BigjetLiljet

Mine,

Hours vary while flying for the military. Flying is a secondary duty for many and I know lots of civilian pilots who have more hours than military folks. Civilian pilots are paid to fly verse military guys who have office duties, staff jobs and flying is secondary.

de727ups

"I just applied for Embry Riddle University to take the non military route."

OMG, that's a horrible idea. Been there, done that, have the t-shirt.

"Are there any airline pilots that are..."

I'd suggest that you go to Jetcareers.com - Welcome and read how the web master became a Delta pilot. He has a lot of good info at the home page about how to get into the career. Also, if you go to the perspectives link, you can read about how many other folks did it, including me.

After that, feel free to email me at [email protected] if you have other questions.

Airbum

I don't think attending ERU is the best way to go. Please run the math comparing your debt at graduation with your potential income as a CFI/Regional pilot for the 10 years following graduation.

Ask your parents to show you their monthly budget to get an idea on living expenses and what taxes do to your income.

Perhaps a good state school, many have aviation programs if you insist on a degree in that area.

rickair7777

I would also comment that there are better civilian paths than ERAU. It may have had some redeeming qualities back in the day, but not so much anymore.

The amount of hours you get in the military is largely irrelevant. The airlines prefer to hire military pilots, so their minimums are normally set so that a military pilot who has just finished his initial obligation will typically meet those mins. A fighter pilot will get 1000-2000, a non-fighter type probably several thousand more.

In a civilian flight training program you will spend $50-150K and get 200-280 hours. You will then spend ten years working in bad to marginal conditions, for very little pay building several thousand more hours before you get to the same major airline job in the end.

Either way, you are going to spend ten years getting there. Military pay and bennies are MUCH better aong the way, but you have to go to work when and where they tell you to.

I don't think that there is anything wrong with using the military as a path to the airlines...you just have to 100% committed to doing the military service while you are in. It will be more work then the civilian route.

XHooker

Before you pack up and move to Daytona Beach or Prescott, let me throw my two cents in. At 18, a ten year commitment seems like forever, but when you're in your early 30s it'll seem like nothing. I knew plenty of guys who went into military aviation to with the intent of becoming airline pilots or avoiding having to carry a gun and sleep in the jungles of SE Asia, only to decide military aviation is where they wanted to stay.

I've flown with lots of civilian only pilots who wished they had flown in the military, but never the reverse. Serving your country will probably be the second most important thing in your life, right behind being a parent.

That's not to say military service is all wine and roses. Military flight school will probably be the most difficult thing you do in your life, and there's no guarantee you'll get a pilot slot in the first place.

The people you associate with in the military will be a cut above those in civilian life. having said that, the military will break your heart...repeatedly. You will watch the finest people you know get passed over for promotion or command, and you will see butt kissers and backstabbers step on others while climbing the ladder. You will be disappointed with aircraft assignments, duty assignments, and a myriad of other issues. You'll serve under great officers and buffoons. You'll come to realize the military is a bureaucracy first, and defender of the nation second. IOW, the ideals don't live up to the reality. However, when it's all over, you'll realize, by and large, you'll never work with people with as much integrity or sense of purpose again in your life. That's the final way the military breaks you heart.

From a practical standpoint, you probably won't get your first choice of aircraft. You're AF ROTC, so I won't talk about helos in the Navy (about 1/3) or Marines (about 2/3). If you go fixed wing, you can leave the service confident you'll eventually get an airline gig. The reserves are an excellent way to supplement you income the first few years after leaving AD, a great plan B during strike, furlough, or while job hunting, and guaranteed retirement benefits when you turn 60.

Long story short...just because you're not positive about the military doesn't mean it's not for you. I'd hate to go through life wondering "what if..." Most of the (relatively small) regrets in my life are because of things I didn't try, not because of things I did try.

live2fly

Mine....

You seem like you are at least researching your idea of what you want to do. Which is by far going to give you a lot of opinions and ideas that you may not have come up with yourself. You really need to think about what you want out of an aviation career. Do want to be civilian trained or both or all military trained??? Now, I did both and you too can have the opportunity to take advantage of you career path and build great experiences along the way. You are in a postion were you can only benefit. I urge you to look over every possible scenario and situation, but remember what you do now will affect the next several years of your life! There will always be pros and cons to be looked at and some differ person to person. I would recommend that you check out civilian based flight training 141 schools that offer ROTC... not just ERAU, check out all before deciding! Then see what 4 year degree programs and if you can get ROTC to flip the majority of the bill. Then after accomplishing your four years and ROTC. Then its off the IFT/MFS/UPT then MWS schooling. If you choose Air Force plan on two years plus for pilot training and follow on training plus ten year obligation. no worries time flies. Now there is ways while in ROTC to find a guard/reserve job..rare but happens that you can go get into instead of active duty(whole different coversation)! But if you go this route you will be way more experienced at UPT then the 25 hour guys coming only from IFS. This will help you succeed in training and help you benefit by only assiting you in better picks at airframes that might be available. You will still be low enough time not to hurt your military training do to bad habits, versus guys with a little training. You will have one up and be able to zone in more on what important in the early stages of training rather than trying to learn the basics that you would have already learned in civilian training.
There is only one regret that I have when it comes to training and that is I didn't know about ROTC until about my junior year...plus my school didn't offer it.... So take advantage of free education and get the best of both worlds...! Plus, the aviation community is small you will have the opportunity to meet more people and start building a network of contacts civilian and military for your future aviation career!

Sputnik

Just like civilian employment.

Well stated