AVRO 100 First Officer or King Air 200 Captain

[plhought]

Dude,

You're 50 years old. You got at most 15 years left in this gig.

Do you really want to crawling around bags and seats in the ol' King Air whilst dealing with snarky 20somethungs in the right seat?

Jump on the Avro. Big woop - won't be captain for a while. A cockpit wider than a 747 - full autothrottle and autoland*. Seats and temperatures that are comfortable. Sweet British engineering will keep yeah on your toes and also make you feel bad ass with Concorde style button switching action. A toilet. An oven to throw some Safeway chickens in for reheating on those long legs whilst fighting headwinds at .71. Hand flies like a dream and the speed brake handle let's you barrel in straight to the threshold at 200+ knots until 2 miles out saving precious BBQ time at home.

Won't have throw ropes over tails to scrape ice and every 146 landing is smooth thanks to that awesome gear.

[Meatservo]

Strictly speaking from a career perspective, 705 jet FO time isn't worth that much. PIC time is key. You'll get further ahead in the long run with PIC time as a general rule. As mentioned, the Avro 100/BAE-146 is a useless type rating. Many overseas operators still require Jet time on types over 40 metric tons. I think the Avro is just under this limit. FO time on a boutique jet isn't going to open as many doors outside of Canada as you'd think.
In my opinion, stick with the BE20 PIC time. The way AC and WS are hiring right now, that option will be open in anther year or so with a bunch more PIC time under your belt.

Not to quibble, but 40 metric tonnes is 88,184 pounds. A quick check on the interweb reveals that the BAE146-300/RJ100 weighs 101,500 lb at mgtow. The smaller 146-200/RJ85 weighs 97,000 lb.

One of the rather arbitrary limits imposed by recent Asian employers is a requirement for time on type over 100,000 pounds. The Avro 100 would seem to qualify.

However, your point as far as PIC time is concerned is not invalid.

[BE20 Driver]

Typo on my part. Should have been 50. Is it arbitrary? Absolutely. Non-type rated positions often have these arbitrary limits imposed. A modern jet is a modern jet. 99,000 lbs or 150,000 lbs is going to have a similar flight deck, SOP's and similar challenges. I fail to see how flying a 767 on medium haul ETOPS would be vastly different than flying a 737 on medium ETOPS flights but again, some postings I have seen require time over 200,000 lbs for the 767 job.

The point of all of this is that the Avro/BAE is a useless type rating that gets lumped in with all of the "Non Type Rated" job postings. I believe Embrairs are also in the same 'less useful' category. It puts all of your eggs into a smaller basket. Sadly in the jet world, Boeing and Airbus time seem to be the only type ratings of any true value.

My advice to most people who are moving up the career ladder is that PIC time will often open more doors than FO time any day. More doors=more options=better choices. The OP being 50 years old is more of the exception than the rule depending on what his or her career goals are. At that point though, you still have a good 15 years until retiring so plenty of time to find the best job possible with a short sacrifice of taking the PIC job for a couple of years.

[iflyforpie]

I tick off a ton of boxes.

Do tell.

I’ve got an aviation diploma (AME... but that’s still aviation, right?)
My 1/8th Secwépemc blood now qualifies me for a status card.
Je suis un stylo bleu le autre langue officiel.
I identify as an attack helicopter.

Times like these, I figure I’d give it a shot. All I have left is my soul.

[rigpiggy]

Id take the avro

[albertdesalvo]

All I have left is my soul.

You win the internet for this day. I laughed until it hurt.

[confusedalot]

They're both equal. And different. You will not be considered any better or worse regardless of your choice. So it really depends on what you find more attractive.

You're 50 so my guess is that you are not aiming for big red or any other bus driver job. Even if you did, the choice would not make a difference. The bus operators are looking for only a few things; you can breathe, you are trainable, and that is just about it.

[altiplano]

What are your goals? What experience do you have now? How's the job, the pay?

If it were me I'd take the 146...

[Meatservo]

What are your goals? What experience do you have now? How's the job, the pay?

If it were me I'd take the 146...

It's hard to say without having a rough idea of your background, and more about the jobs on offer. I'd be thinking about pay. What does a King Air captain make these days? What does a 146 F.O. make? I haven't looked for a job in decades so I'm out of the loop here, but I'd wager the two jobs are ballpark-ish similar in pay? If you're a 146 F.O. and are eligible for an upgrade eventually, there's a way to basically double your income. How does a King Air captain double his income?

I admit I could be out to lunch here because I have no idea of the remuneration involved in these particular positions. Just something to think about, though. If I was in your shoes, I'd be tempted by either offer. They are both nice planes to fly.