Originally Posted by
CoefficientX
After 19 years in the right seat of my major airline I can say I see no difference in airmanship between civilian and military. I’ve flown with excellent captains, military and civilian and I’ve also flown with not so excellent captains, military and civilians.
Like I said, there's such a thing as "good enough" pilots.
Mil people bring more to the table than basic pilot skills, and it's a known predictable quantity. This is how HR looks at it.
Also to "graduate" from the military requires a lot of work ethic. But there's nothing that forces such graduates to keep up the pace once they get to the airlines. Some of them certainly slack off.
Originally Posted by
CoefficientX
Let’s not make the assumption that all pilots tried to get in the military and only the best made it. There are plenty of outstanding pilots that had no desire whatsoever to join the military.
Not so much. I grew up in civil aviation, I've flown with all of them. Most wanted to fly in the mil. The ones who didn't were typically on the wealthier side.
Originally Posted by
CoefficientX
Lots of chest thumping going on here. After 19 years of observation from the right seat I can say to all the ex military guys who think just because you are ex military you’re better than the civilian guys........you aren’t.
Without getting into the details, I did the full civilian track up to RJ's. Seen both worlds.
The "average" military guy jumped through a lot more hurdles and filters than the "average" civilian. Some of that is because they were forced to, I certainly benefited from military structure when I was young. It's a combination of screening/filtering, and the experience gained.
But again, it's as much about "good employee" as "good pilot". According to HR, which is the left seat on hiring.
You could make the same argument about industry, nuclear power plants, etc. They all like to hire ex-military officers too. Many big companies have custom fast-track management programs for ex-mil. Why should THEY hire mil?
Bottom line, this is pee-ing into the wind.