Careers

The Scenic Route To Multi Time

March 5, 2000 By Wayne Phillips

Share via:

Airline hiring is rocketing. The past year saw more than 14,000 pilots earn a cockpit window seat with an air carrier, and the forecast for 2000 is just as bright. Because of the huge demand for flight personnel, many airlines have lowered flight time minimums for new hires. The regionals, in particular, are hiring fresh pilots with as little as 100 hours of multiengine time. But, alas, for many aspiring airline professionals, 100 multiengine hours might as well be 1,000.

For most newcomers on the first rungs of the career ladder leading to an airline or corporate flying job, multiengine time is gold. And, like gold, it can be difficult and expensive to acquire.

Generally, a newly minted pilot exits a flight school or aviation college with about 20 hours of multiengine time. After graduation, that novice commercial pilot with a multiengine instructor rating will spend months at a flight school somewhere, praying for a chance to administer multi instruction in light twins with names like Seminole, Duchess, or Apache. Then, with luck and time, the magic 100-hour mark is surpassed, and the resumes begin to flood the commuter airline human resources departments.

There is an alternative. There are honest-to-goodness FAR 121 airlines (the same rules that apply to United and Delta) flying twin-engine turboprop aircraft where a log full of twin time is nice but not essential-where only double digits in the multiengine row is not a deal-breaker.

Scenic areas such as the Grand Canyon, Lake Powell, Bryce Canyon, and Sedona have not only hosted bazillions of tourists over the decades, but also have launched the professional flying careers of countless captains now flying big iron. You see, the best way to experience these wonders of the planet is from on high.

With well over 60 percent of the air tour market, the biggest of the three FAR 121 scenic operators located in the desert Southwest is Scenic Airlines, based at McCarran Field in Las Vegas. The others sharing the air tour pie and operating as full-fledged FAR 121 airlines are Air Vegas and Vision Airlines.

Starting with just a handful of twin Cessnas in 1967, Scenic has grown into a formidable carrier that transports more than 300,000 sightseers annually to the West's most renowned natural attractions. The company offers a variety of tour packages to the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, and Monument Valley.

Scenic's fleet currently consists of 19 specially configured twin de Havilland Otters known as VistaLiners because of their huge picture windows, five Fokker F-27s, and a smattering of Cessna 402s and 207s.

At any given time, Scenic employs between 90 and 100 Las Vegas-based pilots who crew up to 64 departures daily.

Each day's schedule is produced about 24 hours in advance. Unlike traditional airlines, which adhere to a set timetable that is valid for months, Scenic responds to the needs of its customers on a daily basis. Although a monthly schedule tells flight officers which days are free and which days they must be on standby or fly, a line pilot will first learn of his or her specific assignments for the next day late the previous afternoon. At Lake Powell Air Service, a single-engine tour company in Page, Arizona, pilots learn the schedule on the morning of the flight. By suppertime, Scenic crews will know whether they need to deadhead the next morning at 6 a.m. to Bryce Canyon Airport to ferry a load of Japanese visitors over the park's splendor, or whether they will take a 9 a.m. run to the Grand Canyon with a dozen German businesspersons, return to Las Vegas empty, and then launch with 19 conventioneers for a round-trip aerial tour over the canyon. VFR flying is the norm, although all aircraft and crew are certified and current for IFR operations. The flying is diverse. The scenery is outstanding. The experience is priceless.

Scenic Airlines, as well as other tour operators in the region, is experiencing a pressing need for new pilots. Mark Brady, Scenic's executive vice president of operations, says, "The fact is that our pilots gain a couple of thousand hours of turbine experience in a relatively short period of time and become very attractive to traditional carriers. A typical pilot will easily fly 100 hours monthly at Scenic, and that is all turbine time."

Brady continues, "A new hire will have about 1,000 hours of flight time, but we have taken some exceptional candidates with less time than that. The entry-level position is as first officer on the Twin Otter. We request that the new hire commit to 12 months, since Scenic does pay for all training costs valued at about $3,500 for the right seat position. If the individual should leave before the end of the first year, we would ask to be reimbursed the training costs on a pro rata basis."

A career with Scenic airlines does offer a progression path for pilots, which makes it worthwhile to stay with the company for a few years. "By the end of the first year, if that pilot was hired with, say, 1,000 hours, he or she will have accumulated another 1,200 to 1,500 hours of flight time and be ready to move to the left seat," Brady says. "A year later, with about 3,000-plus hours of total flight time, the pilot could progress to the right seat of the Fokker F-27, then ultimately to the left seat of that aircraft. It should be noted that transition to the Fokker requires an 18-month contract since the training costs are much higher."

Other companies offering scenic tours have similar career-oriented programs for their pilots. For example, Lake Powell Air Service asks that pilots spend a season flying tourists over the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, and other points. After that, pilots have a chance to fly for Sunrise Airlines, a regional airline owned by the same firm.

On the subject of multiengine time as a requisite for employment, Brady says, "Although we like to see 1,200 hours of total flight time, including 50 hours of twin experience, multi is not a major criteria. If a pilot advances through all of the ratings at a good school or college and comes out with commercial multiengine and CFI-multiengine plus a little more twin time along the way, it does help. I've seen people with 800 hours of twin time hired and folks with just under 50 hours of multiengine time brought on. Our feeling is that we are going to nurture the pilot to our multiengine standards."

A brand-new pilot at Scenic can reasonably expect to earn $1,200 to $1,700 a month ($14,400 to $20,400 annually), depending on how many hours he flies. That should increase in the second year to an annual salary of $17,000 to $22,000 when the first officer upgrades to captain. However, a seasoned Twin Otter captain with tenure could enjoy an annual salary in the $42,000-to-$44,000 range. Once transitioned to the Fokker, that captain can potentially earn $50,000 or more per year.

Scenic offers a one-week paid vacation during the first year of employment and two weeks beginning with the second year. Jump seat agreements are honored by several airlines. A Section 401(k) plan, medical insurance, and dental plan are available. During training, the company pays for lodging and extends to the trainee a per diem allowance.

The starting point for consideration is a letter of application and resume that can be submitted through the Web site (www.scenic.com ). Applicants who are invited for interviews have the opportunity to complete a standard company application form in advance. The interview is an approximately hour-long meeting between the candidate and some combination of the chief pilot, the director of training, and the director of operations.

The applicant will be evaluated on technical aptitude by answering a 30-question quiz taken from the ATP knowledge test. However, there is also a strong emphasis on personal attributes such as communication skills, personality, and sense of commitment to the company. The potential pilot employee may also spend up to an hour in one of the company's two simulators.

"We don't necessarily want to see how well they can fly the simulator, but more on their mindset and their grounding in basic IFR procedures," Brady says. If the applicant is accepted, he or she will be notified in about a week and given a class date for training. Twin Otter new-hire training includes one week of basic indoctrination encompassing an introduction to FAR 121, company policies, procedures, and manuals. Two weeks of aircraft systems training follow. Then, initial aircraft training in the DHC-6 fixed-base simulator runs seven to 10 days, including four sessions, or about 16 hours, in the device. Next, there is training in the actual airplane covering three two-hour sessions-one day of basic familiarization, air work, takeoffs and landings; and one day of IFR operations, generally conducted at night.

Once the five- to six-week training regimen is completed, the pilot is recommended for a proficiency check conducted by a Scenic check airman. After successful completion of the check, the new first officer normally gains 20 hours of initial operating experience by flying revenue flights under the guidance and watchful eye of a check airman. Then, at last, the new hire is released to the line.

This story of Scenic Airlines and the opportunity for emerging flight professionals is just one of the many possibilities to be found in the air tour industry. If introducing the vacationing public to the spectacular offerings of mother nature by air is of interest to you, then begin your search for potential employers by surfing such Web sites as (www.airbase1.com ).

Select "scenic tours" and your area of interest. If you're particularly intrigued with the Grand Canyon region, then send your resume to some of the other flying members of the Grand Canyon Air Tour Council. With relatively little time, you could be scenic cruisin' too.