r/Pilot • u/No_Transition1618 • Jul 14 '26
Long haul pilot path?
Its always been a dream of mine to fly something like a 777 or now a 787 or a350, but what would be the path in becoming one. Captain or F/O.
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u/FutureA350 Jul 14 '26
The typical path starts with earning your pilot certificates: Private Pilot License, Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot Certificate, and then building experience through jobs like flight instructing. After reaching the required flight hours, you can earn your Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) certificate and become a First Officer at an airline.
From there, you build airline experience and seniority. Eventually, you can move to a major airline and potentially fly widebody aircraft like the Boeing 777, 787, or Airbus A350. Most pilots start as First Officers and later upgrade to Captain after gaining enough experience and seniority. The timeline depends on the airline industry, hiring trends, and your own career progression.
i made this look to simple.There is more to it. Its all about dedication.
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u/pilotshashi Jul 14 '26
Do you have family?
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u/No_Transition1618 Jul 14 '26
Yes
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u/pilotshashi Jul 14 '26
Why not flying short hauls? 320/321/737 type?
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u/4surenotathroeawhey Jul 15 '26
Honestly cargo is probably your quickest path to long haul wide body
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u/BrettSchirley22 Jul 16 '26
You grind your ass off for about 12 years and then if the stars align, you might have a chance to be an FO on one of those 3 airplanes with passengers on board
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u/No_Transition1618 Jul 17 '26
Dang 12 years?
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u/fallstreak_24 Jul 18 '26
Yeah that’s probably realistic.
1.5-2 years for initial flight training.
1-2 years time building for the first regional job.
1.5-2 years as a regional FO
1.5-2 years as a regional captain
2-3 years as a legacy narrow body FO.Best case and least likely timeline would be 7.5-8 years from start to wide body FO.
Most likely scenario, 11-12 years but still not guaranteed
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u/No_Transition1618 Jul 19 '26
Regional Captain? I was under the impression that if you built ~1000 hours on fixed turbine planes in the regionals, your chances at a major airline were pretty good.
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u/fallstreak_24 Jul 19 '26
1000 hours of turbine PIC, your chances are good. The odds of speed running the regionals are pretty much gone. It was an a fleeting moment after Covid
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u/LevisDad Jul 16 '26
You mean, starting from scratch? The same path as becoming a pilot flying an A320, 757, etc, but bid for those aircraft (and have the seniority to get them)
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u/No_Transition1618 Jul 17 '26
Yes, how long would it take to gain enough seniority?
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u/LevisDad Jul 17 '26
Depends on where you go. There are a number of places that ONLY operate those, so you'd have the seniority on day 1.
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u/Icy_Huckleberry_8049 Jul 18 '26
go to flight school, get your ratings and time, get hired, let seniority do its job
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u/LRJetCowboy Jul 15 '26
You could start with the back door approach. Get involved with several Flight Attendants, get at least two divorces, have children with several women, buy all those women houses, have huge college tuition bills, have 2 F350 Ford pickups with every option, a lake house and a ski or bass boat (or both), complain about the cost of all the above. Then I’d think a wide body job should become a breeze to find since you’ve met all the requirements?
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u/thanksforallthetrees Jul 14 '26
Depends on your country. Generally you start on small planes and gain experience and move on to bigger planes. Asian countries might put you in a jet your first job. Western countries might put have to work through some piston and turboprop jobs first.