So, I’m a little less than a year from transitioning out of the military at age 42, and timing for the airlines is looking good! But…it’s been about 7 yrs since I’ve flown a manned aircraft (all my recent time is UAV). Before that, I racked up about 2300 ME jet time, so while my numbers may look good, they’re “old” numbers! My goal is to get to a major (Hawaiian being my top choice!), but my question is how best to get to that point. I imagine they won’t even look at me without recent (manned) time, so do I not approach them until spending some 121 time with the regionals, or do I show interest early? I’m assuming I’ll spend a year or three flying with a regional…given my long term goal, is there any advantage to trying out with someone like Island Air vs a contintental based regional, or is it the other way around given aircraft types/size and experience with a variety of destinations? Between now and when I’m “available”, I plan to knock out the ATP/CTP and written on my own dime, because I think it will demonstrate at least a currency of knowledge, and given the current regional bonuses I may see some of that $ back anyway. However, I’d be happy to hear of any holes in my plans.
Tim
(BTW, I posted here vs airlinepilotcentral because I’ve seen a lot of discussions degrade into unexplained opinions there, but have been impressed with the quality/impartiality of answers given by the mentors here…just sayin)