Building Flight Hours and Experience

Obtaining pilot certificates is rarely enough for a person to be hired as a commercial
pilot. Most commercial pilot jobs, including airline and corporate pilot jobs, require a
minimum number of hours just to apply. It’s not uncommon for a person to earn a
commercial pilot certificate and still not have enough qualifications to apply for an airline
job.

Most pilots who want to become an airline pilot, must obtain many more flight hours
than they received during training. For this reason, many new commercial pilots will also
obtain a CFI certificate and work for a short time to gain experience before they’re
eligible for employment at an airline, charter or corporate companies. Accelerated
Flight Training Academy is a firm believer in becoming a Certified Flight Instructor.
The experience that you gain while teaching can never be learned anywhere else in the
aviation industry. Not only does it teach you to be a good aviator it also teaches you to
interact and communicate with a wide variety of personalities of people from all over the
world.

Once enough hours are obtained, a pilot can apply for a job at a regional airline,
Charter, or Fractional company where they’ll continue to build flight hours and
experience in larger turbine aircraft. After a few years at a regional airline or one of
these companies, pilots will usually qualify for a first officer position at a major airline.