Originally Posted by letsfly

My first thread and it will be obvious.

My background is I am a C-17 guy with 3000 total, 1300 PIC and I have 14 months until I can get out of the AF. I have taken my ATP written and will probably take my FE written next week.

I basically have a ton of questions about how and where to start my new life. Below are the questions I have, if you guys have time to take a look and answer a few I would be grateful.

1. Southwest seems like such a great place to go (assuming they are hiring) but all my friends at other airlines say that the up and down sorties and quantity of sorties will kill me. Any Southwest guys have anything to say about that?
Southwest IS a really good place to go. From what I've seen (I'm not SW) many guys that aren't there say that there are too many legs. And just about all SWA guys say that they can handle it just fine.

2. What is a typical day at FedEx or UPS (assuming they are hiring) like? I know it isn't all night flying, but can anyone give me an example of a typical day? Is there such a thing?There is no such thing as a "typical" day at Fedex. There is a vast amount of varying schedules. There is all day flying available, all night, mixed, mixed day night within trips, all domestic, all international, etc. It's not all night flying but you will fly at night at times. You will fly less at FedEx (block hours) per year than just about all passenger carriers but pay hours are comparable.

3. For the cargo guys, do you spend a lot of time sitting overseas? Reserve?

4. For Fedex, where the hell is Subic Bay? Do all the new guys get stuck there?Man, you MUST be young. A MAC guy oops sorry AMC guy and you don't know where Clark AB and Subic are... have I been out that long? Seriously, Subic is closing for FedEx and you can't get "stuck" there. You can't get "stuck" overseas at FedEx---unless you are a new hire and that is the only openings.

5. For any airline/cargo where do your new guys get stuck? How long does it take to be able to hold somewhere else, where would that be?You have to research each company for this question. This is going to be varied for each company and only a "snapshot" at that moment.

6. Are the guaranteed minimums on airlinepilotcentral.com accurate for hours? Is the pay accurate? Airlinepilotcentral seems to be very accurate for the companies that I have researched. Data is pretty much spot on . Remember though that there can be wide swings in the guarantees depending on whether you pick up flying, trade with people drop flying etc. The Guarantee is what the company builds schedules to...depending on the company, you can change it sometimes greatly. And you are paid accordingly.

7. For any ex-military guys, was there anything that surprised you or that you didn't think about as you made the switch? Taxes bite a LOT harder than you can ever expect. You get quite a bit of breaks in the military. Depending on your company, health care costs can bite hard (if you don't have a good plan in the contract). Also, remember you'll need additional insurance too (disability, etc that was free in the military).

8. This might be obvious, but if I live at my domicile is there a chance some trips end up back there so I get an extra night at home during a trip? Can happen depending on the company.

I guess that is enough for now, I don't want to overload the thread. Any help you guys can give me would be appreciated, please add comments or questions of things you think I should be thinking about if I didn't list it.