Serving your last assignment in the military and wondering what’s next? When civilian life is just around the corner, it can seem impossible to plan for a financially sound future while still on active duty. And yet, as daunting as it seems, creating a plan now for a successful civilian career is one of the best decisions you can make for your future self. If you’re a current helicopter pilot with a year or less left until your End of Active Service (EAS), there are steps you can take now to start pursuing a career with the airlines that’ll have you career-ready by the time you retire.

When you’ve spent your military career flying multi-million-dollar aircraft, it can be hard to settle into a cubicle for the rest of your life. And yet, many of the world’s top performing military aviators have found themselves in just this situation. Whether they were unable to get “current” prior to leaving service or thought a desk job was the only viable option for entering the civilian workforce, many military pilots are now looking for a way to get back in the saddle, years and even decades later. To coin a phrase, they’re ready to re-transition into aviation.

Recent Boeing projections show that the world will need to produce twice as many commercial pilots over the next 20 years. Concerns are mounting in the wake of a recent announcement revealing an unprecedented pilot shortage. According to yearly projections from Boeing (NYSE: BA) for pilots and technicians, the world’s commercial aviation fleet is expected to double over the next 20 years. This will drive a demand for 790,000 pilots, a staggering number who need to be trained and ready to fly a commercial airliner to keep up with the growth.

I am proud to announce that Coast Flight Training has added two new partner airlines to their Rotor Transition Program: Mesa Airlines and SkyWest Airlines. Adding these two, along with our current partner, Envoy Air, brings us to three regional carriers that we service with our world-class training program!

In my experience, the transition happened over the course of about 8 months. From the time I had my instrument rating and I started getting halfway decent at flying, I spent a lot of time teaching people what I had learned. I led study groups and even flew with other students well before I become an instructor. I eventually got my Ground Instrutor Certificate and was actually hired as a ground instructor teaching 3 hour or more classroom lectures in addition to one on one sessions. When it was time to take my CFI checkride, I was already an instructor. I believed in myself, I just had to make the examiner believe.