Flyin, welcome on response and glad to finally be contributing!

Agree with Hacker and did what he is saying. No training contract and chose regional on basing and also some consideration on training reviews from others. No signing bonus but that was not really an issue/factor.

Plan is to stay positive, learn a new gig (crew flying and civilian game), and work on interview prep. A buddy who is in similar situation as us, got through training, flew 5 weeks and got CJO from Delta (app was in with them for little over 6 months). Would feel a little guilty if offered same thing but trying to not apply the military loyalty culture to modern airline biz...everyone is telling me that they understand the game right now and you have to do what you have to do.

I have also considered the overseas ISR jobs based on having active clearances and still read up on them. Don't have much turboprop time and they seem to desire that although I think they would weight fighter time and experience in AOR appropriately.

Let me know if I can help with anything as just went through same process.

 

Do you know which regionals have a junior base near/out of IAD? I know Mesa and Silver have domiciles there but not sure if those are junior though.

 

Looks like TSA has base there as well but no SA on senority there.

 

Here is a new data point for all you military guys with currency issues.
Just had a close friend get hired on with Delta and he has not flown in 4 years! He was 2 weeks away from starting class at a regional when Delta offered him an interview. He told the regional thanks but no thanks, went to the interview and got hired.
Only one data point but it is very telling of the current hiring environment and the desire of the majors to get the highly qualified military guys.

For the original poster - 8 years might be a bit much but you never know. Put your apps in at the majors but be ready to go to the regionals for about a year before getting the call up to the majors.
Best of luck.

 

Roger. Thanks Thunder1.

 

 

Air Wisconsin has a DCA base. I'm in a very similar situation and chose them for the base. Just finished my training and will be on IOE soon. The 121 training thus far has been very valuable/informative and will certainly give me confidence I wouldn't have had going into an interview with the Majors. How long will that take? We'll see...but my military background plus the recency and 121/jet experience should make me very competitive as soon as I've built up a couple hundred hours.

Good luck!

 

Alfred: can you share any interview gouge and any flight prep you did before you got hired?

 

The only interview I did was with Air Wisconsin (a.k.a. AWAC), so my experience is limited to that. I may have over-prepped, but if you've been out of the loop for a while, it will all be useful.
1. Sheppard Interview prep. It's a bank of ATP style questions (cost 50 bucks I think). The first thing we did at the interview was to take a short knowledge test. The questions were well covered by the prep. I only had time to go through the prep question bank once and that was enough.
2. Everything Explained for the airline pilot. Good book with lots of stuff to brush up on that you once knew and forgot years ago. I got it and browsed through it on a somewhat regular basis.
3. Ever use Jepps? I hadn't, so I got on the web and looked at whatever Jepp gouge I could find. That helped out a bit as they took out the jepps at the interview and asked a few questions on symbology. They also asked me to brief an approach. Not too hard, but having prepped I felt better and certainly did better.
4. Interview prep will be recommended by most, but not necessary in my opinion for a regional interview. Nevertheless, I had at least reviewed the Emerald Coast Audio Prep figuring that I'd need to do it for an eventual majors interview anyhow. So, no harm in doing that early.
5. If you have an extensive military flying record (and most of us do who have been in to retirement), you don't have to hide the fact that the regional you are interviewing at is not your final destination.
At my interview the first question I took had them holding up my resume and saying "What are you doing here?". I gave an honest answer and they were good with that. There will be some HR style questions, but for me the majority were more technical items- they were just making sure you actually sounded like a pilot and could figure out what taxiway markings meant.

In summary, if you want to fly for the majors (and we all do), you'll have to be ready for that interview some day. So, any practice you do now for a regional interview will serve you well both there and be an investment toward the final future goal. Don't stress it, but realize that no prep is wasted either.

Lastly, WFFF "ride reports" feature interview gouge for everybody. It was very helpful and when I was done I was a good citizen and wrote up my own interview experience while it was fresh in my mind. Go to willflyforfood.com and it'll all be there.

Hope that helps!

 

Alfred thanks. Great insight for me. Are you in the DC area?