Trucky,
I would tend to agree with what Andy has to say on the subject, but there are a lot of folks out there who have got a flying job through the ops route, in fact as I have said on these pages before some of the best ops bods I have worked with are now (unfortunately !!!) flying.
If I can be constructive and chip in my 2p's worth (based on experience) if you are serious, you MUST convey the conviction that whilst in Ops, you are an Ops bod first, and a pilot second. I cannot emphasise this enough.
Many Ops Managers will take on someone in your position, especially some of the smaller regionals and GA companies, where 2 or 3 years loyalty in ops, being brutally realistic is about all you can expect from anyone, regardless of their ambitions these days.
In such an environment you are very likely to come into contact with the Chief Pilot / Ops Director on a daily basis, but at the end of the day he/she couldn't give a damm how good a pilot you are when you are on your ops shift. However given time, if you are good at the job, they will start to trust you and that is when you are in strong position to progress, but be prepared to be patient it can take years, not months to gain trust and respect from guys who can normally sniff a rat at 20 paces.
I have witnessed at first hand guys who after 3 months were banging the FOD's door down when a recruitment drive was on, suffice to say they were despatched back to P45 land quick sharp, and everyone looses out
Be prepared for knock backs though, as I know some Ops Managers who will not even interview you if they know of your ambitions, but take interview as it comes and change the script slightly for each occasion !!!
Good luck I am sure the competition has never been so stiff, and if you are lucky, just don't piss on your ops mates 5 years down the line !!!!!
TG
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