Originally Posted by
HuronIP
How about just saving a little money before you get out that way you don't have to take MIL leave to supplement your first year pay and you can also avoid screwing over the other pilot’s at your airline? An O-4 pilot in the reserves working 5 days a month (10 drills) which is the minimum commitment in my squadron per month can take home 20-25K a year easily. That should be more than enough to supplement first year pay.
Are you serious? IMO taking mil leave is not "screwing the other pilots". The airline is not the military and your bros at the airline are taking care of themselves first, as they should. The airline is the one screwing people. Why should you blow through life savings to subsidize the ridiculous first year pay?
I made around 80k on active duty when I left the mil as a senior O-3. The 26,000 UPS paid was not enough to keep me in my modest house, without cashing out my IRAs and kids college funds. I chose mil leave and dropped about 40% of my line in order to "trough" with the Reserves. Our Union encourages guys to take as much mil leave as they can get while on probation. It is a legally protected right and one that you should not be ashamed to take.
How is it screwing over fellow pilots anyway? Do some airlines force their pilots to work extra? I say that the respective unions need to take care of it in the contract if guys are being forced to work extra. It's not that way at UPS--although guys on reserve will have a higher chance of being called out if others are on mil leave.
I'll get off the soapbox. But it surprises me that someone would think it's screwing over your peers to take mil leave.