Hey, look. The internet tough guys is back. Welcome back, asshole. When you're done telling yourself how incredibly awesome you are, maybe you'll decide to stick around and contribute something valuable to the forum again.
But let's talk about what I do know, and how it's relevant to this thread. I do know that there is a shortage (let's read that as: near, if not, zero) TACAIR guys in the VTs. Understandable why, but the fact remains there are very very few folks to speak to how the other half lives. A guy comes here and explains why he's happy he selected what he did - and we're all happy for him, huzzah, good for him. However, it's also an opportunity to dispel a lot of the myths that are floating around the VTs, some of which you managed (somehow) to echo in your diatribe - that is: guys are getting hired from ALL communities.
Success! Getting RLSO all fired up! The true reason for my posting....
Yes, I enjoy my juvenile pleasures.
And why are you even posting about airline hiring? You used to claim you had no desire to ever fly for an airline. It's ironic that the guy who wanted nothing to do with the airlines is telling others what they need to get hired. I'm not a tough guy, I'm the guy who's been at a major airline for almost 15 years. You have nothing but second hand information at best yet you're telling people what they need to get hired.
I'm five months from retirement and balls deep in the airlines hiring process. Having listened to the hiring briefs at WIA, having done interview prep with ECC, and personally knowing 18 FAGs who have been hired over the last year at a major airline and reading their TRIP reports, the only thing certain in the hiring process for a major airline is you have to meet the min requirements and you have to network. Everyone of those 18 guys had someone either e-mail or walk their app to someone in hiring and shortly thereafter they received an interview call.
I have found it to be a common misconception with my bros in the fleet that being a mil pilot with an ATP guarantees you a job at a major airline. By most estimates, there are around 10,000 qualified mil & civilian folks who have their apps in for "the show". I have a buddy who is a 2800 hour F/A-18 RAG IP who retired last year and hasn't received one call and another buddy who has 1600 hours of Harrier & T45 time (and a DUI 20 years ago) who got called a few months ago by a major airline. The difference between the two is that one of those guys had a chief pilot meet & greet and the other has taken no time to meet anyone in the business.
TACAIR guys are absolutely getting hired at the majors now. Delta is hiring hundreds of pilots this year, United is hiring at least 1000 pilots this year. FedEx is hiring, AA is hiring, everyone is hiring. I even know a Navy helo pilot that got about 1200 in the T-34s for his last tour, flew King Airs in Afghanistan for a year, and was in a class at Delta within 15 months of leaving active duty. We are in the upswing for airline hiring and hiring is good. But when the cycle heads the other way, qualifications will be more closely looked at. When hiring is lean, those who fly aircraft that most match airline flying will get the calls first.
5 or 6 years ago you probably would not have seen those 18 FAGs being hired in a year. 5 or 6 years ago I knew many military pilots going to the regionals because the majors were barely hiring and were being very selective. True there were P-3 guys going regionals too but more P-3/C-130/USAF heavy guys were going to the majors than pointy-nose types. 5 or 6 years ago most of the pointy-nose types we hired at Hawaiian all had post-active duty flying in some sort of larger non-centerline thrust aircraft but we had a couple large aircraft military pilots straight from active duty. Airline hiring is cyclical.
During the lean times you will also be competing against civilian pilots with thousand of hours in transport category aircraft flying multi-piloted and in many cases with significant international experience. Again, HR computers are crunching the "quality" and picking those few who get interviewed. Computers aren't subjective. They compare apples to apples not oranges to apples. It's only after the computer/HR says you are good to interview will your LORs, Chief Pilot visits and other networking come into play. Airlines have started to be very strict with this HR process to protect themselves legally from accusations of discriminatory hiring practices so you won't see airlines going back to the old ways.
I never said not to fly TACAIR. I said if your goal is to do the minimum time as a military pilot and to use military flying as a stepping stone to the airlines, then P-8/P-3 aircraft are the way to go because their flying most resembles airline flying.
For me, back when I selected, I knew that post-mil career I would have an opportunity to fly a large, multi-engine, multi-crew aircraft so why not go fly a fighter-attack jet now since I had the chance. You can't say "well, after my mil career of flying KC-130s/P-3s/P-8s, I'm going to go fly fighter/attack jets and go land & takeoff of an aircraft carrier". To each their own.
If someone joins planning on doing a full career in the military I tell them to fly what they want and have fun. But there are a significant number who join either because they see military flying as a means to get the training for an airline career, or because while they want an airline career but what to serve first so they go military instead of a solely civilian flying path. It was toward these guys my post was directed.
Their sim time should be increasing though, are they taking those hours into account? Do they count Level D hours for the airlines? I know actual flight time is desired but if you have sim time augmenting, does that help?
No major airline counts any simulator time towards total time. If you included it in your total, it will probably get your application thrown out.
Thanks but it will be mostly lurking unless the opportunity for mischief is too good to pass up.
). Anyways, best of luck with selection to the SNAs on here, and regardless of what airframe you get, you will love your first tour if you go in with an open mind and positive mindset.
