bearcat

Funny. All a matter of perspective I guess. I've been guard reserve and active duty in a fighter squadron. I have been on leave for 3 years and I am happily about to return.

Timing is everything and there is no justice. I got hired at CAL at the right time. I don't take my work home and it is an easy job. Some would have to define QOL. It isn't what it used to be, but it is better than the minimum 12 hour day I slave at the squadron for maybe 7 days off every 28 days.

I'm never going to move and I love where I live. Commuting sucks, but when I am home everyone is happy. I will get PHX layovers, ,16-18 days off and make roughly 95K.

Back to your original questions. Everyone (myself included) wants to work at FEX, UPS, SWA. My advice is be willing to move to your domicile and your QOL will be huge. Reference the timing quote earlier. I think you are goin to have good timing with age 65 maturing in slightly less than 3 years.

It is a good job, not the dream job it used to be. The ops tempo will be MUCH slower than your current ops tempo.

PM me and I'll give ya my email address. We'll chat. Oh, get a reserve job somewhere. Some benies are worth the asspain.

EP11

Like some of the other responses posted here, what will your total service time be? If you are at the midway point (where I seperated) I would spend some serious time during the next three years cultivating a slot at a reserve/guard unit. For me, this was the ONLY way I could sleep at night knowing I was seperating during the middle of a hiring downturn with the other side of the curve years? away. Plus, there's nothing that will replace mil flying so it's always nice to get your fix every once in a while. Things like Tricare/United Concordia, TSP, retirement etc... are just too valuable to give up completely. A sentiment that you will see echoed in hundreds of other posts.

Set your timeline. If you want to walk out the door of the MC on your last day of terminal leave and lace up your new FO shoes I would recommend getting serious 2 years out. Some things you should have in hand 12 months out.

First Class Physical. Check out Find an Aviation Medical Examiner (AME)

ATP. I did mine Dec 08 and paid $2400, PM for details.

737 Type rating. Lots of options, all expensive, no-brainer if you want to fly for Herb. Save some money and do your ATP at the same time if you choose this option.

Resume. I have several versions for aviation, corporate white-collar etc. Airline Apps is a good resource if for nothing other than compiling lots of your data in one easily accessed place. You don't have to pay anything until you get serious about submitting your apps.

References. Start thinking about those who could vouch for a large part of your career and have them pen some nice words about you. Also, it's a good idea to start a list of people you know at each carrier. Once again, if you hook up with a reserve unit this number will likely skyrocket.

Appearance and health. Okay, this may be debateable but I really do believe looking athletic, healthy and having things like cholesterol and blood pressure under control can't hurt anything. Although, coming from the corps this should be a no-brainer. For the rest of us, report to the pull-up bar!

Knowledge. It never hurts to spend some time each day reviewing some small tid-bit of aviation GK. I bought the FAR-AIM app for ~$5 on my phone and just peruse a new section every day to stay fresh. Tons of question banks exist out there just for the asking or googling.

Start saving for your "transition period". Figure out what your monthly nut will be and have 6-12 months of liquid just in case your plans don't work out as smoothly as planned. If you desire to leave active duty, it would be a shame if you couldn't "afford" to leave due to excessive financial strain.

Once you get all that set you can start applying and interviewing in the last 12 months before you seperate. Obviously, you have to be up front about your commitment to the military in regards to your earliest start date.

Hope this helps, not that I'm an expert on matters but just some casual observations. Heck, I'm still a Reserve mercenary but always on the lookout!

Good luck!

DAL73n

Definitely agree with the stay in military advice (assuming you're close). If not, Guard/Reserve is an excellent backup against a bad economy. UPS/FEDEX is no longer the easy no-brainer, recession proof job (UPS will furlough in May). As for SWA - they are no longer a massive growth airline either. Their business model has matured and you could be stuck at the bottom for a long time. The primary reason they haven't furloughed is a lot a HELP from everyone (mil guys doing extra days at the guard and reserve, etc.)One thing you will learn about the airline business - very volatile and very insecure - you won't know until you retire whether you made the right choice. 10 years ago SWA/FEDEX/UPS were viewed as a poor second to a Legacy major - 10 years from now who knows. Apply anywhere you want to work (a bonus if you want to live there - commuting is no fun), it is an insecure job - so live within your means, save in your 401K, start a side business that you can enjoy in your free time at home and enjoy what you're doing at whatever airline you can get hired at. Don't count on quick upgrades to Captain anywhere (SWA/FEDEX/UPS included). Just my $.02.

AmericanIdiot#1

Stay in and get your 20 years.

Riddler

I'd encourage you to reconsider staying in until 20 years. Either way, here's some things you need to do to get hired:
- Network! Contact buddies who fly at various airlines, work on getting internal recommendations. Don't be afraid to ask people for a reference - everyone knows the "hiring game" and just about everyone is willing to help a buddy or even a buddy of a buddy.
- Get your ATP done, FAA restricted radiotelephone license (easily done, just gotta pay the FCC for a piece of paper), make sure you can pass an FAA Class I medical.
- If you want FedEx or UPS, you need an FE Written test. The test is only good for 1 or 2 years I think, and since neither FedEx nor UPS are likely to hire any time soon, I wouldn't worry about it now. Maybe a few years down the road.
- If you want to go to SWA, get your 737 type rating, there's tons of gouge on that subject on this forum.
- Get your civilian passport
- Get your logbooks in order. Every application will ask slightly different info, but you really need to have your military time totals and civilian totals available. You can drive yourself nuts trying to perfectly equate military time to civilian time. I'm a C-17 guy and we have primary, secondary, other time, IP, EP, etc. It doesn't always perfectly equate to "PIC" and "SIC" time. I recommend just keeping the 2 categories of time separate and keep it simple. Some airlines allow you to add 0.2 or 0.3 hours per sortie since the military only logs takeoff to land and not block out to block in.
- airlineapps.com is a common application for several airlines (CAL, DAL, lots of regionals). If you're within 2 years of separating, then create an account and get started. Like someone else said, keep your previous military security clearance application paperwork handy since it lists all your supervisors, addresses, etc. You'll need that info to fill out most applications.
- Interviews vary, but you can prepare a few key stories that could apply to about 85% of possible interview questions. Lots of "tell me about a time" scenarios - low fuel situation, have to make a critical decision, made a bad decision, crew member conflict, etc.
- Look at every airline - don't just look at 1 or 2. In the 1980s everyone wanted to fly for PanAm or Eastern. In the 1990s it was United. Guys who were hired by SWA in 1990 were likely upset that they didn't get hired elsewhere... now who's laughing?
- Don't just look at pay... seniority is huge. All other things being equal, getting hired at the beginning of a bubble (American in 5 years?) is better than getting hired at the end of a bubble (SWA?).

Good luck,
Riddler

KC10 FATboy

Everyone is going to have different opinions for different reasons. Comments such as "stay in until 20" doesn't make sense if you're the average officer, whose future is to fly a desk for the rest of your career, and/or the possibility of being separated because of getting passed over for rank.

I think you have to ask yourself why are you wanting to get out of the military? Why do you want to work for a civilian airline? What are your long term goals? And then address the pros and cons of each and rank them according to your desires and goals.

Once you do that, the answer should become clear as to what you should or should not do.

tomgoodman

That could be a valid concern. Even 2000-3000 hours of military time might not land you a good airline job if you haven't flown for several years. How important is recent flying time on an application these days?

USMCFLYR

I look forward to hearing opinions on this question. I specificaly took orders to my last tour because I knew I would love the job and didn't want to be riding a desk for the last 80% of my career and then try to get a flying job after retirement. I ended up betting quite a bit between job satisfaction and trying to set myself up for a second career. I'll just have to wait and see if my plan worked or doomed me

USMCFLYR

KC10 FATboy

I can speak to it all be it vicariously through my friend's experience.

His last four years were spent flying a desk. We both were applying to the airlines at the same time. Nobody would hire him or give him the time of day. It wasn't until he mentioned by accident in a Air Inc. interview with CAL that he just got his ATP and thought he a strong candidate for the airlines considering his previous experience. The recruiter realized that he had flown a couple of flights to get his ATP and cut him some slack on the recency part. He was very lucky. CAL ended up hiring him.

liftr92

1 word - ok 3... UAV that's where the money's going to be at. USMC will cargo UAV in 18 -24 months. After that only a matter of time.