Whine Lover
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king5.com said:[SIZE=+2]Out of work pilots: 'Will fly for food'
[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]01:30 PM PDT on Thursday, May 21, 2009
[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]KING5.com Staff[/SIZE]
SEATTLE - Two Western Washington pilots are trying to get back into the air by pounding the pavement.
Chris Campbell and Steffen Schmidt are corporate pilots who suddenly found themselves grounded when their companies were hit by economic turbulence. Now they say, they'll "fly for food."
Schmidt worked for Semitool Incorporated, a company that makes equipment used in semiconductor manufacturing. He was laid off in January.
Campbell flew for a small flight company which downsized three weeks ago, putting its plane up for sale. He said the news was surprising
"Oh yes very. They've had the aircraft for 10 years," said Campbell. "It was a shocker to everyone."
Both pilots have taken their job hunting to Seattle's busy intersection of Mercer Street and Fairview Avenue, an area where homeless people often ask for money from passing motorists. But, these two are holding signs that read: "Two laid off pilots -- will fly for food."
Schmidt says the out-of-the-box idea is Campbell's.
"He always comes up with brilliant ideas, and we were thinking about it," said Schmidt. "We've obviously exhausted all of the avenues to get new jobs."
"We're in a small, specialized field, but there's only a couple of aviation Web sites out there. Our jobs aren't posted on Monster, on Craigslist, those types of things," Campbell said.
The pilots say the response has been rather interesting.
"We've given a couple of resumes out, a bus driver gave us a nice fluffly bear, another guy gave us a book that he wrote," said Campbell. Some passing motorists have offered money and food, both of which they turned down.
"We're not here to collect money," said Schmidt. "We just want to find a job because we're tired of collecting unemployment checks and we want to work again."
The two pilots say they'll be back at the intersection on Friday and Monday.
"I'm hoping that today is the day that somebody drives by, who sees us and needs a pilot, and (I) get a job again so I get a chance to do what I love to do and that's to fly," said Schmidt. It's a sentiment echoed by his curbside partner.
"Aviation is my dream and passion and hopefully something comes about this," says Campbell.