Originally Posted by The Count

Hello aviators and thanks in advance again for the advice...

I'm an Air Force pilot with an ATP looking at career options now. I was planning on retiring at ~21yrs (2020) out of an inactive flying job, but then saw (thanks to your all's replies to my first post) how important recency plays into the equation at the majors.

So, the AF has offered guys like me a second bonus at $35k a year, which essentially would commit me out to 2022 (2 years past my current commitment). It's tempting because the intent is to get pilots into cockpits meaning that I'll likely end up in a cockpit after my current non-flying tour. So, I have two plans...

Plan A: Retire from my non-flying job in 2020, roll the bones on a major and likely(??) end up at a regional for X months before being a candidate for a major.

Plan B: Take the bonus, do a flying assignment and retire with recency in 2022 at which point I'll be more marketable for the majors.

Thoughts?