Screaming_Emu
Well-Known Member
It really is one of those things where unless you've lived it, you just simply can't understand it.
Daily life as an airline pilot
- Thread starter Sean7432
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It really is one of those things where unless you've lived it, you just simply can't understand it.
Screaming_Emu
Well-Known Member
This.
Here is my caution on being a one dimensional pilot. Flying is amazing. Flying for a living is the only thing I can picture myself doing. But statistically, some day this career is going to kick you square in the nuts. It might be a furlough, it might be a medical issue, or it might be your company closing up shop. So much of this amazing lifestyle is outside of our control. If you don't have another outlet, this is going to hit you extra hard and you might not bounce back.
Plus, having a good work life balance makes you a lot more fun to fly with. There are only so many "so there I was on the phone with crew scheduling..." stories before you're going to have a mutiny on your hands.
Another thing is that flying professional is exhausting. I physically don't know that I could do it any more than I already do.
Screaming_Emu
Well-Known Member
Only if you let it.
jtrain609
Antisocial Monster
As others have stated, most of us have other obligations. I've got a wife and two girls, 4 years old and 10 weeks old, who I try to see on somewhat of a regular basis. I love the flying I do, but after a trip I'm exhausted and need to recharge. That's not just to see that family, that's for safety reasons. You can't work and work and work and not expect to burn out.
DE727UPS
Well-Known Member
Great post Zap!!! Why just yesterday I had a mild touch of the runs on an HNL to ONT flight. Was thinking how I could never work at a passenger airline or, put another way, am grateful to have ended up with a career flying freight. All for no other reason than we have a potti that's about ten seconds from either cockpit seat....
DE727UPS
Well-Known Member
I don't see much input from the freight side so I will add a few points. It's still 121 and it's still airline but there are some differences if you're flying the dark side.
Commuting can be a challenge so you have to weigh whether it's worth it. I've always commuted because it worked out pretty well and we have limited bases. Some schedules are built with commercial tickets to and/or from duty assignments and are part of your work schedule so you get paid for it. Others trips originate in domicile so you have to get their on your time. I've always thought if you lived in base you would have an easier life, especially if your junior. Reserve is a pretty good deal if you don't mind being owned by crew scheduling. You'll work half as much as a line holder on average. One nice advantage to commuting on line is all our fleet types have at least 4 jumpseats and getting a ride is usually pretty easy. The exception to that is flights between domiciles or the larger cities to domiciles.
Back side of the clock is the most difficult aspect to freight. Some guys can sleep anytime/anyplace and if that's you then you'll do fine. It's been so long ago since I was young that I can't remember if I used to be like that but I'm surly not anymore. Luckily, I'm senior enough to bid around the worst trips. If you know you'll HATE night flying then I'd stay away from freight. Unlike Zaps airline, Brown has a very wide variety of schedule types. You can do international or domestic. Long haul, short haul, nights, days if you are senior, or reserve. It all pays the same so no need to chase bigger jets to make more. Everyone gravitates to their niche. The nature of overnight delivery has us work fewer block hours and more sit around time. If you are unlucky enough to sit the sorts you'll have 3 to 5 hours to sit around, watch TV, take a nap in a bunk, and eat crappy cafeteria food. I was talking to a senior Alaska Capt the other day and he was amazed that I only flew around 35 to 40 hours a month. The downside is the night flying and back side of the clock nature of that which can cause fatigue related mistakes.
Commuting can be a challenge so you have to weigh whether it's worth it. I've always commuted because it worked out pretty well and we have limited bases. Some schedules are built with commercial tickets to and/or from duty assignments and are part of your work schedule so you get paid for it. Others trips originate in domicile so you have to get their on your time. I've always thought if you lived in base you would have an easier life, especially if your junior. Reserve is a pretty good deal if you don't mind being owned by crew scheduling. You'll work half as much as a line holder on average. One nice advantage to commuting on line is all our fleet types have at least 4 jumpseats and getting a ride is usually pretty easy. The exception to that is flights between domiciles or the larger cities to domiciles.
Back side of the clock is the most difficult aspect to freight. Some guys can sleep anytime/anyplace and if that's you then you'll do fine. It's been so long ago since I was young that I can't remember if I used to be like that but I'm surly not anymore. Luckily, I'm senior enough to bid around the worst trips. If you know you'll HATE night flying then I'd stay away from freight. Unlike Zaps airline, Brown has a very wide variety of schedule types. You can do international or domestic. Long haul, short haul, nights, days if you are senior, or reserve. It all pays the same so no need to chase bigger jets to make more. Everyone gravitates to their niche. The nature of overnight delivery has us work fewer block hours and more sit around time. If you are unlucky enough to sit the sorts you'll have 3 to 5 hours to sit around, watch TV, take a nap in a bunk, and eat crappy cafeteria food. I was talking to a senior Alaska Capt the other day and he was amazed that I only flew around 35 to 40 hours a month. The downside is the night flying and back side of the clock nature of that which can cause fatigue related mistakes.
learhawkerbe400
Well-Known Member
I can't believe SWA makes a pilot stay with the plane if it's on ground power. That's insane.
Now that I think about it I'm surprised legacy AA didn't have the same archaic procedure.
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Now that I think about it I'm surprised legacy AA didn't have the same archaic procedure.
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Cptnchia
Dissatisfied Customer
Hell, at SouthernJetz, we'll leave a plane on APU power if the rampers aren't fast enough with the ground power. APU sheriff be damned!
Screaming_Emu
Well-Known Member
We had to do that at Surejet. It made me want I get strangly on go home day!
At the new job a mechanic meets us every leg so only once have I seen the plane not powered up, and that was a MX reset.
Cherokee_Cruiser
Bronteroc
XeNiA to OrchaRD finding yourself eventually to MiD Way? It was a nerd-worded question about if that is your commute. And yes, I realize Xenia is in no way, shape, or form the name of that airport.
Cherokee_Cruiser
Bronteroc
Cptnchia
Dissatisfied Customer
Screaming_Emu
Well-Known Member
I believe you have lost your damn mind.
Cherokee_Cruiser
Bronteroc
LOL! 
ZapBrannigan
If it ain’t a Boeing, I’m not going. No choice.
Ah gotcha. No, I don't commute anymore. I'm a wussy so I moved into domicile down in the Lone Star state.
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z987k
Well-Known Member
I mean ya. I really should reword it to just say working sucks. It's certainly not just flying.
A
Adler
Guest
I don’t have any family or really any friends, so with more than one day off I get pretty bored at home. I try to stack my months so I work a lot at one end and then have the other end free to travel – like single days off in-between six day work blocks. At home at the end of my single day off, with the laundry complete and a fresh supply peanut butter and bagels, I’m usually pretty excited to get back to work.
I live in base. If you’re a cute foreign girl I’ll tell you that I live Los Angeles; but to anyone who knows the area I’ll let them know that I stay as far away from the city as I can, in an affluent hilltop community looking down upon the peasants in the city. It’s a 30-minute drive to work, and a five-minute drive to the beach.
The day-to-day routine is similar to what others have posted. Wake up, get to the plane or sit at the gate waiting for a delayed inbound. I’ll usually pretend to chat with the gate agent while really I scope out the passengers for some cute girls that I won’t end up having the balls to talk too; they don't know what four stripes means anyways.
If I’m with a cool FO we will sit there BSing about random stuff, talking crap about other people, and planning the layover. When it's a meh FO they'll talk while I pretend to care. Sometimes I sit there doing the cruise items required by both the PM and PF since airplane WiFi is way too easy for a FO to covertly use, and Tinder is obviously more important than things like fuel planning. Also, I spend a lot of time explaining, “Well your last captain was a moron. Have you ever actually opened the book? Read it, don’t trust what some captain told you – it’s usually wrong”.
Departures and arrivals are where the excitement still is. As a captain I hand fly way more than I ever did as a FO - there’s nobody to the left to get nervous and say no. Every time I get to click off the autopilot and remove the flight director while entering a downwind, as long as the landing doesn’t suck, the “debrief items” of the Parking Checklist is me grinning saying “well that was fun!”
Unfortunately lately we have had some significant delays, and this is where many of my colleagues get frustrated. I secretly kind of enjoy handling these. To me it turns into a puzzle: what can I say or do to keep these people from getting irate? The other day we had a four-hour delay before eventually postponing the flight until 7:30am the next morning. As we walked off headed to the hotel, every passenger still thanked the crew and myself. That felt great. 20 hours later at 7:30am, the stranded passengers were excited to see us; but I had to deliver the news that the plane was not fixed, will be flown empty back to LAX, and they are all still stranded. Even then, the passengers all thanked us for trying so hard. Something about that feels like I still accomplished something.
Work can be fun, but as everyone else has said, this job is about the days off, and I'll add to it, this job is about the days off and pass travel. This month I work 14 days, and have 11 ½ consecutive days off to travel. Last month I spent 19 days off traveling. @jtrain609 talked about nobody can work long stretches without getting burned out. Generally I agree, but I’m a special case I suppose. At about the halfway point of my large work blocks, I start felling it. Then I remember that in about a week I’ll be on a plane paying relatively nothing to collect a passport stamp from Iran. Eventually back at work, I’ll still be happy from the previous trip until halfway point, at which point I’m starting to get excited for the next adventure.
This job works for me.
I live in base. If you’re a cute foreign girl I’ll tell you that I live Los Angeles; but to anyone who knows the area I’ll let them know that I stay as far away from the city as I can, in an affluent hilltop community looking down upon the peasants in the city. It’s a 30-minute drive to work, and a five-minute drive to the beach.
The day-to-day routine is similar to what others have posted. Wake up, get to the plane or sit at the gate waiting for a delayed inbound. I’ll usually pretend to chat with the gate agent while really I scope out the passengers for some cute girls that I won’t end up having the balls to talk too; they don't know what four stripes means anyways.
If I’m with a cool FO we will sit there BSing about random stuff, talking crap about other people, and planning the layover. When it's a meh FO they'll talk while I pretend to care. Sometimes I sit there doing the cruise items required by both the PM and PF since airplane WiFi is way too easy for a FO to covertly use, and Tinder is obviously more important than things like fuel planning. Also, I spend a lot of time explaining, “Well your last captain was a moron. Have you ever actually opened the book? Read it, don’t trust what some captain told you – it’s usually wrong”.
Departures and arrivals are where the excitement still is. As a captain I hand fly way more than I ever did as a FO - there’s nobody to the left to get nervous and say no. Every time I get to click off the autopilot and remove the flight director while entering a downwind, as long as the landing doesn’t suck, the “debrief items” of the Parking Checklist is me grinning saying “well that was fun!”
Unfortunately lately we have had some significant delays, and this is where many of my colleagues get frustrated. I secretly kind of enjoy handling these. To me it turns into a puzzle: what can I say or do to keep these people from getting irate? The other day we had a four-hour delay before eventually postponing the flight until 7:30am the next morning. As we walked off headed to the hotel, every passenger still thanked the crew and myself. That felt great. 20 hours later at 7:30am, the stranded passengers were excited to see us; but I had to deliver the news that the plane was not fixed, will be flown empty back to LAX, and they are all still stranded. Even then, the passengers all thanked us for trying so hard. Something about that feels like I still accomplished something.
Work can be fun, but as everyone else has said, this job is about the days off, and I'll add to it, this job is about the days off and pass travel. This month I work 14 days, and have 11 ½ consecutive days off to travel. Last month I spent 19 days off traveling. @jtrain609 talked about nobody can work long stretches without getting burned out. Generally I agree, but I’m a special case I suppose. At about the halfway point of my large work blocks, I start felling it. Then I remember that in about a week I’ll be on a plane paying relatively nothing to collect a passport stamp from Iran. Eventually back at work, I’ll still be happy from the previous trip until halfway point, at which point I’m starting to get excited for the next adventure.
This job works for me.
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I have learned that we're very similar.