Where should I apply for the job in airline or MRO?

What job in the air force should I do to eventually become an airline pilot?

• I want to become a commercial airline pilot when I'm older and based on everything I've read you pretty much have to go into the air force to have a reasonable shot at getting a job at an airline. Do you have to be an actual pilot in the air force to get a job at an airline afterwards or can you do any other job that has to deal with aircraft? If you can do any jobs other than being a pilot, what are they? I would like to be an air force pilot but since it's much more competitive, takes longer, and has more requirements I was just wondering if there's something else that would work.

• Answer:

  Air Force pilot is the ONLY job that will prepare you to become a Commercial Airline Pilot. That's it. To become a Commercial Airline Pilot, you will need about 3000 flight hours plus all of your pilot certificates: Commercial, Instrument, Multi-Engine, Airline Transport, and Type Ratings in multi-engine turbo-jet airplanes. You will have about 12-15 years of experience flying in all kinds of weather, day and night with ever-increasing size aircraft before the airlines will even interview you. Military pilots get to these qualifications a little faster than the civilian-trained pilots, plus they have flight hours in very complex military aircraft, including huge transports like the C-5B and C-17. Very similar to airliners size-wise. The airlines love to hire military pilots. Not just military, but military pilots. So let's back up, you'll need a four-year college degree in engineering, physics, math, or other hard science to be selected as a pilot in the Air Force through ROTC or OTS. The Air Force trains about 230 pilots per year and the competition for those slots is absolutely fierce. If you can meet those requirements, go for it. Good luck!