Thanks for the time. I am an F-18 USMC pilot type with 800hrs total time. I have not flown in 2 years simply because of military ground job requirements I.e. I’m not current. I complete my active service later this summer. I am currently planning on using my GI Bill to remove my centerline thrust restriction and pick up my restricted ATP. I have talked with a regional airline recruiter and they would put me through their training pipeline, but I am hoping that by getting my ATP on my own ahaed of time I might be able to skip straight to the majors. What do you think my chances of getting straight to the majors are right now with my limited total time and limited currency. Thanks again for your time.
I don’t mean to sound pessimistic here, but I don’t think that you have any chance at all of getting to the majors with 800 hours, even if you were current. You should plan in spending a few years at the regionals. With that in mind, I would save your GI benefits and let the regionals remove your centerline thrust restriction.
While flying F18s is of course a tremendous accomplishment, the fact that you can only get an R-ATP alone would preclude you from going straight to a Major. You’re going to need to build some time just to meet most of the Major’s minimums.
Thanks for the feedback, I really appreciate it. Even with those expectations, I believe using about 1/3rd of my GI bill would be beneficial in even the attempt of accelerating my progress through the regional airline training pipeline. From my perspective the sooner I can get in and get my number the better. Thanks again.
Sooner is always better. Just FYI the regionals will be happy to get you your R-ATP as part of your newhire training once you meet the mins. Save the money and the time.
You are correct, the requirement is 750 for military pilots. That being said, I will be absolutely shocked if a major airline hires you with 800 hours. Even if it was in the space shuttle, the quantity of time just isn’t enough and there are a lot of pilots, both military and civilian, that have thousands of hours and have a hard time getting on at a major.
You are correct, it’s 750hr total but also 200 cross country, and 100 night, . I have no idea if flights in the F-18 are cross country or night so I was just saying “when” to cover those if you haven’t.
I spoke to somebody very familiar with military hiring at my airline. I was told that for a military pilot, 2,500 hours is the bare minimum with 3,000 hours being a more realistic minimum.
I’m sorry if these two questions seem really ignorant, but I was wondering; if you get a “restricted” ATP by going through the military, university program, etc. with less hours, how do you get your license “un-restricted”? Do you have to retake the exam later? Is it even possible to get unrestricted? Does it matter even?
Secondly, I was wondering about airline preference to military veterans. I know that airlines like Delta, SW, and Hawaiian love military guys but do they only prefer military aviators? Would someone who was a soldier for example be looked favorably upon or just the same as a civilian?
Once you build the necessary flight time, you can take your log book to an FAA office where an examiner will review your flight time and then remove the restriction from your certificate.
While the airlines do appreciate military service, they are hiring people to be pilots, so military pilots would be looked on much higher than any other job in the military. While other military jobs will be respected, they won’t do much to get one hired as a pilot.
As you said there def are some airlines that really like military pilots as it’s a pretty “known” level of pilot. That said they still have to have the mins and also interview just like everyone else. Some do well, some don’t.
Which airline do you work for? Your profile does not say. How long ago was this? Was an hours adjustment for jet time applied? Thanks again for the insight.
I fly for United. I am flying with a new hire pilot that came from the Air Force. United does not allow for an hours adjustment, but some airlines allow for .3 hours per flight.
Anthony,
I’m not former military but long time Fedex. I tend to agree with most posters, your TT is going to keep you out of major airlines in the near term, Fedex requires 1000 TPIC which you are close to but still lack. I believe 2500 TT is also a requirement at Fedex. Your biggest asset is your connections from the military. Reach out to your colleges, especially the older, more senior ones that (presumably) are already in the airlines. Ask for references, letters of recommendations, and possibly a meet and greet at the airlines of your choice. In the mean time, shoot for a regional with quick upgrade time and try to get a position in training or flight check as soon as you can with that regional. Best of luck.