I guess I'll jump in here
Don't know if there are any others on here that have been an Air Marshal
I am a retired Air Marshal, served from shortly after 9/11 until mid 2008. Like most of those who joined the program, I came from a different Federal LE Agency, others came mostly from local LE agencies or Military.
Let me address the questions and Misconceptions.
First, all those working on an commercial aircraft have equally important jobs and it all focuses on safety of the flying public. I would never say my job was more important than the FA's on a flight. In my experience the majority of the FAs I dealt with were absolute professionals. In fact they had to put up with more crap than I ever would have.
Locality pay and LEAP pay amount to another 25-40% on top of that... how dare a air marshall make more than the a-line flight attendant!
He's right, Law Enforcement Availability Pay (LEAP) is computed at 25% of your base pay + Plus Locality Pay (Cost of living allowance based on local areas) LEAP sounds like a great deal, sometimes its not, its based on the assumption that you'll be on call (available) for at least 10 hours a week to work on unscheduled events. Agency heads generally interpret that to mean working 10 hours extra a week. For FAMs, at least most of the time, over the course of the month or year it all equals out, if something happens, you work extra hours, but other times your flight is canceled and you get a short out and back and a short day instead. There have been times where I worked several days without a break and no overtime, one I can think of is Airport security in New Orleans after the hurricane.
FAMs are currently involved in a Lawsuit over the agency taking advantage of LEAP laws in order not to pay overtime when it was legally called for.
If you are interested in a career in aviation or law enforcement this is NOT the job for you.
That depend on you, I wouldn't say don't do it! Like any job, it has its pluses and minuses, The physiological demands of flying are well documented, add to that the shear boredom of sitting and trying to stay vigilant for a 13 hour overseas flight, napping is generally frowned on.
The agency, at least in my office was not family friendly, in their minds the job comes before family, no matter what!! FAMs have a extremely high divorce rate. I was lucky, my wife was a FAM as well, we didn't see much of each other but at least she understood what was going on.
I don't know about that... I heard that the Air Marshalls are like the regionals of the federal law enforcement world -- lots of people bail out to better pastures.
I'm not sure if the FAMs are any worse than any other Federal agency, grass is always greener
A lot of guys went back to their old agencies early on if they could, and we did lose quite few to stupid FAM tricks
I've actually heard it's a mind-bogglingly boring job.
I'm sure it would have it's good & bad points, but it's not the job for me. The air marshalls I've met have all been fine men & women, and I have nothing but respect for them.
Absolutely, not for those looking to bust heads on a daily basis. Its requires patience and the ability to entertain yourself
I would take a FA with a drink cart over a air marshal for my safety.
Until you really need one, I think I'll leave it at that.
Seems like the average tenure is 2-4 years. Pay is ridiculously high when factoring in LEAP/Locality Pay, but even that doesn't keep people around. There are ground assignments, but it sounds like they're few and far between. In short, it sounds like there's ZERO professional development for a large majority of FAMs... they have no place to go within the service.
I think your estimate on tenure is a bit short, and most of those who have the higher pay have many years of service in Law Enforcement prior to the FAMS, other than that you hit the nail on the head
Schedule-wise, it seems like you'll be home more FREQUENTLY than a pilot, but the quality of that time is questionable. Instead of being off for three entire days, you might be home 3 nights a work-week, but not for long periods of time.
Sometimes!! But on the other hand, I had schedules that had me overnight out, a short (less than eight hours) overnight at home and another overnight out, and a short weekend. Rinse, repeat for the whole 28 day schedule. We generally flew four or five days a week, with training days worked in.
do air marshals get frequent flyer points? If so, that would be another perk of the job.
No, they do get hotel points though, after two years I'm still burning them.
No, since the government doesn't buy tickets... as I understand it is the law that you must take the air marshals. Even the TSA would go bankrupt if they had to buy full fare tickets for FAMs!
BINGO
Sec. 108.14 Transportation of Federal Air Marshals.
(a) Each certificate holder shall carry Federal Air Marshals, in the
number and manner specified by the Administrator, on each scheduled and
public charter passenger operation designated by the Administrator.
(b) Each Federal Air Marshal shall be carried on a first priority
basis and without charge while on official duty, including repositioning
flights.
(c) Each certificate holder shall assign the specific seat requested
by a Federal Air Marshal who is on official duty.
[Doc. No. 24714, 50 FR 27925, July 8, 1985]
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Hmm, I've heard otherwise - Y class tickets. I certainly could be wrong, though.
You are
If they are not working a flight (going to training or whatever) the government pays for it and it is usually a Y class ticket.
The only place to apply is USAjobs.gov any one saying they can do it for you is a fraud.:bandit:
If you have any questions PM me
