Hi, I also have thick hair. It would take at least 2 hours for it to air-dry. My hair is short and I wash it every other day. I always blow-dry it after washing it. I spray it with a leave-in conditioner after having shampooed it and conditioned it. Sometimes I also put a little bit of styling creme in it. So, yeah, I blow-dry it and it's still very healthy and soft.

Besides blow-drying, I can't think of a way to make your hair dry faster. A few years ago I had long hair and it took 8-10 hours to air-dry.