RRPhantom

Hello, my name is Scott. I am currently 23 serving in the US Navy abord a Submarine. I want to be a airline pilot when I get out, I am kinda lost in the weeds on what my first step should be. Any help/guidance is greatly appreciated!

DWC CAP10 USAF

I would start by checking out the training forums of airline pilot central. Lots of info about instructors, schools, etc.

https://www.airlinepilotforums.com/flight-schools-training/

Short answer, your two main options are the military route or the civilian route which is normally something like flight school for ratings, then build hours as a CFI or towing banners, then get hired by regional, then get hired by a major airline, passenger or cargo.

Good luck!

full of luv

First things first, use your spare time to get a bachelors degree in something/anything assuming you don’t already have one.
Next reach out in the low time part 91 forum as you are posting in the step 10 forum of a ten stop process.
But in a nutshell use your va benefits to go to flight school, get a low time pilot job, qualify for an ATP, then apply to an airline.

Other route good for you: join an ANG outfit that flies planes in your home state or a state you want to live in when eligible to leave active duty navy. Do a great job in that unit and get them to send you to flight school and then log flight time all the while getting more time serving your country. Apply to airline as an ANG reservist.

vyperdriver

Scott,
You have an incredible asset in the post 9-11 gi bill. It will pay for most of your training, but I believe it needs to be in conjunction with an approved degree program school, or at least it used to be. University of North Dakota, Oklahoma State University, I believe Tennessee, Embry Riddle among others have degree programs with flight schools to help you achieve your degree and your flight ratings. You won't get into the majors without at least a bachelors degree, so one of these programs would probably work best. Additionally airlines are starting to partner with some of these schools to help achieve "guaranteed" employment. Good luck.

GuardPolice

Perhaps you meant Middle Tennessee Sate University. The University of Tennessee doesn’t have a flight program.

SparkySmith

As many have written, in the biggest view there are three routes to the major airlines (arguably Delta, United, AA, Southwest, FedEx and UPS. Other options exist but I’m assuming your goal is to get to one of those).

Completely civilian route. Working backward, you’ll get hired by a major from a regional airline in all likelihood. That regional job will require an airline transport pilot rating, which has a 1500 flight hour requirement. You can get those 1500 hours as a flight instructor, a pilot flying non airline jobs (banners, reconnaissance, corporate. . . there are many options). To get paid to fly any of these you’ll need a commercial pilot rating, plus a certified flight instructor rating to instruct. In order to get those ratings you’ll need a civilian flight school of some sort. There are university programs and straight flying programs that offer flight instruction, and these are reimbursable using your GI benefits.
Pros: possibly the shortest route to being an airline pilot
Cons: lowest pay and most out of pocket expenses while pursuing that first regional airline job. You’ll bust you tail and not get paid much for years. Requires the greatest personal discipline; you will build you plan and execute it. Nobody will come knock on your door if you quit or QA that plan to ensure it achieves your goals.

Fly for the USN or USAF. Your USN service May open more doors to the navy. Either the STA-21 (probably changed the name four times in the last three years) or OCS can get you a flight school spot in the USN. Your career counselor can provide the details and deadlines for those programs. The fastest of these would be to get your degree ASAP on your own and go to OCS. I’m sure you e seen the level of competition for STA-21. As with any recruiting activity, respectfully request documentation of any promises or assurances you get from ann officer recruiter. I’m sure you see plenty of nukes who were told that enlisting as a nuke was the best way to become an officer, pilot, SEAL or whatever they wanted. If it isn’t in a navy issuance or a contract it never happened.
Pros: Flying in the military can be fantastic if you want to do it. The training syllabus is managed by others and is valued by the airlines. The flight training is outstanding and performed in high performance aircraft. The pay during training and service will be way better than the civilian option until you reach the majors 10-15 years after you start.
Cons: I’ll omit the cons of being active duty as you’re familiar. If you fail to complete flight training (or get medically disqualified from aviation), you will have an obligation to serve as an officer in some other community.

Air National Guard: unless you are in a special circumstance your odds of being hired directly into a pilot spot in a Guard unit are effectively zero. I’ll assume that if you could get hired off the street into a Guard pilot spot you wouldn’t be asking this question. Then this path means you’d enlist in an Air Guard Unit and bust your tail as an enlisted Guardsman. That 2-5 years of work will serve as your job interview. If the unit likes you they can pick you to go to USAF flight school (aka undergraduate pilot training or UPT), after which you’ll come back to your Guard unit as a pilot. . . for as long as you want to keep flying. This is huge; I flew with an Airbus Captain last week that has been with the same F-15 ANG unit for 32 years. That’s awesome if you like being a fighter pilt.
Pros: military flight training; see above. No competition in flight school; you’re going back to your unit unlike the active component guys who are competing with each other to choose fighters. You can stay with that unit for decades flying that aircraft; no PCSing, no up-or-out. Deployments will typically come with a mint for your pillow and a bar downstairs.
Cons: no guarantee of UPT. You’d be enlisting in a Guard unit and the UPT spots will be competitive. The unit may not need pilots or might et its C-17s swapped for UAVs. Some of the military downsides of being active duty exist, but to a lesser extent.

These three routes have something in common: a 10-year investment in your chosen career where the payout is heavily weighted toward the last 20-30 years. Whichever way you choose to climb this mountain, you will have to make your goal of being an airline pilot your top long-term priority. You’ll need to wake up every day and assess where you are and what you need to do that day to step closer to that goal. Your wife (if) will have to bust her tail to help you to the extent that you’ll owe her ridiculous purses on a regular basis.

It will be worth it. You’ll be able to walk into the Worth Avenue Louis Vuitton in Palm Beach and buy her that purse on layover.

Post any question here for public use or PM me, shipmate.

Good luck.


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badflaps

Copy sparky's reply and nail it to the wall. Ooops! Scotch tape, submarine, right?

captkdobbs

Sparky: If you haven't already done so, you NEED to (actually OTHERS NEED you to) copy this and post it in any other forum in which the question "How do I get started?" is asked! I think that it is well written and contains a lot of the 'military side' insight that is missed by many posters.

I've been in the industry strictly on the civilian side and I didn't know all the subtleties of the ANG -vs- USAF path. Thanks for taking the time to write it.

GucciBoy

I would add that as far as Air Force Reserve units are concerned, there is a much better than zero chance of being picked up off the street. This is especially true of non-fighter units. You obviously help your chances if you are willing to join a unit that has a need vs. holding out for the “hometown” unit.


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Hank Kingsley

Hold on to your uniforms, you can wear them here if you get hired.