Andy

I think that Capt Drew's right; get out, get a line number, get back in and finish up a career while builing seniority.

ExDeltaPilot, let's match stories. I left active duty w/14 yrs 11 mos of active duty (AD) service, straight to Guard. Hired by UAL in 2000 (the day after my first day of training was my scheduled JetBlue interview; still think that I made the right choice). Furloughed by UAL in 2002; fortunately, didn't quit my Guard job prior to 9/11. Have been working in the Guard and now Reserves over the last 4 1/2 years of furlough; have accumulated 3 1/2 years' AD time during that period (am now over 18 AD and require waiver paperwork before getting man day orders, but it's no big deal).
I should be recalled by United shortly. I plan on bypassing and later going on mil leave. United allows up to 6 years of mil leave; I plan on taking the full 6 years. My bosses love me and are grooming me for O-6. If I get promoted, I will be able to retire as an O-6 (worst case is O-5) with ~25 yrs time in service. Based on current payscales, O-5 w/25 YOS is $4500/mo; O-6 would be $5500/mo. And then I'll return to UAL with decent seniority (although, I'm an old SOB; currently 45 YO).
It's not the path that I had planned on taking; I would've made the AF a career, but it stopped being fun after my 13th TDY (1 1/2 mo per TDY) to sandland. Got out and wanted to be an airline pilot, but wanted to continue to fly military part time. The airline pilot thing took a dump on me after 9/11, and then the Guard flying started to run out. Went to a staff job in the Reserves and LOVE it.
I have no regrets for any of my decisions to date. OK, maybe my first marriage. Even then, I've got 2 great kids from it.

And fecav8r, I was loyal to UAL. And then they furloughed me. And then my fellow pilots voted in a contract to increase the flying hours of those on property by ~25% to offset the paycut. That resulted in more and longer furloughs. Now I'm looking out for myself, my family and my country. My airline and fellow employees have shown no loyalty to me.

LoveToFly

Are the airlines really this bad, I am considering embarking on an airline career with the airlines as my holy grail. I hear different stories from different people, some say it depends on the airline and others say all the airlines are poorly run. Whats the case?

SWAcapt

Where you are sitting determines what you see. Life is very, very good for me. One of my best friends works for DAL and does not have the same view as me. We just don't talk about the airlines much when we're together. He stayed in for the full USN retirement. I bailed out at 8 years and retired from the reserves.

ewrbasedpilot

I think the BEST advice is to do what makes you HAPPY. If sitting at a desk for three or four years is NOT your cup of tea, then get out. Flying with the majors/freighters is a lot of fun. Has its ups and downs, but overall, you're flying great equipment, with great people and having a good time doing it. You can always work in the reserves to finish your time off. Any chance of an early retirement? Probably not, but worth checking in to. Best of luck to your with watever choice you make.

fecav8r

Andy, different story. You didn't come to a viable airline and then decide to leave that airline for you own personal benefit. You were given no choice. Just like the guy who gets involuntarily activated. The idea that you would get hired at an airline with the understanding that you aren't going to work for them for 3-5 years is, to me, disloyal. Now we can talk all day about the merits of doing it but bottom line is that if they asked you in your interview if you were going to do it, what would you say? If you owned a business and hired someone to do a job and then as soon as he got the ID he said he was going back to his current employer but you had to keep his job and pay him retirement for the time he went back would that be any different than what you are advocating?

Hornet Pilot

The getting out and coming back in seems great to me, but very risky. It looks like there are very few full time spots right now, and they are very competitive. I may be a great guy, but what are the chances that I can compete with a 10 year Viper guy for one of these spots?

The Guard may be a great deal, but there are a lot of Navy folks who don’t really look at it because they think they don’t have a chance…especially a full time job. Looking around, it looks like there are a lot of part time jobs, but very few full time jobs. I think there may be too much risk getting out at 14, with the intention of going back to retire.

P210driver

STAY IN TO 20! Active duty retired pay starts immediately -- Guard/Reserve retired pay doesn't start until age 60. Do the math -- 18 years of O-5 retired pay = a bunch of money just for having a pulse.

My friends who did the part-time Guard/Reserve thing while flying for an airline had NO life. Six years from now, the thousands of furloughees (like me), will be gone one way or the other, making it possible for you to enter directly into what is left of the major airlines.

Me? Retired after 21 years of active duty USAF in 1999. Hired by a 747-400 cargo airline. Left there in January 2001 to haul passengers for a really big airline (it seemed like a good career move at the time). Furloghed in 2003. Now flying a civilian desk and occasionally the company Cessna. But that retired pay still shows up in my bank account every month like clockwork.

Chewie135

As a recent AF retiree, with a few LCC irons in the fire, waiting for the FDX call...the retirement check is some comfort to my family. I could not imagine going through what I am now without the assurance of the mil retirement. With the age 60 rule potentially moving up to 65, another 6 years AD seems like a good idea.
Three pieces of advice. Save, save, and save more. The 50% of pay is only half of base pay. Fly pay, housing, BSA, hostile fire, tax-free all goes away. First year with any carrier is a huge pay cut, then depending on who you got, it does go up. Next, do what ever you can to stay in a flying job. Recency of experience is big deal. I may mean a less than desireable job/location, but it will reap dividends. Finally, networking! Get in touch with any old buddies with any carrier and start calling in the chips. Internal recommendations are sometimes the only way to get your foot in the door.
Best of Luck!

tomgoodman

Tarzan say: "No let go vine A until have good grip vine B."