Military guy to regional?

[dudemize]

OK, here's the situation. I'm a C-5 pilot in the AF Reserve. I am in the process of upgrading to Aircraft Commander, so I should start logging PIC time in a couple weeks. Should I consider getting a job with a regional? I know the pay is horrible but I would hopefully balance that with the reserve stuff. Would Part 121 time along with the military time help me whenever the majors start hiring again? I've been pondering if I even want to go the airline route so I thought maybe the experience at a regional would at least let me see if I would enjoy the lifestyle long term. Would 121 time help me with the cargo players like Fedex or UPS? Or should I forget the 121 stuff and build PIC (probably 50-60 hours a month) in the Reserves? Sorry for the long post, but I'm very torn about this ! Thanks for the help!

 

[Hugh Jorgan]

If you can bag that many hours per month right now, do it! Heavy, Multi, Turbine, PIC is more valuable than anything else you can get at this point. Good luck!

 

[satpak77]

it was my understanding that military guys (Reserve, Guard) who were at the Regionals were highly desired by majors due to their "121 exposure"

that is just what I have heard over the years, I am non-military background

 

[BonesF15]

What Hugh said

Get the international, largest aircraft in the free world, PIC time as quickly as you can.
The rest should fall into place.
Not to mention all of that tax free income!

Bones

 

[Ih8AFYesmen]

Ask yourself.... where can I get the most amount of PIC hours? Is QOL an issue? Is $ an issue? If you answered yes to all three, then you'd want to stick with the FRED. $ and QOL in the regionals, from what I've heard, sucks the big one. The only thing missing in the reserves are the bennies for your dependents. If you are wanting to go to the regionals to feel things out in the airlines, I'm pretty certain that you won't enjoy it if QOL and $ are your goals. Life at a "good" major airline is peachy, but I've heard otherwise about the regionals. The rat race flying the FRED in the reserves is far better than flying for the regionals, in my humble opinion. Good luck!

 

[dudemize]

Thanks!

Thanks for the replies. I was leaning towards staying all military and you guys helped solidify my decision. I just started researching potential airline jobs, and it is kinda shocking how little regional guys get paid. I would definitely be using a lot of mil leave if I flew for a regional! Do the flight attendants get paid that little or do they make more than the pilots (or at least the F/O)? There is one dude in my sister squadron that works for a regional but I think he has been on mil leave almost the entire time. Any reason why I should consider doing that? I think I'll probably just keep flying Freddie and see how things pan out. Thanks again.