Originally Posted by
rickair7777
Unlike the airlines, the mil could find itself very suddenly needing large additional numbers of skilled operators, with a few days notice.
They don't offer the part time thing for the convenience of the members, that's done so they don't have to pay full-time people until they need them. They do have to pay for some training obviously.
Yep. Having a part time option to keep pilots current in case a war breaks out makes complete sense for the military. It's expensive, but the capability is worth it and it's still way cheaper that maintaining an active force at full strength all the time.
The airlines have a completely different set of needs, and also very different budgetary constraints. It doesn't make sense for the airlines to run a staffing pool the same way the military does, and so they don't do it.