Originally Posted by
KTM1524
Wow man this is great stuff! I really appreciate the reply. In regards to your third paragraph, it almost sounds like you are making it seem like going the civilian route would be quicker. But from what I’ve heard you actually have a chance to get on straight with a major and skipping regionals all together flying for military than you do civilian. Do you know of this to be true?
And for the fourth paragraph. As much as I’d love to be an f-16 pilot. I’ve been told that it’s tougher for guys flying those to be hired on by airliners. They would rather have guys flying larger frame aircrafts such as kc-135’s (which is at the top of my list), c-130’s etc etc. Plus I know making a career flying f-16’s for the military wouldn’t be as good of pay as flying for airliners/cargo. Not that I am only wanting to do it for that reason, it’s just I have a wife with expensive taste lol and I want to live comfortable. I may be wrong about them making good money flying for military so excuse me if I am.
Right now the civilian track
may be faster to get to a major. May. Not everyone gets the call and plenty get stuck in the regionals for 5-10-15+ years. But there are 24-25 year olds getting on with legacy airlines right now (heard of 2 different 23 year olds as well). There are record retirements over the next 5-7 years, so timing right now has never been better to get on with a major airline, hiring at regionals has never been so open and uncompetitive (with a few exceptions in the 250 hour wonder era), nor has it paid so much. So a lot of people see the civilian route as the best way to go and the path of least resistance. But, yes, lots of people go straight from mil flying to the majors. Some mil guys go to regionals (low fixed-wing time, low currency/recency, etc.) As a guard guy, if you can get a ton of flight time in the first 5-6 years, you can be competitive and go part time guard/reserve and start an airline career, at least at the regionals and possibly majors. Timing to have competitive major minimums just depends on what you fly, how much you are flying, and what your resume looks like.
Flying fighters is absolutely not a disadvantage when applying to airlines. The caveat is most fighter pilots log about 1.3 hours or so per sortie, and on average fly less than their heavy counterparts, so it could take longer to build time. But all of it is TPIC high quality flight time, and every single one of my fighter pilot bros who has applied to a top tier airline (DL/UAL/AA/SWA/FDX) and has gotten a call from most of the places they apply to. If you have the fighter pilot box checked, you are in the competitive category by virtue of being in the club. AA's pilot application website literally has a box that asks you something to the effect of "are you or have you ever been a fighter pilot?" Clearly the time sheet in the app would show any fighter time, so I have to think checking that box separates the app from the rest or at least pushes it through the computer system for a person to look at. But there isn't a tanker or C130 box on that site.
The ANG/reserve network at the airlines is big, so that can help tremendously with hiring. The regional networks just don't seem as strong as the mil network. When everyone in a squadron works for brand X and Y, it's easy to get a bunch of LORs and chief pilot meetings with guys walking your stuff right in.
When you are choosing a career flying KC-135s vs C-130s vs F-16s (or any other airframe) vs airlines, you need to properly identify the career path. I assume you'd be going guard or reserve. Your career in the mil will pay the same being a heavy or fighter guy. You'd fly full time for a little while in the military, then go airline/part time guard. Regardless of what you fly in the military, your pay is the same, and your time commitments are similar. Fighter guys have a few more flying requirements they have to do for currency, so they probably average more days in the squadron than heavy part timers, but they won't make any less over their career than the heavy guys, generally speaking. Your competitiveness for DL/AA/UAL/SWA/FDX/UPS is pretty much a wash regardless of your airframe. The mil pilot hiring pool is being depleted daily, and most mil pilots are desirable to airlines.