Not meant for you kind sir, I was answering the question of someone who doesn't know it all and is looking for a direction for his future endeavors.

Thanks for the sarcasm though, I needed some to start my day off.

I don't know why people keep saying the regionals won't exist or people aren't willing to fly for the regionals yet somehow they keep chugging along. Skywest had 78 new hires in April . Endeavor, commutair, and now even XJT have full classes. Think about that , there is no flying for XJT to do past Dec 31, 2017 and they are getting new hires! That says it all. People in here like to talk about a pilot shortage but in reality there isn't one. Regionals aren't going anywhere so everybody should probably dial back the excitement. There's plenty of pilots.

They aren't going anywhere just yet, but there will be contraction. 2016 has just been the very tip of the iceberg when it comes to the retirements at mainline. By 2018 things will be in absolute full swing and only increasing every year after that for a long time to come. 2016 has already been a year full of surprises and we aren't even to the busy summer travel season yet. 2017 will likely be even crazier in terms of industry upheaval. 2018 is when I fully expect the feces to hit the oscillator. Lots of movement off the top of seniority lists, but also lots of shrinking at the regionals combined with consolidation. In just 2 years it's hard to say what the regionals are going to look like. This industry is like a Ferris wheel. Those at the top inevitably come down, and those at the bottom eventually come up. It's all cyclical.

Did you find getting your cfi was particularly difficult?

I'll put it to you the same way a HR person put it to a group of us in a seminar a few years back. The #1 reason why military guys are preferred as new hires (in ANY industry, not just aviation) is because they know how to show up to work. Sometimes, on time, but quite frequently, ahead of time. Or words to that effect, it has been several years and MANY margaritas ago. Also, a lot of military pilots had aviation as their second job. Their first job was leading people or some sort of management skill set. The majors all want that in their future pilots. A pilot can fly a plane. A leader can fly a plane and lead people. Strive to improve your resume along these lines, and you may not be waiting nearly so long as that guy who has 10,000 hours TT yet cannot get an interview.

Also, everyone knows that a military pilot has been thru some of the best flight training in the world. Doesn't mean that every graduate is top notch, but the training was.

There are great pilots from every corner of the industry, and there are duds, and douches, as well. Civilian, foreign, and domestic civilian. Why can't we all just get along?

That is the product of newly minted CFIs with absolutely no knowledge of the industry not doing proper research. XJT now has a fancy marketing video and their recruiters are going to all these universities and convincing people that being on reserve for over 2 years and never upgrading is worth giving up because of the amazing contract.

Seriously, at this day and age it baffles me how some people will go into a place where they'll stagnate when there's regionals out there with virtually zero reserve, better pay and a 2-year upgrade.

It's kind of difficult to get along with those that label civilian pilots as second class citizens.

Good explanation. I come from the public safety sector where we were disciplined in a similar fashion as the military.

That particular knife cuts both ways, unfortunately.

And that should help you stand out among other applicants. Just have to put it at the top of your job skills. Put your flight hours near the bottom.

Face it; we all know people, from all backgrounds, who have no business being in a cockpit (or being in charge of a group of people, for that matter). Yet somehow, they make it. Probably because some CFI feels that "they will improve with time & experience".