That's it, 'nuff said, case closed.

 

Of the pure civilian guys I have flown with 7 were hired at UAL and 3 at Alaska in the last year. 9000 to 6000 hours, all had degrees and all but 2 were LCA, IOE instructors and such. I don't know anyone nor did the previously stated have an interview invite at DAL or AMR.

I have yet to read about a pure civilian getting multiple offers on the whose been hired thread. It seems some military candidates have multiple offers and some are getting invites even though they are not current or even separate until 2017. Other military candidates seem to have to go to the regionals first before they get noticed.

I am sure the guys that offer interview prep can give a better gauge on who is getting the interviews and what their qualifications are based on who they have been prepping over the last year.

 

OK, I will shed some light on this subject and hopefully it's helpful to the OP. I heard from a friend of a friend, who just interviewed at AAL less than a week ago, that of the roughly nine pilots interviewed, only four were military. The other five were purely civilian, and all five were Part-121 regional and maybe one LCC.

 

In my AA newhire class last spring there were 35 total and 5 were OTS (including myself). Of the OTS, 2 were prior military, 1 was an AA sim instructor, 1 former AA intern, and me (a few years turboprop 121 and 9 years corporate).

In my interview group of 20, about half were military, half regional, and I was the only corporate guy.

 

My class of 30 at DL only 3 who weren't military, flow, or SSP. 1 Skywest, 1 Eagle, and 1 Asa/short-time other major.

 

My Sept. '15 class at UA was a pretty even split between civ and mil. Of the the civs there were 2 regional FOs (myself included) w/ 4500-7000 hours. A few regional captains. 2 LCC FOs and I believe 2 Part-135 people. I may be missing some but that's what I can remember. A couple of the mil guys had gone to regionals for a short time but I'm not counting them in these numbers.

 

When I interviewed, the majority of military guys, in my group had multiple interviews/offers from majors. None of the civilians had that advantage. Fast forward to the first day of class. Out of 65 only 7 were pure "OTS". The rest were military or spent less than a year at a regional waiting for a major to pick them up. IMHO the ALPA stats are skewed. If I were to guess the majority of people who score apps are prior military. They are more comfortable giving the thumbs up on someone who's walked in their shoes. If 9/11 hadn't happened this thread wouldn't exist. Too many pilots sat in purgatory for 12+ years. Flying UAL/AA/DAL passengers though not afforded the benefit of a mainline seniority number, but literally eligible for welfare assistance. This brings up the underlying issue. LOYALTY. Pilots who jumped ship from regionals to LCC's, realized that the majors had no loyalty to the pilots who flew their feeders. They gained experience flying the exact aircraft that the majors flew. The hope, that this skill set would make them look even prettier to the majors. But the hiring practice changed.
Recently, from a historical perspective, Loyalty to a select few regionals has come to fruition. IMHO only due to economic reasons.

WarEagle you hit the nail on the head.
"The whole system is designed to reinforce their filthy addiction to cheap regional labor. They will hire as many military pilots as possible in the time of pilot shortage, because this forces civilian pilots to flow through their regional feed in order to make it to the mainline."

The Flows and SSP's have helped a few. But if the interview isn't successful the regional pilot has very little chance of actually getting an interview with another Major.

United has it figured out, a diverse workgroup, fosters leaders with many different backgrounds of experience. They'll be the ones to watch in ten years when current newhires start taking leadership positions.

 

I respect your years of service. But you spent 20 years in for your own personal reasons. With all the O people running the show. No doubt it's been hell. But you stayed in for you.
Cheers

 

Here's something that hasn't been mentioned, it's tougher to get vetted, and into the military, than it is with a regional airline. That just means the odds are slightly better that the guy doesn't have any significant skeletons in their closet.

A significant portion of the hiring process is risk reduction - improve the odds that the person being hired isn't a mistake. Otherwise what's the point of psychological testing? And yes, it's amazing that some of your/our coworkers passed the pysch exam. What the heck are they looking at, or for, if they got hired!?!?

If you think AA, and perhaps DL, isn't hiring a diverse group you're not paying attention. Of 109 new hires this year a minimum of 16 (15%) were minorities when the industry is 9-11%.

The flows are taking approx. 63% of the training slots. If mil guys take 80% of the OTS slots the military percentage of the overall hiring is 30%. The military didn't take the slots you'd normally be competing for, instead the company made the decision to get their civilian pilots via flow agreements.

 

For those pure civilians, why not join the Guard or Reserve? Plenty of slots available nowadays IF you want to stack the odds in your favor ...