Lots of folks do TAR VR for a tour and then bounce to the airlines and stick around the squadron as SELRES. That’s another option.
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The SHOW: Airlines still a "good gig"??
- Thread starter A4sForever
- Start date
Yes, many airlines have such provisions. Specifically, they’re likely to have them if the pilots come from fellow ALPA carriers like Spirit is.
An example from the Delta pilot contract:
The Company will offer preferential interviews for employment to airmen employed by carriers whose airmen were represented by the Association at the time those carriers ceased operations, subject to the Company’s objectives for diversity and experience among newly hired pilots and subject to Section 1 D. 10.
2 of my HC-6 phrog squadronmates left AD at MOS and went ANG - both C-130's - NY and Colorado. Both retired from Guard as O-5s.
They'll get taken care of appropriately, at least as much as hiring at the majors will allow. Sort of a non-sequitur, but I don't think the coming short term is gonna be good to our aspiring RTP or otherwise low mil-FW time/green 1500 hr ATP friends leaving AD. For those that this matters to. Maybe too short to really have an effect if things do turn around quickly in terms of fuel costs, but I do sense a major contraction in the industry beginning to occur. It's not official, but the signs are out there. My shop just bid for a June "reduced bid option", which is basically half a month's work/pay, in return for being ineligible for adding any extra trips/pay. Totally voluntary, and we always have them in the off-months like Jan-Feb/Oct, but June should normally be the start of "all hands on deck" season. I bid for and received it because that's awesome for my personal program/summer time off, but I think it is an ominous indicator.
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I was where you were at a few years ago. HSC -> VT IP, now flying 121 wide bodies. The VP folks in my instructor tour were almost all headed straight to legacy jobs in the 2016-2019 timeframe but there was well tread ground for the RTP programs. I didn't "fully commit" until my disassociated tour, which almost broke me as a human being. I then lived through leaving active duty in Jan 2020, COVID, a furlough during Basic Indoc, retaining on active duty, one year disassociated orders, resigning again, a Skilbridge Internship, Regional Indoc, being a regional CRJ FO, getting hired at my "dream airline", an economic downturn, seniority stagnation for 4 years, contract drama, and on and on. Now we're on trending to an upturn and things feel pretty good!
I moved back to my midwest hometown area and it fucking rules. I commute, oh well, but it works for my family. I'll never have to move again unless I chose to. I have college buddies I play golf with on my days off, neighbors who come over for poker and bourbon, season tickets to a local theater, a hunting club membership, and on and on levels of shit I missed out on while I was on active duty and missed dearly. I'm super proud of what I did on AD, I've made lifelong friends from the Navy I'd consider close than my actual siblings, and I'm still slinging it as a SELRES trying to maximize smart and minimize bullshit for myself and my sailors on the off chance my country needs me again.
I say all that, just to say, you probably know how you feel deep down. I was not a player in my community, so I have no regrets. If you're upwardly mobile in your community and want to make a play for DH and CO, go for it. If you want to do DH and then find some cool off the path job, go for it. If you're proud of what you've done and want to turn flying into "just a job" so you can focus on your life, go for it. The industry's tolerance for rotor trash ebbs and flows, but once you get in at your destination, no one gives a shit.