If you want to stay active (for the family) and keep flying, the U-2 guys at Beale are always recruiting.

Seen a bunch of ads lately for the Navy Herk units too, so there's another option.


Vood, as a part time guard guy, can you give a brief summary of Tricare coverage/cost?

Spoke to a Guard recruiter found via the AF Personnel website today. The bottom line: the Guard is not interested in a retirement eligible prior from another service. Maybe the one I spoke to was not familiar or it's just a reflection of all services downsizing. I'd gladly fly AF 130s/135s, Coast Guard 130s, NOAA, Customs or anything else, but I can't seem for find a way to connect the dots. Getting started on the outside? I spent the day looking at regional airline FO pay rates and I just can't believe a McDonalds manager makes more per year. That's criminal. The Buffalo crash was not an accident, it was calculated risk that a poverty stricken PIC & FO sleeping on couches would not crash a plane. How'd that work out?

TRS is excellent. It is better than any of DAL's medical choices. I use it, no complaints and there are plenty of fliers with all the details on the interwebz. Most of my unit uses it regardless of employer.

Sky, I hate to break it to you, but any 121 gig will be a pay cut for a while. DAL, SWA, and FDX are the best of the breed but even they are probably half of what you make now.

Not meaning to make an example of your situation, but the time to prepare for an airline job is 3 years out, not when choosing door number 1 or number 2 six months out. (Search "Timing your Exit") I made a ridiculous amount of money the last few years at my job...but I was year 8-11. The first year anywhere sucks. Its certainly way worse at a regional that a solid major, but if you are comparing month to month, or year to year for the first couple years you are way better off taking a GS position, staying on active duty, working as a contractor, etc etc.

However, when you look 3, 5, or 10 years down the road, those jobs hit a cap. 3-5 years at a major, and you are back in six figure territory with a good quality of ife. The last 10 years have been bad for airline contracts, but the pattern bargaining currently taking place shows a more positive trend. Delta's latest is nothing to sneeze at, and by 2015 their top rates will eclipse ours at FDX. UAL is in the middle of a battle, but whatever they get should be way better than their current book. Is is 1998? Not by a long shot, but it is a good life and a better paycheck down the road if you can gut through the humps.

Again--for the readers out there--the airline transition is expensive, exasperating, scary, and full of pitfalls. It is absolutely not for pussies. Plenty of guys have gotten chewed up and spit out, and there are plenty of bitter examples out there. There are also some guys like me--who planned ahead, and with some luck and the grace of God cannot believe how lucky they are to fly around the world for a living able to support their families pretty well and have much, much less work stress than in any previous job. But to make the leap--you have to plan carefully. You are going to be 40, 50, 80 thousand dollars down per year for a year or two from what you made as an O-4 or O-5. Are you financially prepared to make that leap? I would suggest that you need to plan well ahead, and not only be able to acquire the savings to make the leap, but also be willing to SPEND that savings to make it happen. For some folks--that last step is just a bridge they will not cross. I get it, and I understand. That is partly why I bailed at the 14 year point, because I knew I had a Guard/Reserve income offset plan. If you don't have a second job, you better be ready to spend your savings, put your wife to work, or a little of all of the above.

Is it worth it? Your call. For me--absolutely. I can't tell anyone they will have my good fortune if they bail. But I can say with absolute certainty they will not get to do what I do if they stay in. Looking back, I guess I pretty much knew I was always getting out, so I didn't over-analyze the decision when I had the chance.

Again--good luck in your chase. For the rest of you--don't get sticker shock 6 months out--lead turn the financial stuff 2 to 3 years out.

Sorry, but we will not consider an application from a 24-year officer.

As others have pointed out, it's way, way too late to be thinking about this stuff now. You should've been networking and having a plan in your hip pocket 3+ years ago.

I'd suggest you take the retirement now and run, but understand that nobody is going to hand you something on a platter. Especially considering that the sacred cow retirement will soon be going the way of the dodo.

If a regional FO job is below you, hopefully you can get a corporate gig or (gasp!) a non-flying job. There are plenty of well-paying organizations out there that kill for the skillsets and talents that motivated officers bring to the table. Again... that would require networking and stepping outside of the military comfort zone. Something that it doesn't look like you've done or are ready to do. Good luck.

Great input and perspective for those of us approaching mil retirement. Thanks, Albie.

Never been a better time in the past 10 years to bail, but the days of rock stardom for pilots is long past. A relative who used to work for Pan Am used to just smile and laugh while we watched the show with the same name. He told me "I am just glad my wife is not still alive to see this."

I flew as long as they would let me, and feigned interest in staff work to the horrible point of being good at it, but always negotiated an at least part time flying gig. Looking at life in a cubicle was too much for me. Getting and staying current, along with a security clearance, is your most valuable and marketable asset.

Bottom line is noncurrency is a nonstarter. If you need to fly to be happy(and not many do)then you need to go find a flying job. If it is something you can take or leave, try to get promoted a few more times.

Look on your tax return where it says "profession" next to where you sign and date it. If you didn't put "pilot" in there somewhere, you might want to call your monitor back and discuss those orders. Or you can PM me and we can make my lunch break in a couple weeks work for you.

D7

On the bright side I did start three years out, saved a considerable nest egg in preparation by living below our means, networked so I have several contacts at FedEx, Delta, SWA, and corporate to seek advice/letters from. I have my ATP, Class 1, passport, resume, and all the little stuff done. The only thing that caught me off guard was orders six months earlier than planned and all the prep was done hoping the employment picture would be better by now. It did not help that, even though I had already planned to retire this summer, I then got the best non-flying staff tour orders I could hope for. Three years of paid vacation at the steep cost of being no longer current. Everyone knows the majors must hire or begin to shrink over the next 5-10 years. The key is finding something to bridge the gap without becoming one of those people chewed up by their strong desire to work in a weak industry. I am taking the plunge, retiring, willing to live on Mac-N-Cheese, and prepared to flex/move as needed to fly. Flying is not what I do for a living, it's what I live to do.

It's funny, in the outside world years of experience and skill are rewarded with higher pay and opportunity. In the military you are channeled into a desk job at the peak of your proficiency by our up-or-out system. We have Canadian exchange pilots that fly with us who are given the choice of command or operational track. They may hit a promotion pay and ceiling at some point, but we don't have many 10,000 hour majors on active duty either. They are just plain good!