What would the first year at United be like?

[waveflyer]

Last job you'll ever have
Congrats- you're all millionaires

 

[Andy]

Last job you'll ever have
Congrats- you're all millionaires

And that post was necessary because?

 

[Jetjockey]

Haters just going to Hate.

 

[waveflyer]

Hating's a compliment- take it as such

 

[Oh-ryan]

Anyone interviewed/hired with no internal recs lately?

Deafening response to this, so I guess I know the answer. How bout 3rd person recs? Friend of a friend kinda stuff? Weak, I know. Thanks.

 

[Andy]

Hating's a compliment- take it as such

Wave, you've been full of 'compliments' toward Delta and your new coworkers from AT. Is it really necessary to spread your 'compliments' to another airline?
Are you trying to compete with Gen Lee as the most 'popular' poster on this board?

Deafening response to this, so I guess I know the answer. How bout 3rd person recs? Friend of a friend kinda stuff? Weak, I know. Thanks.

Sorry, I have no idea what's going on as far as getting an interview. Just keep updating your app on a regular basis. I assume you're still on active duty; how close to separating are you? And don't forget to look for Guard/Reserve jobs if you're not retiring.

 

[Oh-ryan]

Retiring. Terminal leave in 21 months. Thanks for the advice, Andy.

 

[Andy]

Retiring. Terminal leave in 21 months. Thanks for the advice, Andy.

OK, it's WAY too early for you to hear from any airline. You'll be fine as long as the economy doesn't tank hard and/or the retirement age changes in the next couple of years. Don't expect to hear anything before 6 months prior to terminal leave. By then, the pool of qualified applicants at most airlines will be very thin; you will have interviews at multiple airlines before you retire.

 

[densoo]

Retiring. Terminal leave in 21 months. Thanks for the advice, Andy.

Consider early retirement. I wish I had! Small loss of pay (2.5%?) but a year more seniority, no loss of other VA/medical benefits. Ask airline pilots you know if a year would have made a huge difference at some point in their career, especially 1997/98 hires compared to 1999/00 hires. I expect many will say it made the difference between furlough or not, upgrade or not, commuting or not. Some amazing stories of "if I had been hired six months earlier."

USAF 2013 Early Retirement

The window this year has passed but there will likely be a similar one next year, considering the sequestration continuing and government gridlock for the foreseeable future.

 

[densoo]

To continue, in the 1980s the Pentagon asked a couple of professors at USAFA to make an economic comparison of an airline career vs a military career to see if they could mitigate a cyclical shortage of military pilots. Their study showed that a if a military pilot resigned (early retirement didn't start until the 1990s) even as late as 19 years in the service, and immediately got a legacy airline job, that one year of greater seniority (in cumulative incremental advantage of pay scale on larger equip earlier, left seat earlier, etc) would in the end offset the entire lifetime of retirement pay they would have forfeited.

After this made its rounds at the decision-maker level they to realized they could not compete head-to-head, but they did start the pilot incentive/bonus program of $12k/year, up to six years, 50% paid on the day of signing and the other 50% distributed evenly and annually over however many years signed up for. It got folks to extend their commitment past their 0-4 board and, once that far, many stayed for 20.

Caveats: airlines paid a lot more when this study was done, pilots got a dump truck full cash at retirement, and I don't think it considered medical benefits as I believe it was assumed the airline would provide them.

PS, the professors, both military pilots, resigned shortly after.