Reflections and Thanks

[ilinipilot]

Buddy,
Awesome post.

Thinking of those things you mentioned: jumpseating, seeing a 777 or 744 break out of the clouds 500 feet above ground on final for 22L at ORD, watching the pilots walk through the terminals with their bags in tow, seeing a heavy getting pushed back for a long trip across the pond. Thinking of those things and remembering those things as we all begin our career make the transition easier. Also, it makes the frustrations easier to deal with because we all know where we want to go, and we all know WE WILL get there. It may take us an extra year or 2 and we might not make the 6 digit salaries that others will but we wont have to work for a living!!! that was the best quote I ever heard from a current airline Pilot and it gets me through the frustrations.

"I dont work for a living I am a pilot and I can't believe I am getting paid for this"

So i think of all those fun things when I am dealing with a student who can't land, another one who blows me off at 6am, a boss who doesn't listen and a clown who boinks a checkride for losing 800 feet on a stall.

Since we have experienced the hard work, the frustrations, and the highs and lows of this industry. It will make our career that much more rewarding, fulfilling, and exciting because we all worked SO HARD TO GET THERE and we earned it every step of the way!!!!

happy thanksgiving y'all
D

 

[ilinipilot]

Wasn't sure if the post went through,
just checking.

D

 

[enigma]

Just a couple of random thoughts while I sit here watching the Horns dismantle the Aggies.

Good post Chicago

For those that are turned off by Avbugs cynicism, I suggest that you try to disregard the negativity and hear the truth in the rest of his posts. He does have a great deal of insight into this business. I would love to have his perspective minus the negativity, BUT that is a part of this business. If you don't understand, it's because you've yet not been through quite enough of the up and down cycles. It's probably because you've not yet seen your boss refuse pay raises because XYZ airlines has guys actually paying for a job. Maybe it's because you've yet to have your union screw you in order to keep up the income stream of the senior pilots. etc, etc, etc.
Please don't misunderstand, I respect the youthful enthusiasm and love of flying, but it is that same youthful enthusiasm and love, that blinds some pilots to the damage done by the actions they take to get here. Obviously I speak to things like buying a job, sitting in a seat for free, paying to sit in a seat, etc.

Bottom line, If someone really loves being a professional pilot, he: won't undercut the profession, will treat all other pilots as brothers no matter what or where they fly, will look up everytime he hears airplane noise, will critique the inexperienced without dampening there enthusiasm. I hope that I always manage to do that.

regards,
8N

 

[avbug]

Too right, 8N.

There is great romance to be had in flying, so long as it doesn't blind us to the realities. There is nothing so magic as the gift of flight, yet nothing so dangerous should vigilence not be paid in full.

Dick Scobee was correct when he said it's a crime to be paid for something we love so much. Two days later he died doing just that, and paid a much higher price. Let's not forget that the costs of flying are paid in many forms. Some in service, some in devotion, some in the dues to a union, some in years of starvation working toward that goal that never comes.

Too often we see the goal in the left seat of a large airplane, forgetting that each position has the same value...the private pilot enjoying his or her ride, to the flight instructor passing on vital knowledge and understanding.

Our knowledge, skills, and indeed our livlihoods are perishible. These vanish without notice, fail from short terms of disuse, and are indeed fragile. Enjoy it while it lasts. May it be a very long time, but prepared for it to be of much shorter duration, because that is the nature of aviation.

I won't apologise for my comments: they are what they are.

We all choose different paths. May each flourish in the path he or she has chosen, then expand to share it with others. We are all beggars. Of the massive population of the earth, we have been provided this great opportunity to fly, so very few of us. We need be humbled and grateful, and nothing more. It's our obligation, our heritage, and our legacy.

It's much more than a job, but a job none the less. Beyond that, it is a duty, a gift with which we have been entrusted, and our sacred obligation to honor that gift. There is no unity, though there should be. There is no brotherhood. Only a bunch of people who once started out wanting the same thing. Flight. A short transitory act of limited duration, which vanishes upon completion without a trace of evidence. An ink stain in a logbook. History in action. No glory, no pride, but only us doing what we love.

That love is clouded and broken by management, by unions, by regulation and time. It is obscured and swallowed up in careers, dying by degrees in the mire of seniority issues and clauses, bound by scope and by seat.

No, the romance isn't dead, but certainly swallowed up in reality. More power to the masses as they move forward, but never forget where we have come from, where we have been. Idealism in this industry is best left to the works of St. Exup, Gann, and Bach. For the rest of us, there is a job to do. That's all.

 

[mar]

Nice interpretation 8N

I've had a few nicknames in my relatively short career:

Bitter and Twisted
Zero Zero
Dark Cloud

But I've always thought that if you scratch a cynic, underneath you find a bruised idealist.

Make no mistake: Aviation is a tough lifestyle.

And it's more of a lifestyle than it is a career or a job.

Or, differently (to rip off an old SNL parody): "It's not just a job, it's $1.98/hour." [Sailors scraping barrnacles off rusted hulls]

--Edited to mention that Avbug slipped while I was posting--I just wanted to acknowledge his post--

 

[boxcar]

Probably should be noted that Ernie Gann became disillusioned and afraid after leaving AAL. He resigned from airline flying to become a full time writer.

 

[avbug]

Yup.

Of course, the airlines, and most flying in general, is a different world, today. Most pilots don't really understand what it is to face an emergency...most will go a whole career without having to face a real one. That's a very artificial muted vision of reality, but that is the reality for many today.

Gann faced what many of us faced not so long ago...he was used to the idea that an engine failure isn't an emergency or even necessarily cause for alarm. He was used to the fact that going several hours without a true emergency, really is cause for alarm. The suspense is a killer.

Different worlds. For those who have been there and done that, as had Gann, entirely different realities.

All this, to say nothing of the business itself.

 

[de727ups]

airline pilots and the job....

I really liked the first post and then read avbugs initial response. He sounds like he doesn't much like airline pilots. That' fine....I happen to be the lazy, rich, pro-union, work as few days as possible, kinda guy he sounds like he scorns. That's fine, too. I earned my spot through hard work and now it's paying off....

I'll also say he's wrong about a few things.....

Most of the guys I fly with don't fit the mold he suggests. The retired front seater, now backseater, who is my second officer had three checks for charities he was sending in through our gift matching program with the company. He explained the program to me and I'll be sending mine in next week to help a bunch of junior high kids build a kit plane in shop class....they need an engine. My favorite thing about this airline gig is the time off it gives me to work with kids.....I spend hours and hours at it.

Our union recently suggested that our pilot group could enjoy their time off rather than picking up open trips....this in response to the suggestion of furloughs at an already understaffed airline in contract talks. A few may still fly extra but the vast majority won't....even though there is a lot of extra flying available. Hardly a sign of greed, disunity, or back stabbing....

This job/career is what you make of it. Some will be bitter when they don't ever make six figures. Some will be bitter because the flight school ads are lies. Others will be happy just instructing or being a tanker pilot or whatever.....to each his own. Sometimes I hate my job and sometimes I love it.....I think many people feel this way about what they do, no matter what they make or their type of career.

When I was a kid...I wanted to be an airline pilot. Now I am one and nothing has made me reconsider my choice....it was a bumpy ride but the ride was half the fun. The ride makes me appreciate what I have more. Keep hangin' in there, people, and don't get discouraged by those who talk down the career. For each guy I know who fits avbugs airline pilot stereotype...I know ten who aren't like that.

 

[PilotoHalcon]

I am glad UPS is not doing much open flying to support the furlough issue. Now if the ABX pilots will follow suit.........nah.
j

 

[enigma]

Re: airline pilots and the job....

Our union recently suggested that our pilot group could enjoy their time off rather than picking up open trips....this in response to the suggestion of furloughs at an already understaffed airline in contract talks. A few may still fly extra but the vast majority won't....even though there is a lot of extra flying available. Hardly a sign of greed, disunity, or back stabbing....

If you are in official contract talks, you have to maintain the status quo. If the pilot group was picking up open trips before the talks, then they are bound to continue the same behavior. Any divergence from the status quo could lead to legal action against your group, and most likely a court order to fly the OT. At least that is what the ALPA tells us here at Spirit. There is an underground movement to discourage pilots from picking up open trips and the MEC is adamately opposed to the effort. If you know of a way to make such a movement legal, I'd like to know. PM me if necessary.

regards,
8N