I was better than 20/20 at one month, but many folks take 1-3 months to get to 20/20 after PRK. LASIK is much quicker. I'm sure the FAA rules are much more lax, but USAF is minimum two months to submit a waiver, due to the steriod drops. The length of the drops can vary if your healing is non-standard. Even when I was 20/20, things were still a bit fuzzy and I wouldn't have wanted to fly, but I also don't fly place to place for a living (and my pay doesn't change when I can't fly for a few months). My two cents for pre/post care - take the 1000mg vitamin C/day for a few weeks prior to two months after the procedure (fairly common practice now) and look into Omega-3's for the same time period. There is a study you can google that explains it. My optometrist explained that it helps maintain the oily tear layer, which keeps the eye more moist, which helps it heal faster. The study claimed 9/9 who took it were 20/20 in a month and only 4/9 of the contol group were 20/20 in the same time period. It worked for me, but I also was only 20/35 with a decent astigmatism. Less correction means faster healing (or so my surgeon told me). If healing time and getting back to work faster is an issue, I would weigh LASIK over PRK.