Originally Posted by alaska65

Well, of our last four chief pilots: three all had military pilot backgrounds to begin with (C-141, P-3, C-130 I think). Three were instructors and check airmen in the training department after having served as First Officers and line Captains, the other was an instructor (but not check airman) and an expert in aircraft performance and airport arrival/departure planning. All four had at least ten years experience on the second floor of the training building as fleet managers, director of performance planning, or some similar staff related duties in addition to instructing and evaluating. One of them was a former Navy squadron commander; another a USAF Academy grad and chief of a USAF C-141 Standardization/Eval section; only one was entirely civil aviation background but he was an exceptionally skilled aviator, instructor, evaluator, and great judge of character. None of these men had a master's degree to my knowledge, but they each had at least 20 years of aviation experience both on the line and in instructing, evaluating, and staff positions before they were placed as Chief Pilot.
Ours is a major airline with about 1500 pilots.

Under my Alaska65 name, are the words "new hire". How do I change that? For what its worth, I am a 58 year old Captain, pretty senior at my airline.