You know, I wrote this as reaction to the many conversations and arguments I've shared with my flying partners over the last few months.
As a furloughed major airline pilot I often have a difficult time picking which side of the issue (any issue) I want to argue. My perspective is skewed by the time I spent in a Boeing cockpit.
Today though, I'm a regional airline pilot -- and I'm darned proud of it. I'm ecstatic to have found a flying job ... regardless of the fact that it is in the right seat of a turboprop. I love flying, so when one was offered, I took a job flying. I'm a pilot -- pilots fly.
Its different this time though. When I first went to work for the regionals in the early 90s the guys in the left seat had all been there before. Most of them not only flight instructed, but also flew freight or charter for a few thousand hours before being offered the "privilege" of flying a Metroliner into Utica, New York in the middle of a blinding snowstorm. These pilots had upwards of 3000 hours total time before they took this job flying a 19-seat Jetstream or Metro, 10 legs a day, with no autopilot.
I always had a smile on my face when I spun the prop (had to cool the shaft) after each flight because I was proud to be an "airline pilot".
Fast forward to today -- and back to the unique perspective that I wanted to share with you. Many of the pilots who were hired at the regionals in the late 90's (a decade) later were hired directly from university flight programs (UND, ERAU, you name it...). Many of them did very little flying outside of school -- maybe a few hundred hours of flight instruction and not much more. They came to the regionals and in less than two years -- sometimes less than a SINGLE year -- they have upgraded to Captain on high performance turboprops and regional jets. They have autopilots, EFIS, and FMCs...a long way from the Metros I flew a decade ago.
What amazes me is how ANGRY these pilots are.
They're angry that it took them so LONG (?) to upgrade.
They're angry that they're flying a prop, while their ex-room-mate is flying a jet.
They're angry that there is no flowthrough and that this precludes them from going directly to a major with no interview whatsoever.
They're angry that the pay and workrules they are operating under are not what they expected.
I think that their expectations were unreasonable -- and I blame it completely on the aviation universities. For four years these young men and women were groomed to expect greatness. They watched as their friends graduated and moved quickly to the regionals, flew for two or three years and moved on to United. Heck...many of those people were only at United for 4 or 5 years before they upgraded! Why didnt anyone tell them the truth?
These folks dont know what "Peoples Express" is. They vaguely nod if you mention "Braniff" or "Eastern". They heard something about a furlough in the early 90s -- but they were in elementary school then...
All they know is that they have the precious 1000 hours PIC turbine and why the HECK is Southwest not calling? And whats this OLD MAN doing in the copilots seat? "When I tell him that I expect to be at American in a year, why does he grin like that, silently staring out the window?"
Unrealistic expectations. We have an obligation to share what we've learned with these young men and women. To remind them that they really didnt jump any hurdles to get where they are -- frankly, they had it pretty easy compared to the generation that came before.
They'll never know the fear you felt conducting your first single-pilot ILS to minimums-100 in blowing snow with the aircraft covered in ice...the boss yelling, "fly or you're fired!".
They will never be able to understand what it was like being a copilot for 4 years in a 19 seat airliner...no autopilot ... Utica ... Syracuse ... Binghamton ... "May I take your bag ma'am? Yes I'm old enough to fly this thing." ... Watertown ... Ogdensburg ... "Was that lightning?" ... Plattsburgh ...
And you'll never catch them spinning the fan after we land in Binghamton on a snowy winter night.
So pardon me if I take a deep breath and stare out the window when you wax poetic about the Boeing 777 seat which is waiting for you. If I dont respond when you complain about how it took you 18 months to upgrade to captain on a PROP... forgive me.
I'm just happy to have a job flying... and its a beautiful day for flying isnt it? Mind if I take this leg Captain? Nah...I think I'll leave the autopilot off -- just for old time's sake.
