Leaderboard

Every person has a unique situation and at the end of the day I strongly encourage each person to follow the path that provides the most happiness and satisfaction to both you AND your family. Honestly I did not put as much thought into the “after” plan as I should have. I’ve invested well and don’t need to work, but as I got closer I decided I still wanted to avoid becoming a sloth and do something meaningful, at least for a few years. I hit the button a year in advance and the airline gig was really heating up, with over 4,000 hours TT and 2500+ IP time I thought it was a no-brainer, I could work part-time make decent cash and have the travel benefit for my family. I obviously have many bros at Delta and Fedex and they shared the good and the bad, so I decided to make that plan A. My plan had two basic flaws that were mistakes on my part, not insurmountable, but still limitations I needed to overcome. 1. I had been sitting at a desk for the last two years NOT flying. 2. I had not completed my ATP and now had to do the ATP/CTP course. I started flying private again and signed up for the CTP deal (what a complete waste), and built my application on airline apps. I hit the apply button with the written complete and provided updates with the CTP complete, new hours flown and finally added my ATP practical two weeks after my retirement ceremony. When I hit the last update button with the ATP complete I thought, “ok the phone will ring any day now”…it did not. Luckily I talked to a lot of folks (including Rainman), and I had a plan B that I was also working. There are MANY resources for vets and Rainman walked me through several I had never heard of which, one really really helped (https://www.acp-usa.org/). In very short order I was contacted about several positions, I had not applied to any of them, all word of mouth through my network. I made it to the final two for a very senior job and was a bit relieved when I did not get it (location). Over the course of a month I interviewed with several major defense contractors, with Google, with one of the largest food production companies, and with a major university. I don’t want this to turn into a dissertation but I learned some valuable lessons. 1. Industry is STARVED for leadership. 2. Industry professes to love Vets but in reality they are very concerned about them. Many think every Vet has PTSD. 3. Most jobs come from contacts and networking. 4. Industry has all the same problems and BS the military has. As a SQ/CC, Grp/CC, Wg/CC I had to deal with DUIs, Rapes, theft and other buffoonery. I have encountered many of the same issues at my current level in Industry. After a flurry of interviews things went quiet for a while which was EXTREMELY frustrating. Industry hiring moves at a glacial pace and I began to contemplate outright retirement. I was REALLY shocked the airlines hadn’t called and am honestly still somewhat perplexed by that fact. I have since learned how important recency is to the majors, I get it they are the pros, but it does not make sense to me. When I returned to fly as a O-5 it took two weeks to requal. When I returned as an O-6 I was scheduled for 10 rides, I did three rides and proficiency advanced to my checkride as a mission IP. I was flying civilian but still had less than 100 hours in the last six months…oh well it is their ball and their game, they get to make the rules. Four months later I got the call from Delta, over nine months after I first hit apply. The next day I got a call from a company I interviewed with early on…the made me an offer (turns out they were waiting for a senior dude to say yes and he didn’t know he had to say yes.) I sat down with my family and we had some long deliberations. Every situation is different and my family was tired of me being gone all the time. My son was established in school so taking a position with Delta was going to mean commuting and sitting reserve in a crash pad for at least a year. I must say after going through all the asspain it was not easy to call Delta and say "no thanks!" In the end I was able to parlay the industry position into a remote position working from my house. My company flies me to the home office once a month and I generally leave on Monday morning and return Friday night. The other travel has ramped up a bit but some of that is seasonal, some was unexpected because our company is GROWING, and the rest is self-imposed. I ended up starting at about 7-8 year airline pay, well over that with my annual bonus which means I can do this for a few years and walk away with another chunk of $ to add to my portfolio. We bought a few new toys but I have managed to save every penny of my retirement check. It was not a simple choice but it works for me and most importantly my family.

Hey y'all, I was a little more active on here a few years back when applying to guard units but have lurked off & on since then. I live in Houston where, as most are aware, we had some pretty gnarly flooding from Hurricane Harvey. As shitty as the situation has been for so many in the area, it has largely brought out the best in people. My wife and I were lucky enough to be spared from anything serious, but homes just a few blocks away were inundated with floodwater. Watching USCG helicopters snag folks from rooftops just a few streets over was pretty surreal. The other day, I watched a -130 refueling a couple pavehawks directly over my neighborhood. I grew up around AF bases, so seeing aircraft overhead is something I'm pretty used to. Watching them putting in serious work to help save lives was something new entirely. With that said, I'm sure more than a few of you on here have been involved, either directly or indirectly, with rescue, recovery, and aid efforts in response to the storm. On behalf of everyone in Houston and SE Texas, I just wanted to say thanks. If you've ever in the area, let me know and beers are on me.

Pancake, Business jobs are completely varied. Comparing upper level management benefits is futile. And a part of that is what you negotiate (already mentioned by others). And even if you knew my base salary, I wouldn't want to try to explain the metrics associated with the bonuses I was eligible for since it would put you to sleep. Additionally, you contradict yourself. You say the pay and benefits in the airlines are great, but you're not satisfied. Then go find something that will satisfy you, if that's what's important. But don't complain about the lack of pay information here: you've already stated your current well-paying gig isn't cutting it, so what does it matter? As for executive level jobs, if you weren't an O-6 who can get an executive headhunter, you better have networked very, very well over the past few years. As a retired O-5, getting directly into the Executive Director job, my situation isn't too common. And it didn't happen by accident. If that's what you're looking for, do you have those kind of connections? Finally, you can do another job AS an airline pilot. I met a jumpseater that was furloughed for 9 years, and went and got a law degree. He does wills, trusts, and that sort of thing on layovers. In my case, I am doing a plethora of odd, part-time jobs that are "satisfying". You should have the time to do something satisfying too. My gut feeling is that you just need to think outside the box.

To be honest, I don't think we really need a fly-only track and a leadership track. We just need to stop punishing people who end up flying the line on promotion boards. At a time when we can't fill cockpits, we're still not promoting the very guys we need to fill the cockpits - the senior, grey beard IP/EP (or, in my case, IW/EW) who has deployed multiple times, worked in safety, worked in stan/eval, etc. These are THE experts that the commanders lean on for flying knowledge, and they're essentially being told they are less valuable due to not going to staff...even though we're also telling them they can't go to staff because there aren't enough people to fill the cockpits. I get that the shiniest pennies will go to school followed by staff...but that's only your top 10-20%. What should be of far greater concern, to both us on the line and the Air Force as a whole, is what do you do with the other 80-90%?

$50 increase for the senior pilots/IP/EPs that have been flying their asses off in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and HOA? That's like tipping your barber $1 after she spends 30-45 min cutting your hair. Might as well keep your $1 and go down to the BX barber if you can't afford the quality haircut. Also, CSAF needs to take the reigns on communicating anything related to pilot retention. He does much better than the others. This is a PR nightmare and casts a negative perception to the pilot retention crisis, as HAF is calling it. CSAF needs to communicate pilots that this is not in any way a measure of retention for the guys punching at initial UPT ADSC completion. Be honest and tell us that this is to incentivize the 14yr officer to stay 20 to retirement (because that's the only thing it does).

Spot on! EAA is a great deal, we have guys flying RVs, light sport homebuilts and classics such as a beautiful 1947 Howard DGA (looks brand new) and another guy with, I kid thee not, a 450 Stearman, the only flying Boeing 40 in the world and just finished restoring and now flying a 1943 Grumman Goose. I have been very active with my local EAA Young Eagle program in the last four or so years. In the time I've been involved, our chapter has flown just over 431 kids. Sent one kid the EAA Air Academy in Oshkosh, he went on to college for an Aviation Business degree with a minor in flight and just learned another kid who we gave an Eagle ride to years ago just earned the gold wings of a Coast Guard aviator. Good times inspiring the next generation of recreational and professional aviators. Just for the record, I work as a "crewchief" escorting the kid, mom/dad out to the plane and back. Being retired MX guy I don't miss the BS of active duty, but miss being around the airplanes. I however, am spending the elephant dollars to earn my PPL so maybe next season I can do some flying as well. Fun being back on the ramp even if the environment is completely different.

You own a plane because it's what you love to do and don't mind spending your hard earned cash on it. With the right airport community, you're also getting into a community filled with great people. There's always someone hanging around to BS with, go fly with, that knows how to fix something you need fixed, or someone willing to share flight time in each others planes. I've spent many a cookout by the hangar, drinking beer and talking shop...good times. But what you're ultimately paying for, is the convenience and the ability to stroll out to the hangar and go fly, anytime you want. You don't worry about availability, hours of operation, taking it out of town for a week, or dropping into a local grass strip. If you're worrying about pinching pennies and running a CBA on it, then renting will save you lots of headaches. Also, for insurance reasons, I don't think any FBO would let you instruct in their planes.

Hasn't stopped him from trying...

For one, the WG/CC (likely the Convening Authority) doesn't make the decision to accept or reject the FEB findings -- that is the MAJCOM/CC's determination. The Convening Authority makes a recommendation based on the findings of the FEB, but the actual decision and signature is the realm of the 4-Star. Second, these differences between FEB findings and final decisions happen quite regularly, unfortunately. The process is quite open about the fact that FEB findings are only recommendations. It is moronic that the system has this "due process" and Commanders can do whatever they please regardless of the findings of that process, but it is part-and-parcel with other administrative things Commanders are authorized to do under the UCMJ. The FEB is essentially just a decisionmaking aid for the Commander.