh r-atp to legacies with 750TT in a king air! Thats awesome!
0621Hertz@reddit
You misread me, I said he went from King Airs to Delta, but his total time was well over 2,000TT.
At no point ever did the legacies take R-ATP candidates.
Physical-Program-509@reddit
Oh ok
From the context of op asking specifically about getting hired at r-atp mins by a 121, and your example of someone going from the c-12 directly to a legacy with no additional information at the time, it would be reasonable to assume that you saying in the first sentence that “it’s possible” meant that you think OP would be competitive for a similar position
DefundTheHOA_@reddit
Definitely not going to the airlines at 750 hours now being a rotor pilot
Physical-Program-509@reddit
Dude don’t be a doomer, I know a guy who was hired in 2023 who’s a united 37 captain now
There’s a pilot shortage bro, you just gotta hustle and network bro
Jolly_Cicada380@reddit
2023 is not 2026 sadly, much different env now
Physical-Program-509@reddit
Oh, that’s weird, the majority of comments seem to saying it’s totally doable to go direct to a major with various tt under 750 as long as your military
DefundTheHOA_@reddit
What a rage comment
Fritzy421@reddit
Yes it’s possible to get in at 750. Myself and a few others I know got in right at 750 in 2024/25, granted my time was in the 60 and not the C-12. I would imagine that the C-12 time is significantly more valuable than the 60 time too. PM me if you have any questions
Tony_Three_Pies@reddit
I don’t have answers to all your questions because my Army fixed wing time was 1000 years ago but the question that jumped out to me is the time one.
The military does count time differently than the civilian world (Off-On vs Out-In). Typically you apply a conversion of .3 or so per sortie but not every airline application wants you to do that, so you have to be careful to make sure you’re giving them the right info. There are a million resources out there to help military pilots get this sort of stuff right when then time comes. I wouldn’t sweat it too much. Keep track of your flight time, make sure your Army records match reality and cross the airline app bridge when you come to it.
Military fixed wing time is valuable, and the C-12 time will beat the Lakota time. It may not be as sexy as an F-22 but the time is good.
Enjoy the helicopter while you can. Are they not sending you to an advanced air frame before the C-12 any more?
I found the C-12 so comparatively boring that I spent several years after I got out trying to be a civilian helicopter pilot before slinking back to the airplanes.
Atley101@reddit (OP)
I’ve been loving rotary wing every second so far! And yes, that’s correct. I’ve also heard that used to be the case, and who knows, I might get the privilege to fly an additional airframe in the future. But for now the UH-72 is now our “backup airframe”, and it’s straight to the C-12s for me.
Tony_Three_Pies@reddit
Good luck! The C-12 course was fun and a whole different thing after the non stop push of IERW. It sounds like you’re already a fixed wing pilot too, which will make the course a cake walk. My stick buddy was a 60 standards guy and he thought my ability to do a steep turn in a 182 was some sort of black magic lol. He also tried to do a cyclic climb on his first take off which was “fun” from the back seat. Good times.
the disclaimer being that I went through a long time again so things have changed I’m sure. Hopefully they kept it a “gentleman’s” course.
LikenSlayer@reddit
Unless they merged "advance airframe" while they're are mastering initial skills, during the actual "initial training" I wouldn't think they skipped.
My what different times we are in. Guess I'm getting old
No_Screen3154@reddit
Are you including sim time for IERW? It should be 80 or 90 hrs ish of actual acft time. The Army sims don’t count for FAA purposes at Rucker.
Atley101@reddit (OP)
You’re 100 percent right, I grabbed the wrong number. Making the correction now.
rFlyingTower@reddit
This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:
Curious if anyone here has gone the military Guard/Reserve route into the airlines, specifically through the Army C-12 pipeline.
I currently have my civilian PPL with around 250 hours TT. I’m in Army flight school right now and am one of the lucky few who will be flying C-12s for my advanced airframe.
I’ll likely finish with roughly:
\~120 hours FT in the UH-72 Lakota during IERW
\~84 hours FT in the C-12 course
Combined with my current time, somewhere around 450 total time after training
Along the way, I’ll also be building time in experimentals on the weekends.
My long-term goal has been the airlines, and I’m wondering how realistic it is to get hired at restricted ATP minimums (750 total time) after graduation.
An additional few questions for anyone who’s gone this route:
How valuable was the C-12 time to airline recruiters?
How quickly were you able to build time with your unit?
How competitive were you for regionals once you hit ATP minimums?
Would I still need CFI/CFII on the civilian side to be competitive?
Any "gotchas" with logging military time for civilian certificates (especially with the restricted ATP)?
Did you use any specific pilot pathway programs?
Anything you would do or not do if you were in my shoes?
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