Weekend Warrior and an Airline Pilot all at the same time???

[SRA_kbad]

Hey everybody,
I wanted to ask if anybody knew how the airlines react to a pilot applicant that is serving as a traditional Guard/Reserve. Does the airline allow that one weekend off a month to serve, or do they generally not hire Reservists at all?

I'm palace chasing from the active duty AF in April. I'll be stationed at
March ARB in Socal where I'll be completing my flight training at ATP Riverside. I plan on instructing for a while before I even think about applying for the airlines. I'm just trying to plan ahead a little bit, thats all.
Thanks a bunch folks!!!

[MSUDAWG]

some of them really like military guys.....As for giving you the time off, its not whether they want to or not they HAVE to.......

[falconvalley]

There's a bunch of us at my airline. Some are military mechanics, like me and some are pilots. Most companies have a "show us your orders and you're good to go" policy about absences.

There's an entire organization dedicated to this sort of thing:

http://www.esgr.org/

I would guess that most airlines are listed with them.

[fiveninerzero]

You'll be able to take military leave whenever you need to...

[SRA_kbad]

Originally Posted by falconvalley

There's a bunch of us at my airline. Some are military mechanics, like me and some are pilots. Most companies have a "show us your orders and you're good to go" policy about absences.

There's an entire organization dedicated to this sort of thing:

http://www.esgr.org/

I would guess that most airlines are listed with them.

Thanks for the link!!! I'm a mechanic as well. That info is sure good to know. A million thanks!!!

[SRA_kbad]

Originally Posted by fiveninerzero

You'll be able to take military leave whenever you need to...

As an AF Reservist, I don't believe that you can just take leave for a drill weekend. Correct me if I'm wrong, but unless you have some sort of emergency go down that weekend, ordinary leave is out of the question.

[fiveninerzero]

Originally Posted by SRA_kbad

As an AF Reservist, I don't believe that you can just take leave for a drill weekend. Correct me if I'm wrong, but unless you have some sort of emergency go down that weekend, ordinary leave is out of the question.

I was talking about your civilian job. As the site above states, you have protection under Federal law to take leave from your job to fufill your military obligations and expect to return with your job waiting. If they try and act funny towards hiring you in an interview, then that is a smelly fish.

[SRA_kbad]

Originally Posted by fiveninerzero

I was talking about your civilian job. As the site above states, you have protection under Federal law to take leave from your job to fufill your military obligations and expect to return with your job waiting. If they try and act funny towards hiring you in an interview, then that is a smelly fish.

Ooopss... my bad

I kinda had a feeling that some sort of law existed. Thanks for bringing that up.
Your right about the "smelly fish".

[dudemize]

It is becoming readily apparent that the airlines are hiring fewer reservists. As we were discussing in the squadron the other day, we aren't doing ourselves any favors with the excessive mil leave usage. There is some definite "poisoning of the well" going on.

When the question of mil leave comes up in a job interview as it did at my CAL interview, that is never a good sign. I wasn't hired. Of course there is no way to prove that it was due to my military commitments.

[SRA_kbad]

Originally Posted by dudemize

It is becoming readily apparent that the airlines are hiring fewer reservists. As we were discussing in the squadron the other day, we aren't doing ourselves any favors with the excessive mil leave usage. There is some definite "poisoning of the well" going on.

When the question of mil leave comes up in a job interview as it did at my CAL interview, that is never a good sign. I wasn't hired. Of course there is no way to prove that it was due to my military commitments.

That does suck. The fact that you can't prove it is what burns me. I really don't see what the big deal is anyways. All we're talkin' is one flippin' weekend a month (unless you're deployed). Are they really worried about that much leave? Strange.

[C650CPT]

Originally Posted by SRA_kbad

Hey everybody, that one weekend off a month to serve, or do they generally not hire Reservists at all?

I had to laugh at this untill I re read it and realized you're a mechaninc (which is how I started my Miitary career). You may be able to manage your Military career as mechaninc doing just one weekend a month, plus the two week summer camp, but remember as you grow in that position and become the TI you may have more of a requirement / opportunity to do additional pay periods during the year.
The initial reason I laughed was as a pilot/officer I spend alot more than just one weekend a month fullfilling my obligations. I would say on average I spend 6 days a month doing Guard Duties. I'm fortunate in that I can do my duty according to my schedule, not every one has that kind of flexability.

Jim