LostFlyer1

Hey Guys,

So quick question. I got word in January that I was selected to fly fighters in the ANG. I am thrilled. I am going to try to go full time after seasoning, but it is likely that I will have to go to part time guard status.

Currently there is a 20 month to 24 month wait to get into UPT. I am currently sitting at about 250 hours.

While waiting for a UPT class date, I was hoping to get hired by a regional carrier who has a flow through program into a legacy carrier. I would likely work for the regional for a few months before dropping mil leave (which I anticipate completing UPT, B school, and seasoning before the 5 year USERRA limit).

Once I get back from mil leave, I should have some pretty decent seniority at the regional.

If the regional has a flow through program to a legacy carrier, would my mil leave affect the date I can leave the regional and flow through into a legacy carrier?

I wasn't sure if the flow throughs are based on date of hire or total hours. While flying fighters, I only anticipate to log 300-500 hours after several years of training, while the other guys in my regional class will likely have several thousand by that time.

Let me know what you think, and thank you again!

Otterbox

Piedmont Airlines flow through is based purely on Date of Hire. Envoy and PSA flow through are based on Date of Hire and having been a Captain for 2 years prior to flow. You should be able to upgrade to Captain at Piedmont before you flow with split time with the ANG, but if not FOs are flowing at Piedmont regularly.

rickair7777

They cannot by law penalize your seniority while on mil orders, so I cannot imagine they would be ablt to penalize you for flow either.

You would obviously still need to meet any specific experience requirements for flow, such as flight time, upgrade if applicable.

hydrostream

Is what worth trying? Going to a regional? Why not?

FAIPMAFIA

Envoy you only have to be a captain for 1 year.

crewdawg

First off, congrats! I remember that time well and it was a great feeling, enjoy it! You're about to start the most fun 2-3 years of your life...well, I'd call UPT the most fun I'd never want to have again lol. B-course was an absolute blast! You'll make closer friendships with your classmates than you could ever have imagined! I'm envious of the journey you're about to start.

Definitely try to get a regional job before leaving! What if they don't have orders after seasoning? You say now that you want to go full time after seasoning, what if you don't? I thought the same way, then I became a full-timer and didn't enjoy it as much as I figured I would. So after all my training, 2 years of seasoning and a year or so of full time, I jumped to a regional. I didn't have enough time to get a regional gig before I left for UPT so I was a newhire FO at a regional. I went from making 100k/yr in the mil to 25k/yr as a regional FO. I was single/no kids, and I was able to make another 40-50k as a part timer and I didn't need much money to get by anyway. However, my regional airline buddy that was hired on the some board at the Guard, went back to his regional. Spent a few months as a FO, then upgraded to Captain. SO he was making 75-80k plus his guard check...big difference! On top of that, I actually had lots of fun at my regional. Ya, I didn't make crap, but the crews and trips were a blast and learned at lot. As a fighter guy, you'll do some incredibly complex and difficult stuff, but airline flying is just a completely different animal. I'm certainly thankful for my regional experience, which helped me big time when I transitioned to DAL.

Best of luck!

That Guy 74

That's pretty much exactly what happened with me back in 1999, with the exception that I had been at a regional for about a year when I was hired by my Guard unit. I had to wait until early 2001 (about 2.5 years at the regional at that point) to start training with the military, and then Sept 11th happened, so my airline career didn't work out quite as planned. I did gain a lot of valuable experience at the regional, though, and your line of thinking is a good one.

I would highly recommend going to a regional that has a flow through...that way you have a chance to flow to the mainline carrier. That doesn't restrict you from applying at the other majors/legacy in the mean time. If you want to be a Guard guy and fly for a major, flying at a regional will help bolster your flight time a lot quicker than being a straight Guard bum or taking a technician or AGR gig at the Guard unit.

Word of advice - if you wind up flying for the regional for a while before going on active duty for training, when you show up at UPT, zip your lip and minimize your background/experience. You are there to learn the MILITARY way of aviating. Let your actions speak for you. My flight commander literally had to pull me into his office to finally get the real story about my background (I had about 4,000 hours when I finally reported to UPT) because I did not want to come off as a know-it-all. Hopefully this already occurred to you, but I thought I should mention it just in case.

Lastly, if you see one of your classmates struggling on a subject you are strong in, approach them away from everyone else and offer to go over/tutor them on it. It's never too early to pay it forward and mentor someone if you can.

Best of luck!

LostFlyer1

Thank you guys! This type of information was exactly what I was looking for. So I am definitely going to do a regional with a flow through program prior to going to UPT.

If I am lucky enough to chose which regional, I will go with:
1) Piedmont Airlines (because they only go off of hiring date to flow to AA)
2) Envoy (due to 1 year captain to flow to AA)
3) PSA (due to 2 years captain to flow to AA)

It would be incredible to come back from 4 years of mil training and go right into a regional captain gig for a year and then go right into AA as a FO

For any future readers of this post, I will try to find out exactly how long Piedmont makes you stay before you can flow to AA.

Thanks guys!
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LostFlyer1

Yes I agree it is worth trying. But what I meant is that is if it was worth selecting a regional based only on having a flow through program to a legacy carrier in my situation.

I was looking at a few regionals, but it seems to make the most sense to pick one with a flow into a legacy. Either way I will build seniority while I am gone, but coming back and being a year away from a legacy FO job is incredible.

LostFlyer1

Thank you so much! I am really looking forward to it and I am thankful everyday to have this potential opportunity. And after talking to you guys I am definitely going to try to get to a regional prior to leaving.

And I agree 100% with the point you made about what if they don't have orders or if I don't want to go full time. They way the budget cycle has been going for the past few years, I cant see that continuing 4-5 years into the future, and full time orders might not even be available.

My long term goal was to eventually do a traditional part time job and the airlines, I just wanted to make sure that I was really proficient in my airframe before I went part time. But I am excited to eventually have the opportunity to do both, and will try to get my post seasoning situation modeled after your friend who made captain right away.

But either way I can not thank you guys enough for all of your help! I have been reading this forum for years, and this information is great. You guys literally saved me thousands of dollars!