Sim IP then Airlines?
#1
Sim IP then Airlines?
Anyone have experience transitioning from military sim IP to airlines? I’m retiring from a flying assignment, and considering working as a UPT sim IP for a few years before going airlines, until my kids are done with high school. Just wondering what guys do to stay current or regain currency so they can jump back into flying later.
Thanks!
Thanks!
#2
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Dec 2007
Position: Window seat
Posts: 5,157
The end of career pay you’d be giving up is $350-450K+ per year. Subtract your simP pay and that’s the cost of being home every night.
And then you’d be applying to the airlines as an X years non current guy. Which increases the likelihood, and length, of the RJ seasoning your resume/application might need. At a cost of $350-450K per year minus your regional pay.
Typical staff officer options to stay current might include CFI’ing on the side. How much ‘family’ time does that take?
Ask your airline buds how much they would work, and nights away, if they min run their early years at their airline? Ten days per month? Five to seven nights away?
Is the sim job $100K? A four year delay starts at $1.0 to $1.4 million. And then there’s being less senior every year in the interim.
That’s why few guys pass on ‘keep pressing’. It’s big numbers and a long term QOL impact.
Good luck. Just throwing out data.
And then you’d be applying to the airlines as an X years non current guy. Which increases the likelihood, and length, of the RJ seasoning your resume/application might need. At a cost of $350-450K per year minus your regional pay.
Typical staff officer options to stay current might include CFI’ing on the side. How much ‘family’ time does that take?
Ask your airline buds how much they would work, and nights away, if they min run their early years at their airline? Ten days per month? Five to seven nights away?
Is the sim job $100K? A four year delay starts at $1.0 to $1.4 million. And then there’s being less senior every year in the interim.
That’s why few guys pass on ‘keep pressing’. It’s big numbers and a long term QOL impact.
Good luck. Just throwing out data.
#4
For the love of god, please listen to Sliceback on this. I don’t think you understand how important it is to get the job now (more like yesterday) in this business. Just commute until your kids are done with high school. You might even get picked up for retired reserve and be able to be home a lot. You need to take the long view on this.
#5
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Dec 2007
Position: Window seat
Posts: 5,157
Trying to figure out the value of being X numbers more senior is trickier. None one wishes they were six months more junior and everyone realizes the value of being six months more senior.
Guys hired 6-12 months ahead of me have made at least $500,000 more on increased seniority and you can add in another $250K+ for their additional time at the airline. That translates into more income over their career OR the ability to retire 2-3 years earlier with the same retirement portfolio. Let's not even mention holiday or vacation bidding.
The reward for being hired 6-12 months earlier is huge. Getting hired years earlier? Light years different.
Guys hired 6-12 months ahead of me have made at least $500,000 more on increased seniority and you can add in another $250K+ for their additional time at the airline. That translates into more income over their career OR the ability to retire 2-3 years earlier with the same retirement portfolio. Let's not even mention holiday or vacation bidding.
The reward for being hired 6-12 months earlier is huge. Getting hired years earlier? Light years different.
#6
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Dec 2007
Position: Window seat
Posts: 5,157
Will the sim job be available a year or two after you retire? A lot of this will make more sense once you're living it. Consider getting an airline job and quitting after 1 year and taking the sim job. It's a much bigger hit to delay the airline job for a year, or years, not knowing what the real impact is.
#7
I've had a number of friends that retired from mil and did the sim IP thing. Other than the one's that did it for a few months (less than a year, myself included), exactly 0 of them have gone to the airlines. The ones that stayed either had no desire to move on the the airlines or couldn't get hired due to lack of currency. Times were different then, there was hiring but not crazy hiring like we've seen in the past couple of years. Please listen to Sliceback's advice above. I'd skip the sim and get a seniority number now.
#8
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jan 2017
Posts: 199
Anyone have experience transitioning from military sim IP to airlines? I’m retiring from a flying assignment, and considering working as a UPT sim IP for a few years before going airlines, until my kids are done with high school. Just wondering what guys do to stay current or regain currency so they can jump back into flying later.
Thanks!
Thanks!
Best of luck with your decision...
#9
If your wife is on the fence...you need to paint the picture for her. Like Sliceback said, you probably need to get the job to understand these factors. You need to come to terms with leaving your comfort zone (and your family as well). Discomfort now equals payoff in the future.
#10
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jan 2017
Posts: 199
I think the OP wants to keep his kids in the same high school, which I agree with. So he needs to commute. IIRC OP, you live in OK, don't be afraid of the commute. You probably have some military friends telling you to avoid it at all costs, but it isn't a big deal, and if you are willing to move after your kids graduate, there will be light at the end of the tunnel. I commuted to 2 jobs for 4 years, the family and I did fine. There were rough spots for sure, but looking back, we are very glad we made that choice. You have a lot of options from OKC.
If your wife is on the fence...you need to paint the picture for her. Like Sliceback said, you probably need to get the job to understand these factors. You need to come to terms with leaving your comfort zone (and your family as well). Discomfort now equals payoff in the future.
If your wife is on the fence...you need to paint the picture for her. Like Sliceback said, you probably need to get the job to understand these factors. You need to come to terms with leaving your comfort zone (and your family as well). Discomfort now equals payoff in the future.
You make a good point and I should explain my position better; my statement that by living in base my QOL would not have been significantly different than working the sim job and being home every night. I think it is safe to say that choosing to commute will put a person on the road a minimum of 50% of the time, while junior significantly more.
To your point if I had to make the decision again being anchored somewhere and having to commute, I would still choose the airline route. The lost seniority and money wouldn't be worth the few years of gained QOL through the sim job for a few years.
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