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Sim IP then Airlines?

Old 07-05-2018, 11:29 AM
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Default 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!
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Old 07-05-2018, 12:10 PM
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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.
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Old 07-05-2018, 12:23 PM
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Damn that’s a lot of seniority, money, and QOL to give up in this environment. I’d never do it. And I’d be shocked if any of your airline bro’s would either.
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Old 07-05-2018, 08:08 PM
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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.
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Old 07-06-2018, 06:15 AM
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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.
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Old 07-06-2018, 06:17 AM
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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.
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Old 07-06-2018, 07:41 AM
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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.
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Old 07-06-2018, 07:58 AM
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Originally Posted by ViperGuy69 View Post
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!
I retired and did the sim gig for 3.5 years at 100-120K/yr, then had to go to the regionals for 1.5 years at 30-45K/yr until getting picked up at my dream job. Career wise there is no doubt that going straight to the airlines would have been better, the seniority lost in the 5 years (assuming I would have been hired straight out of the military) equates to schedule QOL today that is significant, 5 year delayed upgrade to CA and the financials associated with it. I could run the numbers but I think it is safe to say it is close to a million dollars (salary, retirement, etc.). That's the down side, the upside is I was home every night for 3.5 years, we went from the chaos of military life to a stable lifestyle where I made good money (without a first year airline hit) and had an opportunity to get financially fit. All that said, if I had to do it over I would skip the sim gig, live in base, and sit reserve (depending on the airline); regional pay is better today than it was when I went there but the numbers don't come close and the QOL (time at home) at the airlines is much better than what I experienced on active duty. I loved my time in the military, wouldn't trade it for anything; enjoyed my time as a sim instructor, it was exceptionally rewarding (and easy); I am beyond fortunate to have landed where I did, wish I would have made the decision to be here 5 years earlier.

Best of luck with your decision...
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Old 07-06-2018, 09:29 AM
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Originally Posted by BrownDoubles View Post
All that said, if I had to do it over I would skip the sim gig, live in base, and sit reserve (depending on the airline);
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.
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Old 07-06-2018, 09:46 AM
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Originally Posted by PRS Guitars View Post
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.
Notice I said, "If I had to do it over again"; the point being that I went through exactly what the OP is considering and having to make the decision again would choose a different path despite it working out just fine.

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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