Originally Posted by
The Count
Fellow aviators,
First off, thank you in advance for the assistance/advice. I've combed the forums on this site and I've found a lot of military guys in similar positions: flew military for about 15 years, but will be retiring from a non-flying gig. In other words, a good amount of experience, but won't have recency when retiring. Another commonality with these pilots is that they don't have their ATP. I haven't found, however, a lot of discussion regarding military pilots who are retiring from a non-flying job that have their ATP already. In that vein...
...I'm a fighter guy that knocked out the ATP before the rules change, but will retire after serving 3 years non-flying (2100 TT, of which 1500 are F-16 hours). So, the question for the forum, what is the temperature of the water out there with the majors (or cargo) regarding mil pilots with their ATP, but that don't have recency?
Thanks!
-Count
Got a well-placed buddy whjo does training and hiring in the airline you want to go? Then you might be set... Otherwise recency is a big deal. The regional I'm at has a handful of folks, retired fighter types, in the junior FO ranks. Most recent guy got first major at 6 months after date of hire and that has been pretty close to the norm for the past couple years.
It's a big pay cut. The reserve schedules stink and you're worked like a dog. On the plus side it's good hands on training in a multi-crew cockpit with an FMS and a flight director. You're getting paid solely to fly airplanes and you work with people who worked hard to get where they're at flying airplanes.
So, start your interview prep, put your apps out 6-9 months prior to retirement, hold your breath until you can't stand it, then call a regional with a base near you.