I think everyone has pluses and minuses in their careers. I think the key to mental health in this industry is to focus on the positive, change the negatives that are in your control, and realize that there is likely going to be some unavoidable suck. It’s not always easy to accept, but the only thing you can control is yourself. Everything else you need to just learn to live with as you’re very unlikely to find the perfect situation.
Now, since everyone else is sharing their bio, I’ll bore you with mine.
I was fortunate enough to have parents willing and able to support me through college. I was living overseas until I graduated high school, so I wasn’t able to research schools as much as I’d like to. UND wasn’t as much fun as I’d hoped, but that wasn’t really the school’s fault. I’ve got no idea what their program looks like now, but in the past they got a bad reputation. When I was there it was easy to get in state tuition, which made it extremely affordable. The aircraft rental (2002-2006) was just below $100/hr for a brand new piper warrior. Some of the prerequisites seemed designed to keep you there longer, but I think that’s the case with most schools. My personal challenges were a huge amount of culture shock (had lived in Germany and Japan from 1995-2002) and me being a nerdy introvert. Had I gotten out more, I probably would have had more fun, but I also spent a lot if time online and met a bunch of you all who are lifelong friends who have helped me greatly through my career.
The next step was working as a CFI. Given what CFIs were making, my only option was to live with my parents in Maryland. Thankfully two nearby schools were hiring and both offered me a job. I was impressed by one, but the other had a much shorter commute. That was the wrong choice. On day two of my employment there, they were kicked out of Bay Bridge airport for not paying their fuel bill. They had a second location in Fort Meade, so I was making the long drive anyway. I was there for six pay checks total, two of which arrived on time. I went back to the other school on hands and knees telling them that I’d made a mistake. They hired me and I was now having to drive to BWI every day.
The owner of the second school was the best boss I’ve ever worked for. He didn’t second guess instructors, he made sure we had the tools we needed, and always had our backs. Eventually they opened another location at Bay Bridge and I was back to having a 15 min commute. This job was exactly what I needed as a pilot and as a person. UND has a great program, but there is a lot of things you simply miss out on when you fly in the middle of nowhere. A year of flying in and around class B and the DC ADIZ was exactly what I needed. It was hard, but once you got good at it, it was fun. It helped me learn how to embrace the difficult stuff and really apply myself so it no longer became a challenge. I also taught a few ground school classes that helped me grow as a person. The idea of standing in front of a classroom scared the crap out of me, but after a couple days I learned to really enjoy it. Turns out that when you know what you’re talking about there’s nothing to be afraid of! Teaching was incredibly rewarding and really changed who I was.
I promised myself that I’d keep instructing until I had 1,000 hours. I wanted to, at the very least, not be a liability when I got into a jet for the first time. Unfortunately it was obvious that the music was beginning to slow, so I put my applications out. I got invites from Mesaba, Pinnacle, and ASA. I was fortunate enough to visit ASA HQ while I was in college and was really impressed. Imposter syndrome is a recurring theme in my career, so I thought that there would be no way they would want me, especially as I didn’t even meet their multi engine minimums.
After a two day interview process, I was sitting in the same room that I’d visited back in college when the guy said “screw it, let’s put you in a class.” I don’t really remember much after that other than running into
@PeanuckleCRJ in the terminal on the way home and that I got a first class seat on the flight back to BWI.
Timing is everything. Training was uneventful, as were the first few months on the line. Then 2008 happened. I was hired the day before a new contract was signed in 07. It was industry leading for the regionals, but the best part was that I was furlough protected. Had I been hired a class later I would have found myself on the street. Instead I was the punching bag that was second from the bottom of the CRJ-700 list for about a year and a half. Thankful to remain employed, but it was a struggle. Some memories include having to threaten to quit in order to go to my own wedding, being unable to afford to drive to work because gas was $5 a gallon and they kept calling me out for day trips, a captain inviting me out to dinner at a nice restaurant and literally having a half house salad and water, and being forced up to a newly opened IAD base. That last part was the beginning of one of the best parts of my career.
As anyone who has flown the UAX operation out of Dulles knows, calling it a disaster is being generous. Between the terminal design, United’s unique ability to outsource the outsourcing, and having the 14 least reliable airplanes in modern history, every day was a challenge. When you got somewhere anything close to on time, it was because you and your crew herded all the cats in the right direction and you made it happen. We had a unique group of junior people who seemed to embrace the challenge, but also mastered the art form of not giving a fornication about things outside of our control. Every trip was flying with your best friends and every challenge was a good story for later. In my 5 years in IAD I had the gear not come up, gear not go down, flaps get stuck, hydraulic leak, fuel leak, oil leak, bleed air leak, passenger issues, etc. I really wish I had kept a journal. Often you would open up a QRH and a malfunction would be bookmarked with ACARS paper. At least you’d know what was going to break. Between the long days and short nights pre 117 I’d often have to nap in the crew lounge before I was safe to drive home.
All good things come to an end. After 5 years, the UAX contact went to Trans States and I ended up commuting to DTW. The commute was ok, but still meant less time at home. I never felt like I was settled at home and often had to commute on days off. After 7 years I had finally built up enough seniority to be a somewhat senior FO, but finances were still a struggle. I’d learned to maintain our cars and YouTube was about the only reason our house was still standing. Doing my own timing belt was rewarding, but also absolutely terrifying knowing that I needed it done by Monday so I could drive to work.
Our Detroit operation was boring. Delta Connection operated as expected and the 700/900 were infinitely more reliable. It was just moving planes from A to B, often with some absolutely miserable coworkers who would go off the handle at the slightest inconvenience. I was trying to do “the right thing” and just wait my turn to finally upgrade, but I was done.
I applied to and was hired by PSA as a street captain. At the suggestion of a friend of mine, I opted to wait until class number two in order to make sure everything was as advertised. They inquired why I wanted to delay, I was honest. I got an email from a chief pilot outlining the program again, but attached to that email was one from the recruiter asking him to convince me to show up because it would be more convincing from him. I had just taken the knowledge assessment at my current employer, so I decided to opt out. I’m glad I did.
My current place hasn’t been perfect, but overall I’m pretty happy. We are finally what I’d consider “financially stable” and I’m getting to do flying that I never thought I’d get the chance to. Especially now that I’m in the left seat, being able to hop in a 747 and take it to any corner of the globe is incredibly rewarding. The last two years has been a struggle as we have been extremely busy and unable to get out on most overnights, but if we ever get back to normal and get an upper management that respects the pilot group, this could be the best job in Aviation. Plusses and minuses I guess.
Sorry for being long winded. Was kind of fun reminiscing.
