Originally Posted by
Adlerdriver
I’m not sure waiting for airlines to start coordinating training dates with a DOS and paying for your housing during initial training is going to get you a seniority date any time real soon. Maybe this round of hiring and the current industry dynamics regarding pilot availability/qualifications will eventually drive them to that, but personally I wouldn’t hold my breath. Are you willing to give up years of seniority waiting/hoping for that to happen so you can have a little better first year pay and free housing for 3-months of indoc? Tick-tock goes the seniority clock.
Military pilots are desirable, but most airlines recognize the value of a good mix of civilian and mil. I think you might be overestimating the value of the average military applicant. I don’t think an attitude that seems to reflect the idea that an airline owes you the “courtesy” of anything is going to serve you very well going forward. There are a sh!t ton of highly qualified civilians already in the industry competing for the same jobs. An expectation that top tier airlines are going to start tailoring their pay structure and training practices to bring in military pilots is probably not realistic. Most airlines you want to work for are represented by a union with a contract. The company doesn’t have the option to just decide to start paying new hires more money or provide housing during training. Those things get negotiated and agreed on by both sides which doesn’t just happen whenever someone feels the need to change things up.
You’re not desperate – good. I don’t think I would advise anyone looking to transition to the airlines to make a “clean break”. Things look rosy now and hopefully they’ll stay that way. But the days of 4-6 years of active duty flying and a clean break into an airline career are long gone. Throwing 12-14 years of active duty service away to simplify the first third to a quarter of an airline career is pretty short sighted, IMO. One way or another, getting some kind of military retirement should be very high on most guys’ priority list.
There are some square pegs in the airline hiring process and some round holes in the military retention/separation process. It sounds like you’re already in the reserves, so it would seem like setting an availability date would involve a lot less risk than some guy trying to transition off active duty. The bottom line is, sooner or later you’re going to need to decide if you want the job or not which typically involves a little risk for military guys.
Roj copy. The scope of my comment dealt with reserves only.My only point was that I had three bros in my sq get hired by DL in the last 18 months who were all AGRs at the time, and all went into the interview without a DOS. It wasn't an issue for them and none of them had to preemptively quit to interview, which was the genesis of my comment.
I think you guys might have me confused. I'm not a regAF guy. I'm a civ/mil hybrid, always have been, CFI/I, and an aircraft owner. The speech about overvaluing the position of military qualification or the accusation that I have a sense of entitlement by virtue of being military, was gratuitous. I hold no such views about my mil membership. But I am not illiterate when it comes to civilian professional aviation.