re: Is it more difficult to become an airline pilot or a fighter pilot?

I don't think you have much of a shot at a seat in a fighter if you dont go through Air Force/Naval academy.

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My dad's a pilot and one of my best friends so...

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So you've been in the cockpit with him?

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I’ve always heard that becoming an airline pilot for one of the big four airlines (Delta, Southwest, United, American) is super difficult and arguably harder than becoming a fighter pilot in the Air Force. Is this true? Just wanted some opinions.

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Depends on your definition of “difficult”

I don’t have military flying experience, but becoming an airline pilot comes down to two things, time and money.

Starting at zero hours it’s about a 3.5-4 year journey to get all certificates, endorsements, and flights time (minimums) to even be sniffed by the *regional* airlines. You wont be flying for a major until you’ve spent time in the left seat of the small jets for a few years at least.

Cost these days will run ~100k to get you to previously stated minimums. Could be a few thousand, give or take, but that depends on how often you fly and how well you retain the training material.

As far as material goes. It’s about as difficult as any professional training goes. I tell people it’s about as difficult as a four year university. You’ll need to actually sit down and study the stuff to pass check rides and eventually get hired.

For those who coast through and never really learn the material, they will be exposed through several check ride failures which will make it harder (if not impossible) to go to the airlines.

What a lot of people don’t realize as well is the ebb and flow of the industry. 8 months ago, if you could write your name correctly and you had 1500 hours you could get hired.

Now, you have to jump through more hoops than you can fathom and even then, they only take the best candidates.

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Call your congressman and see if you can get a nomination and transfer to the Air Force Academy.

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This means starting over as a freshman

I work on the C130J program in Marietta GA. I would say military 99% of the pilot’s retire and then go to Delta. I also knew another guy that went to civilian pilot school. He racked up 125 grand in flight school. Last time I talked to him he is flying right seat (co-pilot) CRJ700, because he never got a college degree.

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Becoming a major airline pilot is way more likely because all you need is time and money.

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maybe if you're a non-white, non-male, otherwise that's a load of crap

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My dad's a pilot and one of my best friends so...

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I remember about 20 years ago one of my wife's younger cousins was arguing with me about a basic legal issue. After 5 minutes of me explaining why she was wrong, she had to remind me her father was an attorney seemingly forgetting she was talking to an attorney. This strikes me just like that.

As far as the free military option goes. You can also do a non flying job in the guard or Active duty and get most of the cost of civilian training paid for while your in or after you get out also. (Try to get one that’s related (air traffic, mechanic, etc)
This is sometimes a better option to become a pilot.

Most military pilots aren’t getting many flight hours, and I’ve seen some after 10+ years get out with as much flight time as a kid one year out of civilian school. You won’t be walking into an airline job.

Pretty strict vision requirement for military pilots not sure exactly but uncorrected 20/20 I think

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Pretty strict vision requirement for military pilots not sure exactly but uncorrected 20/20 I think

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Back in my day, it was uncorrected. Now, I believe it can be corrected 20/20.