If assume you're at a regional, or LCC. You're only seeing mil guys who are relatively weak or seriously not current.

The ones getting scooped up by the big six are not struggling at all :rolleyes:

But if it makes you feel better...

The big 6 typically have much easier training programs. In the first 8 months of 2018, southwest only had 1 person fail to complete training.

Regionals business model is built around washing the weak ones out.

The point I was trying to make was, that spend your short time at regionals wisely. If you fail in training, it will slow down your progression.

These guys were all mil aviators (from very varied backgrounds. C130, 737 etc). Point wasn't that military guys aren't up to it (which would obviously be completely false), but that if you have a fresh 121 failure, it will likely outweigh your military background for a while when moving to the big league.

I don't believe the mil guys go straight to the big 6 with zero 121 time and no ATP. You need ATP to even start the application.

No, that's not the issue I'm talking about. Many have seen it firsthand over and over. There is no hustle, urgency, or running of any kind. Just the opposite. They see a plane coming, then drag a** when it approaches the gate, THEN decide to brief their job. There's been countless instances of rampers deliberately standing around, looking at the airplanes sitting at gates, then dragging their feet while causing late arrivals pulling into the parking spot. It's utter nonsense.

So we should just empathize and make excuses for them not doing their job they applied for? Yeah, that'll improve things.

I bet you don't tip van drivers, eh?

SWA also hires regional check airman with 10k plus hours. Not 172 drivers with 1000 and 25 multi...

This is sort of true, but mil guys are rarely "weak"... they would have been flushed before wings (there is of course a rare exception to every rule) The majors have training programs that are mostly designed to accommodate a mil aviator who has no 121 or transport experience. The biggest mistake a mil guy will make is to assume airline, or especially regional, training is going to be easy. As long as they put in at least half the effort they did in the mil, they'll be fine. And like anyone else they must check any attitude at the door :rolleyes:

And they get their pick of the LCA...

Yes a training bust will set them back for sure, and I counsel all of my young guys on that when they take a regional class date.


The majority of airline-bound mil separations right now get picked up by a major. They have to get their own ATP first, and there are programs which provide that service. They don't need any 121 time.

The younger folks with less total time due to some career diversion, or too much helo time, or a black mark are the ones going to regionals.

Right now, even non-current, retired senior officers are getting scooped up. Recency used to be a show stopper, but no longer if your whole person package is good enough... they seem to be using rank to quantify that now.