Thanks for posting - I have a similar situation/question. I was a military pilot for many years, left to get a "real job," and am missing it all! I has been about 7-8 years since I maintained my currency, and I am researching what the path looks like for returning to flying and applying for an airline job. I know I can use GI Bill benefits to help cover the costs of additional ratings - I need my ATP and do not have a type rating - and am open to any other advice on getting recurrent and qualified to the point of becoming a competitive candidate once again. Thanks!
I have a close friend who was in just your same boat about 6 months ago. He is a retired AF fighter dude who took a 5-year detour working for USAA and, although the money was good, he just had the itch to get back flying again.
He bought himself a couple hours at the local air patch to get himself a flight review, and then applied at several regionals. He was hired by XJT (he lives in Dallas, so he picked it based on the DFW base), who paid for his CTP prior to training and his ATP as part of training.
One of his hurdles was that he had the centerline thrust restriction on his CMEL. Initially XJT told him he had to go take a checkride to remove the centerline restriction before showing up to training, but XJT later worked with the FAA to add in the Vmc demo into their training program and allowing CL-restricted pilots to get their ATP in initial qual with no additional training. Although several regionals are currently including the CTP as part of their hiring process, not all of them have the ability to train CL-restricted pilots. If you are a pointy-nosed guy, this may apply to you, too -- if it does, that's a question you need to ask as you send out applications and accept interview invites. If this is a player, also note that the contractors aren't doing CTPs or CL-restriction removal as part of any of their training programs.
IMHO this is a great path to take. The contractors are a much less sure path to the majors than going to the regionals. I know a number of non-current (but otherwise highly qualified) military pilots who have taken this route to get back into the game. I went to the 121 regionals myself, after retiring from the AF non-current a year ago. I started getting interview calls from the majors after about 6 months and 200 hours flying at the regionals.
On the same token, I know a number of guys flying at the contractors who aren't getting interview calls even after a year or two of overseas flying.
@bunk22? What's your take on this -- you're way more recent in working with these guys and trying to get interviews.
There is some good reading on precisely this same subject over on APC if you are so inclined to look for it. I give the same advice over there as here; I think the regionals are a better overall path to the majors than the contractors are (if you can stomach the pay hit).
http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/military/92097-af-airlines-8.html#post2054665 (lots of chaff to sift through in this thread, but some good nuggets of info)
http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/military/92097-af-airlines-8.html#post2054665
http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/military/94890-getting-back-saddle.html
http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/military/7129-centerline-thrust.html
http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/military/92748-rehack-se-turbop-majors.html
