ZapBrannigan
If it ain’t a Boeing, I’m not going. No choice.
I want to talk about a subject that only a very few professional pilots are able to escape over the course of their careers, and that subject is being happy with changing expectations. I've been listening to various pilots talk about their careers quite a bit lately whether they be the regional airline pilots who are kind enough to extend the courtesy of their jumpseat, major airline pilots from various backgrounds, and corporate pilots. What I've learned by listening is that there are several generations of pilots flying today and each of those generations has had its own challenges that have shaped the direction of those pilots' careers. Let me share some simple examples.
The first group I want to talk about were flying for the major airlines in the mid to late 1980s. When Eastern airlines went out of business in 1991 the market was flooded with highly experienced airline pilots. This group started over time and time again as did many of their colleagues from places like Braniff or were furloughed for an extended period of time like those who were furloughed from USAir in the early 90s.
This is a group who had become accustomed to having their cheese moved.
The civilian pilots who started flying in the early to mid 1990s typically started out flight instructing for upwards of a thousand hours. Many of them the went on to fly night freight or some other time building enterprise required to reach the magic 1500TT/500ME requirement that was somewhat of an industry standard during that period. For a few, that requirement was reduced to closer to 1100-1200TT if they were willing to invest in a Comair or FSI pay-to-play program.
This generation of pilots began moving to the major airlines during the hiring boom that began in early 1999. They subsequently lost their new jobs during the thousands of furloughs that followed the 9/11 attacks. Over the next decade some of them would find their way to other major airlines, some to startup airlines or LCCs, some went back to the commuters, and some explored careers in corporate, 135, or out of aviation altogether. In the mid-2000s some of them started making their way back to the majors they were furloughed from, only to be furloughed again.
This too is a group that has become accustomed to having their cheese moved.
Post 9/11 the regionals grew explosively as scope clauses were all but eliminated in bankruptcy era contracts. As a result, the pilots who started their flying careers post 9/11 watched as their own flight instructors quickly moved to the regional airlines. This generation raced from training in light single and multi engine airplanes to the right seat of regional jets in only a few hundred hours. For many it wasn't unusual to see them upgrade before they had spent two winters at the airlines. And, as the industry returned to good health many of them moved on quickly to the majors or legacy airlines.
This group has never had their cheese moved.
The final group were those who started flying in the mid to late 2000s. They too were hired quickly by the regionals but instead of seeing the rapid career progression that they were sold, they saw stagnation at their regionals. Inability to move up and inability to move on.
This group is just learning what it is like to have your cheese moved.
It would be really easy to segue here into a discussion about how pilots enable their own whipsaw. How our willingness to undercut one another is a result of our own competitive nature. But that's not where I'm going with this.
Why is it that someone who has been furloughed 3 or 4 times, or who has watched their once great airline dissolved can be happy starting over at 40+ years old, but a younger pilot whose career might be hitting his first speed bump can't handle it?
I flew on the jumpseat of a regional jet not long ago with a first officer that by all rights the captain should have kicked off the trip. This gentleman was completely disinterested and disengaged in the performance of his job. No matter how hard the captain tried, this guy would barely mumble through the checklist or a bare minimum briefing. When he did speak up it was to lament that he was still in the right seat after 6 or 7 years and that he wasn't getting a call from jetBlue or Spirit or United.
I met another pilot recently whose carrier had been merged into another and the merger didn't go so well for him. After the seniority integration was complete he had lost his seat and been forced to commute. He was furious, even though he still had what was by all rights a good paying job with a good quality of life. That's not to say he shouldn't have been upset about being forced to commute. But how is that any different than that Braniff pilot or Eastern pilot or Emery pilot who found himself out of work when his airline went out of business... and starting over commuting to a new domicile at another airline.
Most ex Comair pilots I run into handle what happened to them with dignity and grace. They're happy to have a job even if it meant starting over.
Having your cheese moved - your expectations of what your career might have been changed - is frustrating and can be disappointing. You can be left wondering "what if" and trying to figure out how to get back what you had lost. You want to blame someone, but the problem is, it's just aviation. It has always been this way except for a few lucky pilots in one or two of the generations that have managed to climb quickly enough and high enough on their respective seniority list to be insulated the cycle.
Even that though wasn't enough to protect a 55 year old Eastern Captain, or a 40 year old two-time furloughee from United.
So I suppose I should get to my point. Most of you guys know me and could probably recite the list of airlines that I left in my wake as well as I could. I don't come to work with an attitude because guys who I worked with at an LCC in 98' are thousands of numbers senior to me today. I don't begrudge my classmates at USAir their upgrades. I'm happy for them! Jealous? Sometimes, sure. But I don't let it cloud my life because at the end of the day I'm still flying airplanes for a living and keeping food on the table.
My cheese has been moved as much as anyone else's. I'm just used to it. There are a few generations that haven't experienced it, or that are just starting to experience it. To you I just want to say relax. Don't compare yourself to anyone else. Run your own race. In all likelihood you will see a furlough... or a strike... or a bankruptcy... or a merger... or a shutdown. Very few go through a career without seeing one. Your cheese will get moved.
Maybe you'll be in the street for a few years. Maybe your upgrade will be delayed. Maybe you'll have to commute or move to a new domicile. That's aviation guys. Ask the guys at the Darden flight department in Orlando that was closed suddenly a few weeks ago. They thought they had that job for life. Getting your cheese moved is part of the profession we have chosen. You can choose to be miserable, or you can make the best of it and move on.
OR, you can do what I did and make a change. There are a lot of guys here who have done it. I went back to the airlines when my cheese got moved. ATN_Pilot is taking over his family business because his cheese got moved. If you are that unhappy, then DO something about it!
I've flown with those guys too - the ones who won. I know the Captain's Alpaca ranch in Montana and his turbine Bonanza look appealing, but just save a few pennies here and there and know that if the company goes tango uniform you won't have to eat Alpaca meat to survive.
Stuff happens. I'm sorry you have to commute when you didn't before. Or that you're an FO now, when you've been a captain for years. Or that you're starting over at airline number four. I've been there and I know how you feel. But don't make life miserable for the people around you. We are all on this ride together and, for better or for worse, it still beats working for a living doesn't it?
Next time they move your cheese, just shake your head, laugh it off, and write a story about it to share with your kids someday. I'm on page 169 of mine.
The first group I want to talk about were flying for the major airlines in the mid to late 1980s. When Eastern airlines went out of business in 1991 the market was flooded with highly experienced airline pilots. This group started over time and time again as did many of their colleagues from places like Braniff or were furloughed for an extended period of time like those who were furloughed from USAir in the early 90s.
This is a group who had become accustomed to having their cheese moved.
The civilian pilots who started flying in the early to mid 1990s typically started out flight instructing for upwards of a thousand hours. Many of them the went on to fly night freight or some other time building enterprise required to reach the magic 1500TT/500ME requirement that was somewhat of an industry standard during that period. For a few, that requirement was reduced to closer to 1100-1200TT if they were willing to invest in a Comair or FSI pay-to-play program.
This generation of pilots began moving to the major airlines during the hiring boom that began in early 1999. They subsequently lost their new jobs during the thousands of furloughs that followed the 9/11 attacks. Over the next decade some of them would find their way to other major airlines, some to startup airlines or LCCs, some went back to the commuters, and some explored careers in corporate, 135, or out of aviation altogether. In the mid-2000s some of them started making their way back to the majors they were furloughed from, only to be furloughed again.
This too is a group that has become accustomed to having their cheese moved.
Post 9/11 the regionals grew explosively as scope clauses were all but eliminated in bankruptcy era contracts. As a result, the pilots who started their flying careers post 9/11 watched as their own flight instructors quickly moved to the regional airlines. This generation raced from training in light single and multi engine airplanes to the right seat of regional jets in only a few hundred hours. For many it wasn't unusual to see them upgrade before they had spent two winters at the airlines. And, as the industry returned to good health many of them moved on quickly to the majors or legacy airlines.
This group has never had their cheese moved.
The final group were those who started flying in the mid to late 2000s. They too were hired quickly by the regionals but instead of seeing the rapid career progression that they were sold, they saw stagnation at their regionals. Inability to move up and inability to move on.
This group is just learning what it is like to have your cheese moved.
It would be really easy to segue here into a discussion about how pilots enable their own whipsaw. How our willingness to undercut one another is a result of our own competitive nature. But that's not where I'm going with this.
Why is it that someone who has been furloughed 3 or 4 times, or who has watched their once great airline dissolved can be happy starting over at 40+ years old, but a younger pilot whose career might be hitting his first speed bump can't handle it?
I flew on the jumpseat of a regional jet not long ago with a first officer that by all rights the captain should have kicked off the trip. This gentleman was completely disinterested and disengaged in the performance of his job. No matter how hard the captain tried, this guy would barely mumble through the checklist or a bare minimum briefing. When he did speak up it was to lament that he was still in the right seat after 6 or 7 years and that he wasn't getting a call from jetBlue or Spirit or United.
I met another pilot recently whose carrier had been merged into another and the merger didn't go so well for him. After the seniority integration was complete he had lost his seat and been forced to commute. He was furious, even though he still had what was by all rights a good paying job with a good quality of life. That's not to say he shouldn't have been upset about being forced to commute. But how is that any different than that Braniff pilot or Eastern pilot or Emery pilot who found himself out of work when his airline went out of business... and starting over commuting to a new domicile at another airline.
Most ex Comair pilots I run into handle what happened to them with dignity and grace. They're happy to have a job even if it meant starting over.
Having your cheese moved - your expectations of what your career might have been changed - is frustrating and can be disappointing. You can be left wondering "what if" and trying to figure out how to get back what you had lost. You want to blame someone, but the problem is, it's just aviation. It has always been this way except for a few lucky pilots in one or two of the generations that have managed to climb quickly enough and high enough on their respective seniority list to be insulated the cycle.
Even that though wasn't enough to protect a 55 year old Eastern Captain, or a 40 year old two-time furloughee from United.
So I suppose I should get to my point. Most of you guys know me and could probably recite the list of airlines that I left in my wake as well as I could. I don't come to work with an attitude because guys who I worked with at an LCC in 98' are thousands of numbers senior to me today. I don't begrudge my classmates at USAir their upgrades. I'm happy for them! Jealous? Sometimes, sure. But I don't let it cloud my life because at the end of the day I'm still flying airplanes for a living and keeping food on the table.
My cheese has been moved as much as anyone else's. I'm just used to it. There are a few generations that haven't experienced it, or that are just starting to experience it. To you I just want to say relax. Don't compare yourself to anyone else. Run your own race. In all likelihood you will see a furlough... or a strike... or a bankruptcy... or a merger... or a shutdown. Very few go through a career without seeing one. Your cheese will get moved.
Maybe you'll be in the street for a few years. Maybe your upgrade will be delayed. Maybe you'll have to commute or move to a new domicile. That's aviation guys. Ask the guys at the Darden flight department in Orlando that was closed suddenly a few weeks ago. They thought they had that job for life. Getting your cheese moved is part of the profession we have chosen. You can choose to be miserable, or you can make the best of it and move on.
OR, you can do what I did and make a change. There are a lot of guys here who have done it. I went back to the airlines when my cheese got moved. ATN_Pilot is taking over his family business because his cheese got moved. If you are that unhappy, then DO something about it!
I've flown with those guys too - the ones who won. I know the Captain's Alpaca ranch in Montana and his turbine Bonanza look appealing, but just save a few pennies here and there and know that if the company goes tango uniform you won't have to eat Alpaca meat to survive.
Stuff happens. I'm sorry you have to commute when you didn't before. Or that you're an FO now, when you've been a captain for years. Or that you're starting over at airline number four. I've been there and I know how you feel. But don't make life miserable for the people around you. We are all on this ride together and, for better or for worse, it still beats working for a living doesn't it?
Next time they move your cheese, just shake your head, laugh it off, and write a story about it to share with your kids someday. I'm on page 169 of mine.
