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.
FWIW - the vast majority of my friends who went CG seem to regret it. A lot of them thought going back to LTJG would be fine, but once they left CNATRA and did the "real" CG, reality set in and having to requal on everything was frustrating to them among other issues.
For me: when I was in your shoes (ugh am I officially old?), I had a job offer in hand for a ANG unit (fixed wing) and a Regional. Then COVID happened and both job offers were put on "hold," but the Navy's clock to accept DH didn't stop ticking. I chose at the last minute to opt in, took the late bonus and haven't looked back. I was burnt out from the Disassociated Tour but went in with a fresh attitude into my DH tour and loved flying again, but by the end was also getting burnt out. Wife and I sat down and discussed that we'd choose "adventure" over "promotion-likely-path," and I've really enjoyed my post DH job for the most part. We intend on continuing to serve overseas for as long as the Navy will let us.
Ironically, the regional airline I was hired at still considers me a "cadet" and I can supposedly pick that back up when I want; I am also looking at other options post Navy as I've discovered that I enjoy flying, but I also enjoy other types of work too. Sometimes being in the room where big decisions are getting made (and having a small influence on them) is pretty neat too.
As I've been saying for years... I'll be in touch with you in a "few more years!"
But yeah man, I am glad things worked out for you. I remember some of those gut-wrenching decisions you were going through, especially right as COVID hit.
Go to the Guard and do both at the same time!
Got a buddy in the unit here who was a Spirit guy. He had been there long enough that (his words) "the company would have to fold altogether for me to be worried about my job".
He was interviewing with both AA and Delta.
A few months ago he got hired by American.
You'll never get your foot in the door with that attitude. While the F-35 and F-22 may not be in your future, you'd be surprised at the diverse aviation backgrounds of your standard ANG unit.
Where do you want to live? What do you want to fly? Would you want full time or part time orders? Do you have any connections to anyone in a Guard unit?
Just a follow up- word is that 93% of Spirit pilots applied United. One would presume similar % also applies to Delta and American and SWA. So 9/10 have been given consideration by at least one ALPA carrier, if not two.
I suspect there may be a push by the last 5% or so who aren’t on LTD and aren’t ready to retire to get picked up but I think most of the ones who were going to get picked up have been given CJOs already. In the last year or so the only ones I met who were having problems getting an interview had no form of degree, and the only ones I wondered if were going to get the job had negative attitudes when they showed up prior to the interview.
No…. Not even for a millisecond. I did drill to my Navy retirement but my buddies that stayed in versus my schedule are light years apart. I am glad I flew the garbage junior stuff when I was younger. Got hired at 33 and 22 years in and 4 to 9 left, probably just go part time at 60 cause I live in domicile and I will be stupid senior.