navarrotrout

Hi all, long time lurker first time poster. In the not-to-distant future I'll be leaving my first sea tour as a P-8 pilot with about 1100 hours total time, 800 of which are going to be multi engine. I think I should be able to squeeze about 250 hours of PIC time out of that, but I can supplement with leisure flying over the next 4 years. I was looking to take a break from military aviation by forgoing the instructor orders and take some time to pursue some education, work on myself, and frankly enjoy my life a bit if I can finnesse a sweet shore tour for the next two years. After that, I'll be obligated to spend about 2 years on a ship. With my current qualifications, what does my career path look like after I secure that sweet sweet DD-214. I've heard people talk about an R-ATP and building time in the regionals, using the GI Bill to get the quals and schooling to get to an ATP, or even sucking it up and going the instructor route I wanted to avoid in order to hit the majors asap. What career prospects should I expect to see with my projected flight time if I decide to return to flying after 4 years out of the cockpit? I'm not opposed to flying on my own time to keep current but I know I need to take a break from military aviation. Any and all advice is appreciated!

rickair7777

Tough question. At this point with 1100 mil hours if you topped that off with 400 hours in a cessna the legacies would snap you up, even with a break in mil flying.

If I read your timeline right, you'd be looking at airlines in four years? That's getting on the backside of the retirement wave... wave won't be over, and retirements will continue well into the 2030's at a pretty good rate by industry historical standards. But as demand tapers off a bit, and possibly the training/regional pipelines start producing more major applicants you might see the goalposts start to move.

You will have relatively low mil time by historical standards, but I think that's starting to become the norm so presumably airlines will just adapt to that since they do want to hire mil pilots. Doesn't hurt that you're flying a transport type, especially if you apply to SWA or Alaska.

Make you sure you understand the career distinctions between "Majors" and "Legacies". Second-tier majors are still going to be a good career, but the big three are generally going to better. Even ULCC's will beat working for a living in an office hands down.

So a little bit of uncertainty due to the timing... if you're hell bent on airlines asap, and want a top-tier job, safe answer is do the IP tour. That should get you to 2K TT? It will also keep you within three years of the cockpit (which has sometimes been used as the threshold for mil currency by airlines).

Otterbox

Get out, go to the Wholly Owned regionals, get time there flow to a legacy or beat the flow by getting hired at a competitor.

Theres a huge difference between dealing with VP and being in the VTs in case it's the community you don't like.

You hours are low and no one knows what the hiring environment is going to be like in 4 years. You can fly on the side for fun if you want, but I wouldn't try to rack up 400hrs. If you've got R-ATP mins, any regional would hire you today with a little bit of currency (like 25-50hrs in 12 months).Frontier or an ACMI would probably also. Delta only requires an ATP written. It may be similar in 4 years. But hiring could also tighten up and a ton of Cessna is worthless. Even if you have to go to the regionals, most regional QOL is better than VPs.

Go do something you enjot for a change forget about hiring requirements for a bit and decide if you want to go back to aviation first. You may not, and thats that's just fine.

ps2sunvalley

Don't stop flying. If you leave your P-8 tour and never fly again you'll definately have to slog it out at the regionals before being able to move up. However if you instruct and keep flying you'll have a lot more experience and PIC time and it will be more recent, making a direct entry into the majors much more possible.

In this industry seniority is literally everything, so do what sets you up best to be at one of the top airlines for the longest amount of time.

Sliceback

You want to get a to a major airline, or Big 3 airline, ASAP after separating? Can't figure out that continuing to fly is the best route? I tell people to make future resumes based on choosing different options.

Sounds like this might be resume #1 - no flying for 4 years. Former P-8 pilot. 1100 hrs TT, 250 TPIC.
Resume #2 - Current. Military IP. 2000 hrs, 1150 TPIC. 900 hrs Mil IP.

Gee, which one WILL get a job and which one is maybe on the outside wondering "what happened?"

tnkrdrvr

This right here! OP, you are looking to snag a job paying well into six figures with the opportunity for huge amounts of time off. The word is put that the legacies are hiring and flight schools are flooded with students. Your fellow military aviators are also aware of the current bonanza. However, in four years the bonanza will be gone and these jobs will likely be much more competitive to obtain. If getting out of the cockpit for a few years is essential to your family, then do what you need to do. Understand, that you may be sacrificing your ability to go directly to the job of your choice without some time elsewhere building experience.

Hobbit64

I know little about the USN aviation world other than what I've gleaned from the people I fly with at work.

That being said, I have flown/spoken with more than a few that went to teach in T-44/C-12's or T-6's as a last assignment and enjoyed it.

When they left active duty, they stayed at that location and slid over as a part timer in the training unit when they started their airline gig. (I won't bore you with pro/cons of staying in the reserve)

HazyIPA

I would seriously reconsider forgoing a tour at the VTs so you can have a break from military aviation. More to the point, I would consider whether it's a break from military aviation you want or a break from the fleet, because these are two very different things. The fleet burns everyone out; we all get that. But you're potentially giving up a lot by stepping out of the cockpit. The TPIC you'd accumulate, even of the single-engine variety in the T-6, is worth way more than putzing around in a C172 on the weekends. Right now, former military aviator and >1,500 hours is enough to get hired at a major, even a legacy, but it isn't always going to be that way. Once retirements taper off, you can expect the numbers to be considered competitive to start going back up.

chase

Read this thread to learn about the military SKILLBRIDGE program. Sounds like you would fit in well with Baker using SB.

ATTN: Military Skill Bridge Hiring @ Baker

Sliceback

That works if he comes off of active duty and isn't competitive because he chose not to fly for 3 years.

We're trying to show him how to be competitive when he DOS's so that he can got straight to a major airline. Chosing to not fly might mean he'd have to spend 6-12 months getting competitive at a regional/fractional/Part 135 because he chose to make himself less (not?) competitive. That's only 500-2000 numbers more junior. That's a CRUSHING seniority hit to incur because he didn't want to fly for 3 years. If he wants to get away from flying for 3 years keep flying now, get hired at a major, gain somer seniority, and go to an airline like AA that allows you to drop down to zero hours every month. He'd only need to keep his landing currency so that would be one trip every 3 months, and he can do any other job he'd like.

I tell guys "don't take your foot of the gas until you're at your 'destination' or final airline. Giving up seniority numbers to coast now isn't worth it over the next 20-40 years.