After being hired by an airline, what would be an acceptable time to ask for Mil leave for lets say 6 months? The reason I ask is I might have to attend 6 months of training after being hired. I'm assuming after a year.

 

You can do it any time and be protected by the law. There's other things to consider though. You need to get a certain number of hours (consolidation) after Ioe to not have to through training again when you get back. Also taking mil leave during probation can extend your probation at most airlines. If you have a course you have to do for the guard/reserves to get spun up though, I'd tell them you could do it after consolidation. (About 4-6 months after hireing.)

 

Technically, you can depart on extended mil leave after lunch on day one of new-hire indoc.

Practically speaking, it would be to your benefit to finish consolidation first (IOE + 100 hours time in type).

If you have the flexibility, it would be best to finish probation first. Generally that would avoid the appearance of abusing mil leave to escape juniority. but do what you have to do.

 

Would you give the same advice about staying until the end of consolidation at a Regional as well? How long does it usually take to reach that point?

 

I finished my 100 hours last week and am now on mil leave for 6-8 months. Had to bust my butt to get those 100 hours and give up a lot of days off I wanted to get lines w hours to accomplish it. Didn't want to go on leave without consolidating. It was 6 months after date of hire I took leave for an upgrade at the reserves.

 

Thanks Fellas. That gives me something to plan around.

 

Don't worry bout feelings the company wouldn't give a second of pause to furlough you in probation should the need arise. Biz ness is biz ness.

 

This is the answer.

 

Business is business...your airline will have no consideration for you if the tables were turned....agree on both counts. However, I would think it through. Your guard/reserve unit would also jettison you as soon as the money ran out. Weigh your options, figure out what is the best for you at the given time, make the decision without any sense of misguided loyalties to your unit or your airline. One thing to think about is what happens when you get back to your airline. You owe it to yourself to be proficient in whatever plane you fly at your airline. Finishing consolidation then leaving for six months could put you in some very uncomfortable shoes when you return to your airline and have no idea what you're doing. Depending on how long you're out, you may get full re-training or you might get a warm-up sim and then a check.

 

I would have slightly less consideration for a regional than a major.

But either way it's not really about consideration for the company...it's about consideration for your fellow service members and our collective reputation. If everybody makes a habit of bailing shortly after training, then they might as well not hire military guys unless they know they'll stick around (ie retired AD). There are already plenty of civilian pilots who think we all drop mil leave at our personal convenience (first year, holidays, etc) so we can just sit around the office, watch ball games, and go home at 1600 while they fly weekends and holidays for us out of seniority.

Do what you have to do, but if it can wait a year it would better for all of us...including you at your next job.

If it's mandatory deployment or a big opportunity like upgrade, command, etc hell yes go do it.