military + civil
Before the thread drifts to the area civil v. military pilots, grant me (as an old military pilot) a few remarks of caution here.
Where the sun is shining, also shades can be found.
Imho there are excellent civil trained pilots (and i hope most of them) and there are some, who would be better off to leave the industry.
There are excellent military pilots in their military job, the below average and most of the average ones are washed out of flying during training, during the job on the line, and sometimes due to accidents. Money is not a player, skill and dedication to the job does the magic.
To assume, that a military trained pilot would automatically be a better civil pilot, is not true. Some would not cope with the new task, would not be happy with the new job and the restrictions it comes with. There are others, who adopt well and fly happy until their retirement.
What makes the difference?
Some of the points had been anounced already here and in another thread. The military system in choosing only the best suited to get into sthe system and even then phases out those, who cant cope with the speedy (time restricted) and in depth academic and flying training. You get only a few chances to repeat a test or to do a recheck after a failed flight, after that you are out. That makes him a highly qualified military pilot. You can not buy into becoming a military pilot, you have to earn it by talent and performance.
The civil system today has no structures and no bones. Who ever has the money, can learn and train in some flying shack and try again and again to become a pilot, and if he does not run out of money he will get a licence, buy a type rating and some hours, and end up in a cockpit. It is mostly a question of spent time and available money, not much one of talent and detication. Even if this pilot is below average, he will find some company in some world on this planet who will employ him for few bucks and sell tickets to passengers. If this guy is lucky, he may become a average pilot someday, but he will never be outstanding. And the danger will be, that he stays below average. Fortunately thats only the shadow, there is lots of sunshine as well.
Most airlines hire on the free market and are not connected to any kind of training system, how will they know what kind of pilots they hire? The spent bucks will be the main motivation for preselection and hiring.
It is therefore not a question of military or civil, it is a question of preselection, training, supervision and continuos training on the job.
The two discussed systems can learn from each other.