Careers: Flying & Aviation/First officer-Captian

Advertisement

Expert: - 1/2/2007


Question
When you becone a first oficer for and airline, USUALLY how long does it take to become a Captian.

Answer
Justin

There is no "usual" time that it takes to upgrade to Captain. It could be as little as three years with an expanding airline to over 15 years with a legacy that is shedding routes and parking aircraft.

Upgrade time is **totally and completely varies by the airline** and is based on numerous factors like attrition, aircraft deliveries, route expansion.

If you want to know the current upgrade times for a pilot with a given airline, go to http://www.airlinepilotcentral.com and look up your airline of choice. The junior captains date of hire is listed so you can see how long it took with that specific carrier.

Hope that helps.

Dottie

Careers: Flying & Aviation

All Answers

Answers by Expert:

Ask Experts

Volunteer

D. Norkus

Expertise

I can address questions about airline pilot employment & entry level airline careers in the United States, women pilots, flight training, pilot certification, U.S. flight scholarships (mostly for women), aviation & airline safety topics, aviation accident investigation and airline operations. ***Please note, I cannot address flight training & career queries from outside the United States, or aero engineering degree programs/careers, aviation management topics. ****

Experience

Airline captain with 15 years past experience in airline ground operations. I have previously flown as a commercial skydive pilot & ferry pilot and majored in Aviation Science


Organizations
International Organization of Women Pilots- The Ninety-Nines, charter member of Women In Aviation International, Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association, Air Line Pilots Association.

Education/Credentials
Embry Riddle Aeronautical University; Aviation Safety/Accident investigation.

©2012 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company. All rights reserved.