Career Path Question

[standbykid]

Forgive me if this has been asked and answered.

Do the majority of commercial pilots come from an air force? It was my impression that a pilot's career path was Air Force (or Navy) then leave (probably in your early 30's) and join an airline as FO with training then given on type.

It seems there are a lot more pilots who have learned privately than I thought.

[Dash8driver1312]

In my fleet, I've known two fast-jet pilots and one transport pilot. All the rest (we're talking a fleet of about 300 captains and copilots) have come up the private path.

[paco]

Not these days - the military realised long ago that it was cheaper to keep someone in than to retrain someone else.

Where it used to be thousands per year coming out, it is now in the low hundreds.