Originally Posted by
Scrappy
Before you curse me out, please read my third paragraph…THERE ARE challenges in airline flying. And I think a military background deals with those challenges very well…worth the price of a few drills and mil leaves here and there…and the airlines are aware of that. So they will…and definitely should…continue to hire active guard/reserve pilots. And please don't think that civilian guys are inferior by any means…my response is a rebuttal to the sophomoric post above only.
I did not delve into any comparison to skills of the civ versus mil. When it comes down to being equal in a decision on the pilot to hire, the CIV pilot will cost the company less. The MIL pilot will miss time from the company duty and will still be given B/C fund contributions. The company needs to hire pilots that will be available to fly. MIL pilots are often unavailable. It is strictly a cost and availability issue. As I said in the previous post, add in the vast quantity of highly qualified regional pilots and the MIL pilot is less attactive to a company dedicated to the bottom line.