Originally Posted by
hgc223556
Appreciate the feedback man, and as always, appreciate the candor on here. Always figured doing time on the border was mandatory, but curious if you’d be able to make it out to Houston or New Orleans after 3-5 years. Completely understand about needs of the agency, but curious how realistic it is for guys to get a way out after paying their dues for a few years. 3-5 on the border is a hardship. But 5-10 could be, well, a bit of a sentence. Thanks again!
"Needs of the service" is an often-used excuse. Right now the needs of the service is to have as many pilots on the Southwest border - just take a look at the most recent announcement on USAjobs.
Houston and New Orleans are both within the Southeast Region. It's not unheard of for a newhire who's done time in a Southwest branch to get New Orleans but it's been awhile. Houston used to be the most coveted branch to get transferred to because of COLA and no state income taxes, but with the special salary rate for AIA's now the salary table levels the playing field. It's still tough to get into Houston, and I would be surprised if someone with less than 8 years of AMO service got it.
McAllen and Laredo used to be hard-to-fill locations in that as long as someone from a higher priority location (Puerto Rico) didn't put in for the same location you wanted to transfer to, you'd get that location over anyone from a northern or south eastern location. Not the case anymore. The reality is if you're a helicopter or dual-rated pilot you're going to have a difficult time getting off the southwest border.