Can A Pilot Work At Two Airlines At The Same Time? (2024)

I'd imagine it may be possible if you work for an airline that returns you to your home base evey night (FR,

), however you'd have no down time, you'd struggle to fit both airlines in a week, and both would probably demand more time you can provide simultaneously. Plus you'd no doubt also over-run your national aviation authorities regulations for your amount of monthly flying time.

Quoting LUVRSW (Reply 3):
I know it's possible for an AMFA mechanic to work for nobody.

So off topic and so wrong, and yet, so funny I can't stop chuckling...

Something tells me that duty time for pilots would prohibt them from flying with anyone over a certain amount of hours. And the first job is likely to take up most of their quota.

Quoting IAirAllie (Reply 5):
The FAA puts limitations on the number of hours a pilot flies. If they were flying for 2 part 121 carriers there would be too many duty hour conflicts.

Suppose they fly for an airline like a cargo or charter which do not do enough hours to take up all his permited hours? Or could the pilot do some other job if he has time such as being an instructor etc?

[Edited 2005-11-10 00:11:02]

It used to be a regular thing over here. Pilots at carriers like

would moonlight for the charter outfits if they were not on standby or duty.

It's not an offence. You fly a one-eleven for

one day and Dan-Air or Laker the next. As long as you don't violate any rules regarding duty hours who cares?

Maybe, but the chances of a pilot getting a job are not that great, the chances of getting two jobs must be tiny!!

I think it would be very difficult if the pilot were allowed due to timetables and working time restrictions and what have you.

Quoting IAirAllie (Reply 5):
The FAA puts limitations on the number of hours a pilot flies. If they were flying for 2 part 121 carriers there would be too many duty hour conflicts.

and the airlines themselves also put limitations. I'm pretty sure the majority of airlines don't allow you to work for one and for another at the same time. I think you could if it was a commercial airline and a charter or cargo airline. But two commercial airlines, I doubt it. I know at jetblue we were told we could have 4 jobs if we wanted on top of our jetblue job but it couldn't be another commercial airline. Makes perfect sense to me.

I once heard that one of the owners of Divi Divi Air, based on Curaçao (

), flies for his own airline and also for Martinair (parttime), on the

-11.

So I guess it is possible!

No commercial airline in the US will allow you to work for another commercial airline. It is one a conflict of interest, and a huge risk at losing their investment that they made in training you, and they may even have a non-compete clause in their contract. When you interview you for a pilot job at AirTran we ask if you are furloughed from another airline, (ie

,

,

ect.) if you are, and you want to fly for us once you are hired you will have to resign from your other carrier. It costs about $50,00 to train an airline pilot, and the airlines want to make sure that you don't run off with their investment.

I do know some regional pilots who also flight instruct, an

pilot who flies rotary for the police dept., and many reservist/national guard pilots. But as far as working for another airline none.

Quoting AirTran737 (Reply 12):
It costs about $50,00 to train an airline pilot, and the airlines want to make sure that you don't run off with their investment.

Very good point and very reasonable. Would this still apply if lets say you are trained by the airline to fly a large aircraft like a 737, A320, 777 etc but you are occasionly on you own time paid to fly a corporate jet or small charter ( type which you were on certified for before)?

Quoting Ha763 (Reply 14):
The answer is no. As a condition of employment for any airline employee, you cannot get a second job working for a competitor. This means you cannot work for another airline. If a pilot wants to fly on their off time and get paid, they can be a flight instructor, acrobat pilot, or what many do, fly for the ANG or Air Force Reserve.

Actually you can but just like you mentioned not for a competitor. A friend of mine a pilot was working for USA 3000 but he was homesick and he asked the airline if he can go back to

and work for

between the months of may and september. USA 3000 didn't have a problem with that neither

. He actually did it for one year but decided that he doesn't want to work for

. Now he works year round for USA 3000 and he is very happy. He saves all his vacation for summer time and takes a big vacation in

every summer. He loves working for USA 3000 btw.
I guess it helps that the two airlines don't compete with each other.
P.S. how come the iata code for usa 3000

doesn't work on this site?

What about this?...

Can a captain (or F/O) who works for a regional fly for more than one airline? For example...Air Whiskey, (

/US) Trans States, (US/AA/UA), etc.
Do crews ever fly in the system of more than one carrier? Technically, its with the same airline, but for different mainline affiliates.

Did that make any sense??...I'm not sure if it made sense to me!

Quoting Jsposaune (Reply 20):
Do crews ever fly in the system of more than one carrier? Technically, its with the same airline, but for different mainline affiliates.

The answer to that question is yes. When

was transitioning to Independence many of the crew members would fly an IDE trip one day and a United Express flight the next. I belive airlines like transtates that fly for multiple mainline carriers also operate the same way.