A Year in the Life

[pbot]

This has been a really interesting thread to follow, to have a better understanding of what a pilot goes through.

I don't travel much for work, so when I do have to fly I always think, 'man those pilots have it good...getting paid to travel, etc'. Never really understood what was going on 'behind the scenes' so to speak, what a grind the job can be.

Your job is still way cooler than mine, the insight you've provided has been fascinating. Thanks for the look at the side of airlines most of us never get to see.

[PilotMan]

A little behind again. I haven't had a good opportunity to really sit down and type this out until now. So I'm going to try and recall all of this the best that I can.

I started off again last Friday, Black Friday. I was able to be home for Thanksgiving for the first time in a few years. We have a very small family so it's no more than my Mom coming over to eat with us, but my wife always goes to great lengths to have a great variety of awesomeness to choose from. I swear that we could have fed 20 easy.

I took off around 215p in the afternoon. My flight was at 3:50p and all I had to do was commute to Newark. I had nothing until Saturday morning. I could've taken a later flight, and been home an extra 2.5 hours, but that would have put my backup flight as a two leg flight through Charlotte and probably not getting to the pad until after midnight. Not the greatest option, and not something that seemed worthwhile considering it was a Holiday weekend and all for 2.5 hours. It just didn't make sense so off I went.

The crew was very anxious to get going. It was their last leg and clearly they told the gate to get going because 20 minutes before departure and we were all boarded up. They still can't push until 10 prior, but they were fired up to get the hell out of Dodge. I was fortunate to have a seat in the last row, but the passengers all seemed on edge, almost rude. It was like nothing was quite good enough. I don't know. It was just an odd feeling.

We got to Newark quite early. I wasn't really hungry, but it was about 545p and dinner would be calling soon, so I opted to grab some Qdoba at the airport and take it to the crash pad. I took the train over and waited. The hotel van is on a schedule so you know when it'll be there. Except today it never showed up. I know I'm not the only one waiting for it. I just keep waiting and looking. I guess I could've called, but the reality is it wouldn't have mattered anyway. Twenty turned to thirty, turned to forty. Still no van. I decided that if I didn't see the van by the time I saw the next Embassy Suites van, that I'd try and hitch a ride with them. It's right across the street, and they are good to crews. So that's what happened. The hotel van never came and I hopped on the other shuttle. All in all it took over an hour. Traffic had completely broken down around the airport and the Jersey Gardens mall on Black Friday. The shuttle driver had to drive crazy and cut people off just to be able to get back to the hotel. I'm guessing that's what happened to the other driver. He simply got stuck in traffic and didn't have any other choice.

I was the number 3 guy in the pad and got the last bottom bunk. There would be one more before the end of the night, and that poor guy had to get up first, from the bunk above my bed. I didn't have to get up until about 645, but I was third. Guys had to get up starting at 430a. So you know, other than the semi-uncomfortable bunk bed, it was pretty busy in there.

I grabbed a quick breakfast in the hotel, knowing that I'd get breakfast on the plane, but not for a few hours. I downloaded my paperwork in the van on the way to the airport and looked over the flight plan. This was an international flight today. Just one leg to a new layover for me. I've been to Bonaire a couple of times before but it was always down and back out again. I was kind of looking forward to it. It's part of the ABC (Aruba, Bonaire, Cuacao) islands of the Netherland Antilles and is a very popular destination for scuba divers. We had 5 groups that were going down there on the plane. I was the first one down to the plane, about an hour before the scheduled departure. That gave me plenty of time to get the plane set up and meet the other crew members.

The plane had just come from maintenance and we had a minor issue to deal with before we left, but it didn't impact our departure. We pushed early and started up the engines. After start we had another mechanical issue having to deal with the redundancy for the temperature control system for the plane. You know it's something that is minor. It's a failure of a redundant system, but like everthing else there's a procedure for it. We had to contact maintenance, explain the issue then wait for further instruction while they look up the issue. In the meantime I've got to make sure that the ramp controller knows we are dealing with a mechanical. She wants us to move, but we need to wait to hear back in case they want us back in the gate. So both of us are busy up front while this is going on. We both look up the failure in the Minimum Equipment List to see what the procedure is going to be when they clear us to go. The failure has to be in the book for us to even be able to go. Luckily for us, we both know it's deferrable and we'll be ok to go eventually.

They have us taxi over to a ramp area that's sort of an overflow/parking area in Newark while we make sure that all the paperwork is in order for the flight. The Captain checks with the dead heading Captain who is bringing the plane back to Newark to make sure he is going to be ok with it, which was very smart. He was, but he might not have been and then the plane would have been stuck in Bonaire. All this takes about 15 minutes and we are finally ready to go. We climb out and make our turn toward the Atlantic. Most of the flight will be Oceanic heading south. Almost 45 minutes into the flight we were out of radar contact and had to begin the communications with the HF radio with position reports and all that stuff. That continues until you get north of the Dominican and talking to Miami again. We start off at 33,000ft but the rides sucked. The weather we reviewed showed a lot of turbulence most starting at 33,000, but the dispatcher was pretty confident that it was improving. Before we got too far, we decided to drop down to 31,000. It was a great choice. Our ride still had plenty of bumps, but I think we found the best ride possible. We were heavy enough that we couldn't go much higher.

There were scattered thunderstorms out there too. From north of the Dominican to almost to Bonaire we had to deviate and pick our way around weather. Normally on a flight this long (4h45m) I've got some time to study (read newspaper), but not this day. There was plenty to do and it was my leg to fly anyway. It was raining when we landed in Bonaire and it would continue off and on throughout the rest of the day. Never hard enough to get really wet while being outside, but wet enough that it was impossible to sit outside. Everything was plenty soaked. Bonarie is not the busy, well developed area like Aruba. It's still quite small and small town feeling. They do have more money coming in but the island only has 17,000 full time inhabitants.

This was the view from my room:



We got out and had a nice dinner too. Not far from the hotel was this 315ft yacht:



It just happens to be Tatoosh, Microsoft co-founder, Paul Allen's small boat. He was trying to sell it for 160M, 5 years ago. It's longer than a football field with 2 heli pads, and a big sail boat strapped onto the side of it and is currently the worlds 43rd largest yacht.

I slept pretty good. The ocean surf gently pounded the rocks below the room and it sounded just like those ocean sounds from those relaxation sound machines. One hour ahead of eastern time didn't feel too great this morning. We were up before 6 and out the door back to the airport. Bonaire is called Flamingo Airport, because of the native birds in the area. They really take pride in that here:



Pink is IN!

The flight this morning was to Houston, not back to Newark, and was actually longer than the flight from Newark. Wrap your head around that one. When we got to the airport, Operations immediately started pushing us to get the flight out early. We told them we'd be fine, just leave us alone to get our work done, but they just kept bugging the crap out of us. And since most of the preflight work is done by me, that means they were pushing my buttons. I'll get it done, when it gets done, and I make sure that I've done what I need to do to get going. Not before. I knew we'd still be on time, just leave me alone!

There aren't any parallel taxiways either. You have to taxi on the runway and back taxi into position. It's not a busy airport at this time, so we didn't have any delays. We took off and made out turn over the north shore of the island. Our routing took us on almost a straight path just south of Jamaica, over the west coast of Cuba, north of the Yucutan peninsula, and finally to Houston.

I cleared customs and had an hour and a half to kill. I got my shoes shined (for any travelers, I've found Houston and Denver to have the best) and grabbed some lunch. The next flight was just a deadhead over to San Antonio for the rest of the day. We got here just in time to catch the late NFL games. The Captain and I went out for some TexMex dinner and then I called it a night and started typing this out.

Tomorrow will be back to Newark after a short flight to Houston in the morning. I'd like to be on time, even though I've got a couple hours until my commute back home, I'd hate to get there any later than I already will be. Just so long as I get home on go home day. That's the most important thing.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by pbot

This has been a really interesting thread to follow, to have a better understanding of what a pilot goes through.

I don't travel much for work, so when I do have to fly I always think, 'man those pilots have it good...getting paid to travel, etc'. Never really understood what was going on 'behind the scenes' so to speak, what a grind the job can be.

Your job is still way cooler than mine, the insight you've provided has been fascinating. Thanks for the look at the side of airlines most of us never get to see.

I sincerely thank you. I hope that you did since it was my goal. I've surprised myself by sticking with it and found that sometimes the words flow pretty easily once I get started. I've never been the big, prolific writer that Izulde or Abe or some others are, but I like to think that I do alright. I'm glad to hear that you're enjoying it. It's great to have the positive feedback.

[CraigSca]

Still reading this - awesome that you've had the stamina to keep writing!

Did you learn anything new when you took the meteorology training? Knowing how wind shear can effect a landing, how does one compensate for the early additional lift and then, of course, the downdraft? Is wind shear during a landing an automatic go around, or does one attempt to land anyway?

[PilotMan]

An early showtime on the last day is guaranteed to make for another long day. I was up by 430a in San Antonio only thankful that it was 530a in the eastern time zone. The most difficult thing about this leg to Houston should be trying to fit eating breakfast in between climbout and decent, when we are only going to be at cruise for about 6-7 minutes.

This reminds me that I forgot to mention that the weather going into Houston yesterday was very low overcast clouds with a misty, drizzle. I had to shoot an instrument approach that provides us with lateral and vertical information and lets us go all the way down to 200ft AGL (above ground level) before we'd have to go around. There are provisions to go lower if we have the approach lights in sight. So coming back from Bonaire it got all the way down until about 300ft AGL before we broke out. Or to put it another way, about 7 seconds from needing to go around and 21 seconds from the ground. It's something that we do on a regular basis, but that doesn't mean it's easy. Add in that generally on the longer 737's our approach speeds are much faster than some other planes. So at this point we are going around 172 mph, and landing within the first 3000ft of the runway, but staying on the glidepath. So that means that we are likely going to eat up the first 1000 ft, due to the fact that we cross the threshold at 50 ft AGL. So now we've got 2000ft to work with to get down and make the landing as soft as we dare for the conditions. All while traveling around 165 mph at touchdown. That equates to approximately 245ft/s or about an 8 second maximum window to make all the adjustments for wind, rate of decent, and speed while trying to coax a soft landing out of it. Some guys are better at it than others, I happen to be very good at it. While I didn't have this landing, I had the landing in Bonaire and had a passenger comment that he'd never felt anything like that landing and that he had no idea it was even possible to land that soft. I've even landed so softly that I didn't know we were on the ground until the flight spoilers came up on the wings. That's the stuff that gets pilots off. It really is.

The weather in Houston wasn't any better on this day. We had an alternate option of Dallas or Little Rock. When we took off they were reporting 1/4 mi visibility with 200ft ceilings. It was expected to improve as the sun came up, but never really get nice. We had decided that since the weather was so low and even though it was my leg, that the Captain should fly it just in case we'd have to shoot an autoland approach to make sure we could get in. That particular approach is now only done by the left seat guy. And it went as expected. When we shot the approach the bases were reported high enought that I could've made the approach, but not by much. We were coming down the glideslope and didn't pick up the approach lights until we were about 250ft AGL and then only got the full length of the runway around 150ft AGL.

After we taxied to the gate and started to look at the paperwork did we realize the extent of our issues. The company had stolen our airplane to give to someone else. The worse news was the our plane was on its way in from La Guardia.....and wouldn't be on the ground until nearly 2 hours after our scheduled departure time. Ugh. My scheduled flight home was immediately in jeopardy. I had some time to kill so I walked around the terminal just to move a little, then headed down to our operations area to sit and work on a project for a Christmas present.

So I've been doing this project all year long and I was thinking that it would be nice to have something so that I could remember it longer, besides of course, this thread, which we all know will outlive all of us. My wife has done some picture books and they've turned out very well, but I'm not one for taking the time to edit, place and put the effort in generally. I asked her which company we'd been the happiest with and she told me. I checked it out, signed up, and started playing with it. They are kind of expensive, but I know the quality is really good. Plus, they run a promotion if you are a new customer where you can get a $25 discount on a 6x8 hardcover, hard page book, like you get for your kids. I ended up ordering 3 of these. In the end, with shipping it was about $35 per book. I think I'm really happy with how they look on the computer. I hope they look this good for real. Here's what the final product looks like. Let me know what you think. Especially if you've been reading this all year long. It'll be like a walk down memory lane!



There's nothing I can do about the time that we get out of Houston. We meet the plane when it gets in and jump in and get to work. Last week I missed my flight home by only a few minutes, I really didn't want that to happen again. I think we had the plane ready to go in about thirty minutes, but they were having a hard time getting everyone situated in the back. In fact the ramp was all done loading the plane when we still had a load of passengers standing standing in the jet bridge.

We pushed back and taxied out. Ground gave us a runway change, so I had to make all the changes for the takeoff before we got to the runway. When we got there we still didn't have our new performance data so we had to pull off to the side for a couple minutes until that came in. Then go back through all the checklists to verify that everything was set up correctly. Once we were sure that it was we took off for Newark.

We did have some nice tailwinds due to the more southerly jet stream. Over 120 mph right on the tail is much better than the alternative. The ride deteriorated though as we rode the cold front that's been working it's way across the eastern US. Many times we'd have to slow down because the ride was just too rough. Even with landing on a favorable runway in Newark it wouldn't be enough. We were just too late. We touched down, and rolled into the gate. By the time we parked, my flight home had just pushed back. Awwww well.

I made sure that I said goodbye to everyone then took a look at the next flight. It was an hour and a half later. So not terrible, but it was full, whereas the flight I was planning on being on was not. It even had a couple of revenue standbys that must have missed earlier flights due to delays. Newark was a having a Newark kind of day it appeared. I got over to the gate as early as I could. I needed to get listed for the jump seat once again. I was fortunate that nobody else had shown up ahead of me, so it looked like I would be getting on that way. The gate agent was 1 minute from closing the flight when the last family of 4 showed up, running through the terminal to get to the plane. That would have been my seat. Instead I did get to sit up front. It's just as uncomfortable as ever, but as you can tell, it's very helpful at getting you where you need to go.

I snapped this picture as we were climbing out of Newark. Just a couple of minutes after broke through the cloud layer and could see the sunset.



Cincinnati was calling 900 ft ceilings when we came in for the approach. It had been a very typical grey, rainy late fall/early winter day in the Ohio Valley. Except that the actual conditions were much worse when we came in. At 500ft we still had no visibility on the runway, and we didn't at 300 ft either. It wasn't until, nearly at the minimums for the approach that we saw any runway lights. After we landed it was obvious that the conditions were getting worse. On the drive home it felt as if a blanket of mist had descended. Ahh, it didn't matter though. I was home again. Now to get caught up on all the other normal, life stuff that I've been missing!

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by CraigSca

Still reading this - awesome that you've had the stamina to keep writing!

Did you learn anything new when you took the meteorology training? Knowing how wind shear can effect a landing, how does one compensate for the early additional lift and then, of course, the downdraft? Is wind shear during a landing an automatic go around, or does one attempt to land anyway?

Part of getting my CFI (Flight Instructor) rating is going through, and then teaching a large amount of meteorology. I would say that's where the bulk of my knowledge comes from. But then after I stared flying as a career you pick up a lot more that deals with high altitude stuff and you focus more on the larger US weather picture instead of just the local stuff that impacts flight students most. I did learn how to better utilize the weather program on the ipad to get more accurate reports on turbulence potential hazards enroute though.

Wind shear can be deadly. It's defined as a shift in wind of more than thirty knots. An example would be a situation where I might have a tailwind coming down an approach that then changes to a headwind somewhere closer to the ground. It doesn't happen that way much, but it can happen. I had a situation taking off out of JFK a few years ago where we were climbing out into a layer of shear and had to go to max power and even then, we were only just barely climbing. We couldn't make any turns in that situation until we had climbed out of it.

On landing the situation that you describe is what you might find under a large thunderstorm, or what we might call a microburst. It was the primary cause of the Delta crash in Dallas in 1985.



Technology and awareness have improved a lot since then. It's something that we train on a regular basis and are aware of. I generally don't like bringing the power back much below 52% on approach and it's one of the triggers that I use to keep track of my situation. A situation like Delta faced was the headwind like you described, and where they were way above the ILS glidepath. The result was that they got fast and high, pulled the power back to idle and then when the tailwind hit, they were way behind the power curve, lost all their airspeed and couldn't recover.

They talk about approach gates at 1500ft, 1000ft and 500ft. There are certain approach stability standards that have to be met and if those are not met, then a go around would happen. Recognition is the key, and a smart crew will go around long before they get into that situation now. The tower is much more aware as well. Newer technology now reports when there are wind shift discrepancies for each and every runway on the field. That technology doesn't exist at every airport, but it is out there.

Typically, you might start an approach and if a wind shear report for your runway of greater than 30 kts is alerted then an immediate go around would be required. If nothing was reported, but something alerted you on the approach, say you got really high and fast, you would go around. Safety has improved greatly over the last 30 years and it will continue to be pushed by pilots. We want to get there just as badly as you do.

[CraigSca]

I'm familiar with the Dallas incident and that's exactly why I asked. I've often wondered if the industry as a whole has just gotten lucky when it comes to the event repeating itself. It's good to hear how the way a situation like that would be handled has changed dramatically since then. Thanks!

[britrock88]

I didn't fly with your airline over the holiday, but I don't think that's especially relevant. What I wanted to say is that for the fact that it was a holiday, and one where weather can begin to slow/disrupt the network of planes flying across the country, there were tremendously kind and helpful gate agents, pilots, and attendants over this long weekend.

The quick and dirty is that on the way home on Thanksgiving morning,
I had gate agents hold a plane for me in MSP after my first flight had to de-ice for the entire length of my would-be layover. On the way back, a snowstorm was moving through the upper midwest. Still on the ground in CLT, a gate agent announces the delay (based on metering from MSP ATC) and essentially announces that he's monitoring connections and that everyone should be okay because of the metering, yada yada. After he dealt with ~25 passengers, I got up to thank him, mentioned my connecting flight to BIS, and he helpfully let me know that I would be flying the same plane for both legs. And while the planes were taxiing in both CLT and MSP, the pilots and attendants were very thorough in explaining the extra steps the plane was going through and the time impacts involved, and assuaging us about the impacts of them all.

Kudos to PM and all his colleagues. I was happy to give a lot of heartfelt "thank yous" to your kind over the last several days.

[PilotMan]

Awesome news today.

I got notified that the company bought one of my trips in December for training. This is the second time that it's happened this year, and the second time in nearly 13 years that it's happened.

I had a trip in two weeks that started with a 6+ hour red-eye flight to Bogota, Columbia. I was hesitant at first, but had heard that things have changed there. There was absolutely zero excitement for a 6 hour red-eye. Bogota would have been a new one for me, and it would have been the furthest south that I had ever been.

After the schedules came out the captain who had been awarded the trip dropped it and it went into open time and there it sat. Bogota is a special qualification airport meaning that the captain has to be specially trained before he can operate there on his own. That means a Check Airman flies down with him and gives him training, then signs him off as qualified.

So essentially what happened here was that a captain who needed qualification was awarded the trip and the training captain took my spot in the right seat. I am completely pay protected for the three day trip and it's 15 hours worth of pay.

My options at this point are to stay home, enjoy the time off with pay, or I can pick up another trip over the same time period and get double pay. Pay for the work, and pay for the covered trip. If I stay home I'd be off for most of the middle of the month. I'd have another weekend off for us to plan family activities and time to maybe have a social life.

Things to consider for sure. It made my day today.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by britrock88

I didn't fly with your airline over the holiday, but I don't think that's especially relevant. What I wanted to say is that for the fact that it was a holiday, and one where weather can begin to slow/disrupt the network of planes flying across the country, there were tremendously kind and helpful gate agents, pilots, and attendants over this long weekend.

The quick and dirty is that on the way home on Thanksgiving morning,
I had gate agents hold a plane for me in MSP after my first flight had to de-ice for the entire length of my would-be layover. On the way back, a snowstorm was moving through the upper midwest. Still on the ground in CLT, a gate agent announces the delay (based on metering from MSP ATC) and essentially announces that he's monitoring connections and that everyone should be okay because of the metering, yada yada. After he dealt with ~25 passengers, I got up to thank him, mentioned my connecting flight to BIS, and he helpfully let me know that I would be flying the same plane for both legs. And while the planes were taxiing in both CLT and MSP, the pilots and attendants were very thorough in explaining the extra steps the plane was going through and the time impacts involved, and assuaging us about the impacts of them all.

Kudos to PM and all his colleagues. I was happy to give a lot of heartfelt "thank yous" to your kind over the last several days.

That's great to hear. I know that my company made an announcement today that they are purchasing 6000 Iphone 6S's and giving them to all of the customer service people in all the major hubs in the system. The goal is to be able to integrate with the booking and reservations software more efficiently so that in times of trouble rebookings can happen much faster and passengers can be helped without having to spend so long waiting in those lines.

After the long dark of airlines failing to make money and having to go through bankruptcy over and over again, it's nice to finally see them making money, and being able to put the much needed improvements in place that can make the industry that much better for passengers and employees.

[PilotMan]

I headed back to work yesterday. This trips is very conveniently commutable for me. Where last week I only had 3 day trip, but was gone for 4 days, this one is a 4 day and still just gone 4 days. I left home around 730a for my 905a flight to Newark. The flight had a few available seats and I was the only stand by passenger listed so getting a seat wasn't a problem.

We landed around 1100a I had about 45 minutes of free time before I had to get to the plane. Not having eaten I ran down to the cafeteria for some lunch. I have a really hard time turning down a Reuben and fries. I really struggle to eat healthy on the road. I downloaded the paperwork for our 2 hour flight to Atlanta. This is only the second time that I've been back to Atlanta with my new company. I used to come here all the time when I was with Comair. It always brings back a flood of memories and mixed emotion.

The weather surely wasn't an issue. Things were nice both in Newark and all up and down the east coast. I took this leg so it was my landing. The guy that I'm flying with on this trip was stationed at the same AFB that my Dad was and where I was born many years before. Aviation can be a very small world. That goes both ways. If you burn bridges anywhere in this business it can come back and bite you and keep you from getting where you want to go. All it takes is one or two people to derail a shot at a major airline.

We landed and parked in Atlanta and only had 45 scheduled minutes in between flights. After we parked I didn't even get out of the seat at first. I had to get right to grabbing the paperwork for the next leg and then setting the plane up again. It took just about 10 minutes of that to get all my paperwork ready and reviewed, then another 20 to get the cockpit set up and preflighted. By the time I was able to get up for the walkaround we were already boarding and just a few minutes to push.

I walked around the plane, then ran inside the terminal to use a real toilet that I can stand up straight in and then right back to the plane. The next, and last flight of the day was out to Denver. My little bit of exercise had to hold me over for another 3+ hours.

ATC was reporting some turbulence going into Denver so we had everyone finish up and sit down. If you've ever been into Denver, you know they can have some hellacious turbulence to playing it safe is always the best option. We landed early and even with a last minute gate change rolled right up to our spot.

Even though it was only 2 flights having that first leg commute from home made it feel a lot longer. Our layover was a shorter layover so instead of going all the way downtown we stayed out closer to the airport so that we didn't have to waste so much time going back and forth.

Last night was short, but I knew that today would be a short workday. We headed out to the airport at 700a. The plane had overnighted and the only real issue would be whether or not it would need to be deiced. I got everything set up pretty quickly. The Captain checked the wings, but couldn't really get an idea if they needed cleaned off. The temp was such that it could've gone either way. When I went out for the walkaround I discovered that they had already sprayed the plane off with some Type 1 prior to us getting there. That was enough to get the frost off and keep us from having to worry about it.

We pushed back with a nearly full flight, on time, for our only leg of the day, down to Ft Lauderdale. On climb out we heard a report of more turbulence so I kept the plane a little bit slower to mitigate the bumps as well as, to allow for a faster rate of climb. Once we were up to cruise and 40 minutes out the ride eased up and we had a great flight.

ATC originally gave us a direct routing down to Tallahassee, but as we got down over Alabama, they rerouted us due to an active military area that we needed to stay away from. As we got to the top of the decent I pulled the weather for Lauderdale up and saw that it was warm, but raining and windy. Somewhere just east of Ft Myers we hit the rain. It wasn't related to any thunderstorms, but it was heavy.

As we were coming down the noise from the rain and the speed that we were going made it seem like we were just plummeting toward the earth. The rain was loud and the wind was bouncing us all over the place. I broke out of the clouds a few hundred feet up and the rain let off for the landing. The wind was still howling though, but I still managed a rather soft landing.

We taxied in and that was it. I was done. I stayed and said goodbye to all the passengers, while the Captain, who lives in Fort Lauderdale, took off to go home. I had been planning to get out today after watching the NDSU football game on ESPN3, but the non stop rain cooled that plan really quick. Instead I ordered a pizza and just watched the Bison lay the smack down on the Griz of Montana. Getting retribution for the week one loss to start the year.

WOOT! WOOT!

I'm out again tomorrow morning and am officially half way done with the trip.

[PilotMan]

I totally forgot to add that by not being home again this weekend that I missed my middle son's robotics competition. He's been working very hard the last few weeks and has been captaining the team. The teacher has been useless when it comes to giving direction for the kids and he has been the one that has given out assignments, given direction, and been, in general, the ass kicker, for the team.

I guess they came in somewhere around 18th out of 42 teams. In a competition made up of elementary to high school students. This is the first team that his school has had in 3 years so expectations weren't very high, but I think he was pleased with how they did. He said their robot is old and needs new motors.

No matter how they did, he learned a ton of responsibility and what it's like to manage other people. He took on tasks way above his stand and seemed to earn the respect of the other teammates. I am very proud of him if you can't tell. I thought about him all day today. Missing these things, never being able to be a regular contributor at the school or with any teams is certainly limiting.

I always thought that I'd be the one who was right in there helping. I never really understood the sacrifices that this job creates until I was in the thick of it.

[PilotMan]

I'm not going to lie. Between the weather, the early, but not o dark thirty, report times, and long enough layovers this trip has been pretty easy. It's the kind of trip that you feel like you could do over and over again when it runs smooth. Things are clicking in the cockpit. The other guy I'm flying with is a retired Air Force, F4 and F16 pilot who was actually stationed at the same base, for a couple of years, that my Dad was stationed at when he retired.

I didn't sleep well last night. There was a major party in the room next to mine. They were just inconsiderate of anyone else. Look I get it, it's time to celebrate, but not everyone is at the hotel for leisure. I called down and complained, but even after that it didn't really improve. Once I got to sleep it was alright, but I just didn't sleep well. The flight was full with a jump seater in the cockpit and 2 FA jumps in the back from Lauderdale for our flight to Houston. It's pretty common to get jump seaters on this leg. There are lots of crew that live down in south Florida that are trying to get to work.

It was still cloudy in Florida, but all it took was to get to about 15000ft and above that was nothing but sun. The forecast had nothing in the way of weather at all. Houston was clear with great visibility and because we pushed early and had no delays we ended up getting in to the gate about 10 minutes early. We were originally scheduled to have a plane change during our hour and fifteen minute break, but while we were getting our paperwork for the next flight we realized that we were getting to keep the plane. As little of a thing as that sounds like it really isn't. When I unpack I've got the Ipad, my headset, my logbook, my sunglasses, my bag with all my extra stuff in it to keep track of. All that stuff has to get packed back up, made sure nothing is left, then unpacked. Logistically, it's just more steps in between actually starting the pre-flight. So when we got to keep it I immediately had an extra 15 minutes to play with.

I got the plane all set up and took a break in the terminal. This was about 30 minute until I was due back to the plane. The weather on the next leg didn't even include a cloud. I mean A cloud. Just about as perfect as you can get. The weather in Phoenix was just as perfect. The ride was smooth, the flight was just about 2.5 hours, so not too long, and the approach was easy peasy rice and cheesy.

Pilots live for days like today, where things are just rolling along, the weather is good, and there are no delays. It makes our jobs so much easier and passengers can be generally assured that everything is going to work out alright. We landed in Phoenix a good 20 minutes early and headed downtown. I needed a nap before I could do anything, then met the Captain out for dinner.

Tomorrow is one leg back to Newark and then a flight home. I'd love it if things we just as smoothly tomorrow.

[britrock88]

Remind me--Minot or Grand Forks?

[PilotMan]

Well, I'm not entirely sure what you're asking, but as far as home goes, I live in the Kentucky side of Cincinnati. I grew up in Minot, graduated from High School in Bismarck, and College in Fargo. I sort of get to claim the whole state for origin.

Emotional would be a little understated in describing how I'm feeling right now. Everything leading up to this was good, very good. The Steelers won big time, I got about 6 solid hours of sleep, the plane was good to go. So it started alright.

We climbed out of Phoenix and headed back to Newark. I was running the radios on this one and there were no shortage of frequency changes. The company flight plan had us flying at a faster speed to stay on time. There was very little tail wind to speak of. That was the reason that flying faster was necessary. We were maybe 15 minutes into the flight when we started to get the standard lull of light chop, the rhythmic bumping along like a boat on the water. Enough turbulence that you can't relax, but not so much that you have to slow down. This lasted from Arizona all the way until we were in Indianapolis airspace. It eventually settle down and we were making good time.

Let me interrupt this to say that we were scheduled to land at the same time that an earlier flight home was scheduled to leave. I really had no expectation to be able to make that flight since we really couldn't make any time up and had no wind help at all. The last 2 weeks of just barely missing a flight home gave me the feeling that if I shouldn't even contemplate it, just relax and wait it out. The next flight that I was planned to be on was a two hour wait longer. Nobody wants to wait that long. But I really didn't have a choice.

As we easily made our way to Newark we were going to land about 8 minutes early. That would put me in the gate around 10 minutes early overall. Still not early enough. Then things started to happen.

Newark turned the airport around and started landing on a more favorable runway for our approach, then the approach controller gave us a direct vector to the final approach fix. This never happens. So much time of Newark is build into ATC vectoring for the final. I've talked about it before, but you can rush all you want and ATC will take it all away for the approach, but the reverse can happen to and it can be shortened much more than if you had been speeding for 4 hours.

Now I started looking at the clock. They had shaved off another 10 minutes. That might make me have to try. We landed and the tower controller cleared us across the parallel runway and over to ground. Ground taxied us straight to the ramp. Ramp taxied us straight to the gate! Holy crap! No delays! Straight to the gate!

Now it's 20 minutes until my flight leaves, and I've got to rush to get my stuff. I might have a chance at this. I jump off and start hurrying to the gate. I see that it's even leaving from the same concourse that I'm in, but it's a long walk. I hustle, ducking and weaving around people. People move like the parting of the Red Sea. It's still along walk.

I finally get there. It's 11 minutes before the departure and it's closed. The gate agent is gone. The plane is there. I'm fucked.

I hate this feeling. I set myself up for it. Now I'm sitting here for 2 hours. Just as I was accepting that I could deal with that I got a notification that my new flight was delayed for 2 hours. Fuck me.

I changed my flight listing to show the next flight out. It's only 3.5 hours instead of the 4, but it feels now, like I'm never going to get home.

The commute home is already 2 hours long. I can't say that I'm excited to wait another 3.5 hours just to begin. I can see another jump seat in my future. Inevitably, any open seats on this flight are going to be filled with people from the delayed flight.

[PilotMan]

Six and a half hours after I missed my flight, and 12 hours after I started my day I finally got home. I am looking forward to my break. I still think I'm going to enjoy the weekend off with pay rather than pick up something else. I think I'm due for a weekend. It's also time to bid for January and I need to finish my computer training by the end of the year.

[britrock88]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

Six and a half hours after I missed my flight, and 12 hours after I started my day I finally got home. I am looking forward to my break. I still think I'm going to enjoy the weekend off with pay rather than pick up something else. I think I'm due for a weekend. It's also time to bid for January and I need to finish my computer training by the end of the year.

Enjoy that weekend, and hate to hear about the go-home rollercoaster.

I was curious about which AFB you were referring to, but hey, covering all of ND is fair.

[PilotMan]

It was actually George AFB in Victorville CA. It's now a boneyard for cast away planes and the base is long closed.

[PilotMan]

It's just now starting to sink in that I've got the weekend off. The kids have been asking when I'm leaving again (as they usually do), and I've been holding off saying anything concrete because I still wanted to leave the option on the table to work, but they will be very happy to have me here.

I worked on two of my training modules this morning. The first of which dealt with the proper procedures and record keeping for flights that travel out of radar range over the ocean or remote continental locations like upper Canada and Greenland. The only real routes that this applied to for the 737 are some Atlantic routes to the islands and our routes from LA and SFO to Hawaii. The next was procedures and requirements for aircraft operating in RVSM (Reduced Vertical Separation Minimums) airspace above 29,000 ft. It went over the current rules and what procedures we have in place to comply with the rules, as well as how to handle situations where you are no longer legal for RVSM airspace or how to handle short term exceptions where you might be allowed into that area even if you don't have the requirements for it.

The last module was a very detailed section that we have to have training in every year, per the FAA, to be able to stay qualified to shoot a very specific type of approach. They are called PRM (Precision Runway Monitor) approaches, and deal with closely spaced parallel runways with simultaneous approaches to them. I've probably shot less than 5 of these in 13 years, but we still have the training to stay current. All airlines have a variation on this that is similar so I'm very familiar with it, so that makes it much less fun to do over and over again.

I also was able to get my January bid in. January is pretty simple. The flying drops way off from December, there are more people on vacation, and we don't really have any major family activities, with the exception being the last part of Christmas break for school. My bid starts with December 30, and I'm already off the 28-29, and I have a very short vacation Jan 2-3, that I got as part of a Union settlement over work rules from 2 years ago. My goal is try and get that gap of the 30-1 off which would mean that I'd be off with the kids until they have to go back to school on the 4th. The rest of the month I don't really care. So I've got my bid to try and get a minimum of days off between trips and that block of days at the end of December. It's a total of 11 different bids to try and protect myself against really bad things happening. I should be able to get most of what I want. Right now I'm up to 56% seniority in the seat, which is better than ever. It can only mean continued schedule improvement over the next year.

[PilotMan]

I'm a little over halfway through my planned time off at home for the holiday. Things have been busy just taking care of the boys, trying to get the shopping done and plan for the holiday.

I took the time and finished my training that was due by the end of the year. The first module that I did was a refresher on the new procedures that are coming to the 737 in the way of an updated flight management computer that will allow some newer options, specifically the ability to get a pilot/controller data link with the plane on the ground to get clearances. Plus some updates that will allow some additional programming for planning purposes. The other update dealt with the new electronic logbook. The logbook in the plane will be replaced electronically and updated by the company and maintenance. There are new procedures to verify the legality and airworthiness of the aircraft prior to each flight as well as new procedures in the event that we have a mechanical. I'll get more training on each of these things as they come on line next year too.

The second module covered the fuel system of the plane. It went over the function, location and operation of the various pumps. It also covered the limitations and switch position and indicator lights in the aircraft. This a standard system review that I'd see normally.

The last module dealt with the alcohol and drug policies and testing procedures. Since I'm subject to DOT drug testing there are some pretty specific rules and definitions that I need to be aware of. Also, when traveling out of the country the rules of the country that I'm in might be even more stringent than the company rules and that I am bound by the regs of that country. The last part of this training dealt with the ways that pilot can get help if abuse is a problem or suspected and how to handle a crew member that is having problems. The company, FAA and union all have agreed on a path that allows a pilot to keep his job in the event he would get busted somewhere.

Since I'm working over Christmas next week we have to plan to have our family Christmas earlier, so we've got it planned for the 20-21-22 next week. Everyone is excited.

I will get my January schedule late tomorrow night.

[britrock88]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

It was actually George AFB in Victorville CA. It's now a boneyard for cast away planes and the base is long closed.

An interesting boneyard, too.

And it's been an interesting year (almost) following along with you, too. Thanks for the knowledge and insight you've shared!

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by britrock88

An interesting boneyard, too.

And it's been an interesting year (almost) following along with you, too. Thanks for the knowledge and insight you've shared!

Thanks britrock, I've enjoyed it too. I'm looking forward to being able to take a break from the writing, but I think that I may still update it from time to time, or if something occurs to me that I want to point out. It's still going to be here as a forum for questions too. I feel good about how it all turned out.

Today is a busy night. It's a piano recital for one and a band concert for another one. They happen about 30 minutes apart and a it's 40 minute drive in between. That means that we have to split up. I'm planning on being late for the band concert. The piano recital should happen pretty fast, and his teacher knows we need to leave quickly so he is going 3rd tonight. It also might be the last Christmas recital for him too, as his love of piano, after 4 years just isn't taking off. Sigh. That's a hard one for me to swallow. I really wanted to see him continue, and I'm proud of the way that he plays.

So this starts the crazy weekend. Tomorrow will be the end of school for the year, and that's our family movie night. Saturday we are supposed to go to Dayton to see family and exchange presents there. But that's kind of up in the air at this point, due to other family members being difficult.

Sunday is out Christmas Eve. The real part of the day will start around noon when we get ready and head out to go ice skating. That's been a Christmas Eve tradition for years now and the kids really like it, even if none of us is any good. They we'll race home and get cleaned up for church services that night. After the Christmas Eve service we'll all go out for a nice family dinner (also tradition) then drive around and look at lights (another tradition.) I'm sure the excitement will be in the air by then. Everyone will have a present to open (it'll be pajamas) per another tradition and then Monday morning will be our big day.

The day starts off with stockings and then some breakfast. Our breakfast is a brunch style feed yourself. We'll open presents in a couple different rooms, taking turns and having a good time. We'll take breaks and just really enjoy each other and the gifts all morning. When the boys were younger sometimes we'd still be opening gifts as it got dark again.

Tuesday is the 22nd, and that is traditionally known as "play day" around here. Nothing happens at all. It's time relax and enjoy your new toys. Except that this day is a little different. We'll head down to the Newport Levee before noon and have a family lunch and then we'll head to the movie theater for the IMAX 3D matinee showing of The Force Awakens.

Wednesday will be a day to breathe and get caught back up again. I have to get ready and refocused. That night I'll head back out to Newark and get ready for the next trip that starts on the 24th.

[PilotMan]

My January schedule came out and I guess I still haven't learned my lessons about being too optimistic in my schedule expectations. I was trying to get a full break over new years. There were only 28 trips that would have even impacted me, so I was hoping that it would be good enough to hold all that time off between the end of December and my short vacation before the kids go back to school.

Every single one of my bid failed until it got down to my last resort bid and then it put a 2 day trip on my schedule right over New Years. To make matters worse, it's a 2 day that will act like a 4 day for me because of when I have to leave to go to work and when I get back home. That doesn't make me happy either. I'm going to try and drop the trip without pay and try and pick up something else at the end of the month. The end of January is challenging to find anything good though. If it doesn't happen it doesn't, but I have to try.

The rest of my month isn't bad at all. It's back to weekend working, with trips that I'll be able to get back and forth on. The biggest issues are that the commutes aren't as easy as some have been. For example I've got a 5 hour sit before I get to come home after a trip on a Saturday. That's why I try really hard not to have trips start or end on that day. There's just not enough flights back and forth and they end up being a giant waste of time.

There is currently another vacancy bid out for some different planes. I thought about switching planes next year. There are reasons for staying and reasons for switching. Right now I can hold a first officer position in any of the bases, New York, DC, SF, LA CLE, CHI, on the 737 or the combined 757 and 767 fleet. Chicago is probably the easiest commute to work, but I would lose a day off or so because the trips aren't as productive and I wouldn't be as senior so my schedules would suck. If I were to go to the international fleet I'd be spending all of my trips in London somewhere in the UK. I'm not really senior enough to hold trips to any other location and while that is certainly something I want to do, I want more control over my schedules. So in order to have the control I've got to have the seniority. My current seat has the best seniority thus far, and that allows me to have some quality of life. My QOL was so bad for so many years I don't even know what a good QOL is like. I expect that I'd move up more this next year and the good thing is that as each year goes by my seniority goes up company wide. I'm now at 89.9% seniority overall, which means that I've got over 1250 pilots that are Jr to me. Once I make it into the 79% range I should have enough furlough protection that if the industry really just tanks I'd have enough to keep from being laid off. Roughly 2500 pilots, 20% furloughs are common in bad times. That will probably take another 18 months which just shows you how fast things are moving for me. I went 10 years in my last job and never moved up 1000 numbers. Here I am 30 months in and already up higher than that. Retirements are coming, new hires are coming. Jet fuel is much cheaper and the airlines, after 15 years of restructuring, bankruptcies, shuttered airlines, and thousands of pilots on the street, are finally making money and job security is looking much better. Sure nothing is set in stone and it can all change on a dime. Worldwide events shape the industry. There are still plenty of bad things that can make it all go away.

[PilotMan]

I started this whole thing to capture moments like this one. I've spent the vast majority of the day, my last day home, fretting about how I'm getting to work. I don't start my trip until after noon tomorrow, and normally I'd be able to commute to work early in the morning. However, tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and there are no direct flights until after I'm supposed to be there.

There were two leg options in the morning that would get me there, but only 1 so I had planned on taking the last flight to Newark tonight. You've seen this before, and everything has worked out alright. I've been able to avoid bad weather and get to work when I needed to. The day started pretty early this morning, almost over 10 hours before my flight, with a text that said that my flight was already 3 hours late. Not good. Like, really not good. That sort of certainty that early means bad things. There were only 4 direct flights from here to there all day, and the first one, the 630a flight, already cancelled.

So this is where I start thinking. I look up what my options are for the backup flight. What I find is that Chicago is already overbooked, and it's Chicago, land of commuters and bad weather. So the chances of getting to Newark from there suck. There's another flight, going through Charlotte, to Newark that will get me there. So I have an option, but it's not a good one. The combination of fewer flights due to the holiday, and really full flights, due to the holiday make everything so much harder.

Back to the story.

So the flight wasn't to leave now until 11pm, 3.5 hours late. I'm keeping an eye on the earlier flight too. It was supposed to leave around 430p, but it's delayed too. It's all ok so far. I need another backup plan. It's a weekday, so there's supposed to be a cargo flight that goes direct too. I call them to make sure that it is going to run, and that they still have a seat on it. Yes to both answers. The drawback here is that it leaves at 5a. That means I've got to be there by 4 and leave home by 330a, get up at 230a. Not a great backup, but still doable.

So, while I'm keeping an eye on all of this, my flight cancels.

I relist for the earlier flight, now delayed until the time my flight originally was supposed to go. All the flights are full and full of non-revs trying to travel. So the plan now is to take this other, delayed flight. But the reality is, I won't get there early enough to list for the jumpseat, because others will have beaten me to it.

A couple hours later. That flight cancels.

Now there are no direct flights left for me to take to get to work today. I've got the option to call in and miss my trip, without pay. That would cost me some significant coin. I like the idea of being home, but it means losing 1/4 of my monthly pay and having to talk to the chief pilot to explain why I'm missing the trip.

I go back to the drawing board. There's another flight that I can take into LaGuardia tonight. That would mean finding transportation back to Newark, across Manhattan, late tonight. Can't say that's an option I'm keen to try either.

So that's where I'm at. I've got to make a decision. Go to LGA, get up at 230a and take a cargo flight direct, or call the company and miss the trip, stay home and take it in the checking account. I hate all these options. On Christmas Eve no less. I've got a stress headache and my last day home, when I'm supposed to be relaxing and enjoying the spoils of my Christmas haul, but no, I'm worrying about this.

In the end I've settled on the cargo flight. I called them, listed on the flight, and no that I've got a seat and that I don't have to worry about someone taking my seat. It's just really, really early. So I get to be home a little later, but my day tomorrow will be just that much longer. If anything happens to this flight, I'm staying home. I've got plenty of support on my side if I do, but I'm at least, giving this my best effort. Now to enjoy the rest of my day.

[PilotMan]

Merry Christmas everyone! This time last year I was in Jackson Hole enjoying the snow and eating my dinner in a Starbucks, because there was nothing else available.

December 21st was the Winter Solstice, best remembered for being the shortest day of the year. While it's considered the first day of winter, to me it means the beginning of the end of short days. Daylight makes my job so much easier that the long, dark winter can drag on. So for me, a sign that days will get long again, is a good sign. This year it was also the day that we celebrated Christmas at home as a family. The boys are old enough that they don't mind so much anymore, but you can't fool my wife. Christmas, still only happens on Christmas, whether or not I'm there. We can pretend, but it's still not the same, because, well, it just isn't.

My Christmas Eve started with the alarm going off at 240a. I hit the snooze a couple times and pulled myself out of bed. Normally, I'd be doing all this on my own, but since I'm taking a cargo flight, I can't leave my car where I normally would and my oldest son wants to use my car too, so my wife has agreed to get up with me and haul my butt to the airport. We are out the door by 330a and she gets me dropped off. Being able to ride on a cargo plane like DHL, FedEx, or UPS is a nice option when things just don't work out the other way, and some guys even insist that it's the only way to do it. No passengers to deal with, a more laid back atmosphere and sometimes it's the only option I have when I get back to EWR late.

I took the bus out to the plane and introduced myself to the pilots and asked if they could take me to work. They gave me the safety demo and lucky for me, there was a row of seats outside the cockpit so they didn't feel like they needed to entertain me and I could lay down if I wanted. There wasn't anyone else up there with me and sleep was what I wanted.



Pretty awesome isn't it? Behind that seat is a wall and beyond that thousands of pounds of cargo loaded in, strapped down, and ready to go. I tried to sleep, but no way could I get comfortable enough. The hour and a half went fast though. We landed in EWR and I had to find the bus to take me back to the main terminal where I had a decision to make, stay at the airport or go to the crash pad?

Ultimately, I decided that being able to eat some breakfast (that I've already paid for) might be nice and the beds at the crash pad might be (considerably) more comfortable. So I headed there. By 845 I was in my bunk and asleep 5 minutes later. I planned to head back to the airport at noon so I could eat some lunch prior to flying out. Good thing I woke up at 1145a. I had no alarm set, and no clue that I'd sleep that late. My body clock was already blown. It still felt like morning when I left.

Lunch was a hamburger in the cafeteria and then I got all my paperwork updated before my flight. I only had 1 leg to Ft Myers on this day and after the day I'd already had, I was thankful. We carried a full plane of passengers down to FL for their Christmas. The plane was about 30 minutes late getting in so we weren't expected to run on time either. The holidays are nice if only that people are a little more patient, the airports are way less busy, and there is a general feeling that people are more appreciative than normal.

I hadn't flown in over 2 weeks and I'll admit that I felt rusty. All those routines that you get down sometimes take a minute to get back. By today, it was all old hat again.

Our layover is pretty short, but there's enough time to relax for a couple hours, get a quick workout in, then eat. After dinner the reality of the day set in and I was wiped out. I talked to the family for a bit, but then it was only 6 hours until I had to get up again. Sleep was necessary and I had to plan for the next day. Ft Myers is one of our nicer properties to stay at in the states. It's a resort, but the big drawback is that there's nothing else to really eat around here.



I had to get up at 445a this morning for a 600a pickup. Today was a full day, but only 2 flights, one to Newark, and one back here.

We had a whopping 25 people for the Christmas morning flight back to Newark. I had some time, and we were a little delayed due to fueling this morning, so I went back and chatted with everyone. We also had a first time flyer who was about 12 who I took up to the cockpit with his Dad to show them around. We had a maintenance deferral that needed a mechanic to perform a check before we could go, and he was the only guy working this morning, and he was stuck between 3 planes. Not good.

We only pushed off 7 minutes late though, and were able to make it up in the air. I kept getting weather updates for Newark and even though there was a forecast for some limited visibility, there was nothing like the thick fog that blanketed the airport. For almost 2 hours of our flight Newark had 0 visibility. Our dispatcher said that planes were still able to get in and I wonder if it had been a normal day, if that had been true? Surely, the big drop off in flights for the holiday helped out.

We set up for an autoland approach, the lowest that we can go, 50Ft above ground without actually seeing the runway, but as we set up the weather had improved to 400ft ceilings and a couple miles vis, or a standard ILS approach.

I had just under an hour and a half between flights to change planes and get my paperwork. Then we took 182 passengers back down to Ft Myers. The weather pattern of warm weather on the east coast has left a lot of instability in the atmosphere and that was translating into a choppy ride for us each way. Once we were south of Savannah it eased up a bit for the rest of the trip to RSW.

I'm back at the same hotel tonight, and the layover isn't any longer tonight than it was last night. The exception is that I'm here a couple hours earlier, but have an even earlier get up tomorrow morning. It's Christmas, and food is really going to be a question mark tonight. The hotel is offering a buffet dinner for $75 per person. That doesn't really appeal to me, but I'm not sure what else they'll have for me. Pizza (if there's anyplace open) might have to be an option. We'll see.

My ride will be here at 430a, that means it's 315a for the wakeup. Ugh. Tomorrow is the long day too. I've really only got time to eat some food, then I need to sleep much earlier tonight so I can be prepared.

Not being home for a big family holiday like this isn't fun. It's just another day. I think that's why I try and make every day at home count. We know that our time as a family, with all the kids home grows shorter every day. The Mrs is kind of bumming. I've not been successful at getting my trip dropped yet, so if I don't it'll be a pretty short turnaround after this trip.

[PilotMan]

Don't worry I didn't have to spend $75 on my Christmas dinner! I could tell that there was a lot of concern and worry that I'd be stuck, but never fear, there were other alternatives. I ended up eating wings and ribs in the hotel bar. Not nearly as glamorous, but it got the job done. The hardest thing last night was just trying to be tired so I could go to bed and get enough sleep before the 315a alarm went off.

If you've been following along, you'll realize that a very big part of this job is getting enough sleep or sleeping when you can, where you can, so you can be as rested as possible. With the schedules that bounce from morning to night and back, or just plain early mornings for someone like me who prefers afternoon flying it can be quite challenging.

Ft Myers was so messed up this morning. The TSA had this long line. A long line before 5a, because they only had 1 lane open, and were doing training on it. So it was going very slowly. They had plenty of people to open another lane, they just didn't. It's so irritating and it makes me happy that most of the time I don't have to bother with all that anymore.

The next hurdle was that we were leaving so early in the morning that the airport was effectively an uncontrolled field and the tower was closed. Again, this is only something that I run into once in a blue moon. A quick refresher on how I deal with ATC at an airport.

I talk to the ground controller to get clearances for my pushbacks and taxi outs. They are responsible for all the ground traffic. Duh. The tower controller gives me my takeoff clearances, ensures spacing and clearances within the airport area. Then I get handed off to the approach controller who controls all the IFR traffic in the area and again, ensures separation. Without the tower being open, most of those safeguards are out the window. Aircraft announce their intentions on the common traffic advisory radio frequency and it's up to everyone to make sure that they know where everyone else is and see and avoid. I have to know all that and all the regulations governing the airspace. There's an exception to all of this in that, for Ft Myers, the Miami Center controller takes over control over the airspace above and can monitor the airspace for other traffic. Sometimes you can talk to them on the ground, sometimes you have to talk to them once you get airborne. They also give us our routing clearance for the entire trip so it's necessary that we get that ASAP. Generally, we'd get that from the controller on the ground, but with the tower closed this morning I didn't have it until just before we took off. It makes for an even busier routine at a critical time when everything has to be right.

We left so early that it was still dark when we landed in Houston. I couldn't wait to get done there. I was tired, we were 20 minutes early, which meant that I had just over an hour to catch a nap before the next flight. I found a chair and fell asleep in just a few minutes.

My next flight had me heading out of the country again. I grabbed all the paperwork and a Subway and went to the plane. We had a couple of minor maintenance issues that we got resolved and then took a delay because of international luggage reconciliation. They had to pull a bunch of bags off the plane, I guess because of people who didn't make the flight. We still took over 160 people down to Panama City, Panama. The routing had us flying southwest over Cancun then cutting the corner over Nicaragua. You need to check out the island of San Andreas. I fly over it coming down here and it looks really cool. I don't know anything about it, it's out in the middle of nowhere and it's actually owned by Columbia.

San Andrés (island) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It was 93 when I got here, but I was just happy it wasn't raining like it was the last time. Tomorrow, I head back to Newark to finish off the trip and then back home again. I need go home day. It's also going to feel like I'm really sleeping in. I don't need to get up until about 6a. HA!

I've not been successful at trying to get rid of my trip over New Years. Bummer. Maybe I'll still be able to pull it off, but I really don't want it. I doubt that I'll be able to get rid of it, but I'm still trying!

[claphamsa]

i was in south FLA until today.... on the way down, as soon as they closed the door, some dude freaked out, and demanded to get off. he was looking sick and lost it as soon as he got off the plane, was super fun.

also the first row seats are obscenely small these days...

[PilotMan]

Yesterday, ugh, yesterday. Yesterday was one of the few days of my career where I finished the day absolutely done, exhausted, and overwhelmed. It was never supposed to be like that of course. In fact, it started like any other day where I have one flight and then one flight home. We left the hotel in Panama City at 800a, which also happens to be 800a body time, as Panama is in the Eastern time zone. That's a very nice thing about N/S routes versus E/W ones.

The plane had over-nighted there so it was ready when we got there. The flight to Newark from Panama is almost due north. The airport runways are situated N/S even though you land on the Pacific side and take off toward the Atlantic. I probably could have gone to see the Canal after I got in, but I needed the break. I got a quick workout in and then had some dinner. After that sleep took hold. I digress.

So the flight is a 5 hour flight, straight north, over Cuba and the Bahamas and then back in the US over NC and into Newark. Unless you've been under a rock the last week you are aware that there's been a significant amount of severe weather that has moved across the US, from heavy rains in the south and tornadoes and thunderstorms from Texas to Ohio. The weather in Newark has also been bad. For the last 2 days visibility has been low as a steady drizzle and low clouds hung in the area. It's been warm and planes have been getting in, but with the holiday, and the reduced schedule it's been manageable for ATC and flight crews. So yesterday was more of the same, and while flights were still getting in, you could tell that things were getting harder. The plane behind us on the approach lost separation and the tower controller had to send them around for another approach. We were tight to the plane in front of us too. After we landed and tower cleared us across the parallel runway because ATC had stopped departures temporarily.

I'm going to back up for a minute, because I don't really know if I've talked about what it's like to be the guy who isn't flying the plane. I know that I've said that I run the radios when I'm not flying, but there's so much more to it than that. A big part of working with someone else is that both of you have to know what to expect from the other person. That's the whole reason for standardization of procedures and call outs. There's a whole 2000 page book that talks about how we are to fly the airplane. We both have to understand that and work that way together. In the preflight brief you mention that if you see me doing something stupid speak up because I probably am. So the two of us work together, but we both have different responsibilities for that flight, but we both have to be available to step in and take over or cover for the other guy at any time. You are each other's safety net. You are the line of defense. So while I may not be in actual, physical control of the plane, I am flying it. I'm flying it mentally. I'm watching everything and noting what I would do, what I expect him to do, monitor how the plane is working and then have to be prepared to step in or that the least, say something and wait for it to be corrected. It's not like I'm just sitting there and waiting for my turn or anything. Kind of like getting in the car with your kid and your teaching them to drive. You're not in control, but you have to be right there, aware of everything and the entire situation just in case you need to take over. So every flight is like that. We've both been flying for over 40 years combined, but this is the mentality that it takes. You've got to watch out, because there might come a time where you are the only thing that saves you. It's why a 5 hour flight is tiring, even when I'm not actually flying the plane.

Yesterday was a red day. As in, there's a lot of red on the flight boards.

So let me frame what's about to happen next. It's a Sunday, as you know, and there is already a reduced number of flights because of the weekend. No matter that it also happens to be the Sunday after Christmas and the volume of passengers is much higher than a typical Sunday. Meaning that flights that may have been mostly full are now very full. The third thing is the weather. Now the weather in Newark might not have been awful, but the scope of the weather across the US was causing all kinds of ripple effects. Newark was starting to run some pretty heavy delays when we landed and I got off the plane at 230p yesterday. My flight home was to be at 430p and the last time that I had looked, a couple of days ago, it still had 5 seats on it. That should have been plenty of room to get me there.

So I cleared customs and started for a restaurant that I knew would have a few games playing that I could watch while I called home and waited. I took a look at my flight and found that not only was it oversold, but that I was now #4 on the standby list. That meant that I would have to be standing at the gate when the agent showed up so I could be first in line for the jumpseat. Meaning that I wasn't going to get much downtime before I'd have to wander over there.

I called home and while I was on the phone I got the text notification that my flight home had cancelled. That just sent everything into a tailspin. There was only 1 other flight home for me, and it was sold out, and it was 5 hours away. Plus if there were any empty seats they'd be booked with revenue stand by passengers. But 5 HOURS! And it was the last direct flight. I had to come up with some kind of plan and each minute that went by was a minute I was not getting home.

I double check, no other direct flights. I pull up google flights and flight aware and start to cross check some other options for cities that I might be able to go through and still have a chance to get home on. Obvious options are Chicago, Atlanta, Charlotte. Options like Houston are out because of just travel time and weather. Atlanta is out because of weather. If I decide to 2 leg it home I have to have a couple of options that will get me home on that second leg. I don't want to get caught somewhere with no options and have to shell out cash for a hotel. The stress is through the roof. I just want to go home. I know I can't. I'm watching my time off slip away like sands through the hourglass. Everything is oversold. Every flight is full. Every flight has loads of stand by passengers on it. If I decide to wait for the last direct flight I might not make it then at least I can go to the crash pad. I look up the next flight home in the morning. It's not until 1030. Crap. I wouldn't make it home until after 1p and waste half of my day off.

I really don't like doing the whole 2 leg thing. It's really a crapshoot. I look up Chicago. It's got a lot of guys from my company. The jumpseat is already taken, and if I get to Chicago on the next flight I really only have 1 maybe 2 flights to get home. There's even a late night flight that leaves after midnight and gets in at 2a, but guess what? It's full too. Everything is full. Everything is full and I've got no seniority. I just want to go home and I'm tired.

The airport is just buzzing from all the people. The delays and cancellations give everything an extra edge. People are rushing, ducking, weaving, running to their next plane. It's a hum of commotion and it's hot. I'm wearing my uniform which is a 2 piece suit with a hat and an open invitation to ask any question that anyone might have. I'm so used to being looked at in the airport that when I'm not in uniform and I'm not being looked at it feels weird. I totally get how celebrities get used to that.

I finally settle on a plan. I've had good success using Charlotte in the past. They don't have the bad weather and I know that even when I get there I should have 2 chances to get home, and that last flight home always has seats on it. In order to go to Charlotte I've got to ride on American. American has a delayed flight that is still there, waiting for a plane to come in. I leave security, take the train, and head over to the other terminal. If I didn't have the ability essentially bypass security nothing like this would be possible. It's wall to wall people everywhere. I head up to the gate and ask if the jumpseat is taken, it is.

Sigh. The next flight to Charlotte is 90 minutes later at 515p. I ask if there is anyone on the jump for that flight and the agent is very nice and offers to get me listed and lists me all the way home, back to Cincinnati. So now I've got to wait for this plane. Another hour until it even gets there and no idea if it's going to work. So at this point my plan is to get to Charlotte, and catch one of 2 flights home. If I miss this next flight, then I'll sit around and wait until the 800p direct. If I don't get on that then it's back to the crash pad for me.

The second Charlotte flight starts to board and I'm number 30 on the standby list for the flight. I've already talked to the crew, introduced myself and let them know that I'm trying to catch a ride. I need to do all I can do to get on. It doesn't look good and I don't know anything until just a couple of minutes before. It's all stressful. The waiting, the noise, the people, the hoping your plan works out. And just like that they call me and give me a seat and tell me to get on. Whoohoo!

Half the plan is in play now I need to be on time. My connecting flight is only 30 minutes later in Charlotte and it's from one end of one concourse to the other end of another. ATC held us on the ground in Newark for a few minutes but it wasn't long. It didn't delay us enough to hurt me. We landed in Charlotte and I grabbed a burger on my way to the next flight. As I'm sitting there I start getting notifications that the last flight I was going to take from Newark is delayed. I'm thankful that I made this choice.

I head to the gate and introduce myself to the agent and he gives me a seat. This flight is open and it's going to be ok. I get on board and ask the Captain for permission to board and he tells me to sit in first class which is really nice. It's something that I used to do when I was a Captain and it's something that should be (and could be) done more often. The flight home is fairly short and after all that I'm tired. The Mrs. picks me up (cause she dropped me off at the start) and hauls me home.

When I get there I've been in uniform for 15 hours and it took me more time to get home than I actually worked. I was tired from the trip itself which had many early, early days, shorter layovers and then this craziness at the end of it. I walked in the door and said hi, went to my room, and went to bed. At 1030p I was done and just needed to not think about anything else. I was exhausted, but at least I made it home. The last flight I could have gotten on hadn't even left Newark yet by the time I had landed at home. I made a good choice today.

[Barkeep49]

I'm glad you got home. Congrats on that.

[PilotMan]

So I'm still trying to get rid of this trip on the 31st and I still can't. I keep looking at the flying that's open to see if there's anything better that I can swap into. Today there was a trip, almost identical to the trip that I had planned that goes to a layover that I prefer. In all reality it's less pay and I have to still leave the day before, and get back very late on the end, but it's still a more desirable trip.

I was originally supposed to do a trip back down to Panama City, and I had considered taking a trip to see the Canal while I was there. I make a little bit more for it being an international destination, but there's a limit to how much I can really enjoy that layover being out of the country. The layover is about 24 hours, meaning I'd have plenty of time to kill. But I'm not doing that now.

Right now, I'm heading somewhere much colder. Last year, for Christmas I got the chance to layover in Jackson Hole. It was a challenging trip for food, but to be in one of my favorite places at that time was a great experience. Now I'm going back. We only do seasonal flights into Jackson Hole, and it's a special qualification airport, like I explained with Bogota earlier this month. The Captain spot is still open as well, so there's a small chance that I could get bought off this trip too. I put the trip back in the drop list, I still want to be home for the New Year, but now, if I don't, I'll be in Jackson Hole at 1p on New Years Eve, and I don't have to leave again until noon the next day. I'd say that's a great way to see the year out if I'm not at home.

[PilotMan]

Here I am, beginning the last trip of the year. It feels good that I stuck with this project. If anything, it shows me that I can undertake something that seems big and keep it up.

My time at home went by really, really fast. Just like any other weekend. I did some laundry, played a bunch of computer games with the kids and slept good in my own bed. I was supposed to take a 430p flight out of there to head back to Newark today, and just like Sunday when I came home, and like the 23rd coming here, it sucked. Full flights, few options, but I had my bases covered. I really had 3 flights to try if you include that I can take the cargo flight as a final backup. I didn't succeed at getting rid of the trip either.

The 430p flight was oversold, and overfull. I could tell by who was listed for standby on the trip that I wasn't going to get either of the jumpseats. The later flight was also oversold, but there wasn't any non-revs listed just yet. I thought about it and decided to not even show up to the earlier flight. I switched my flight to the later flight and enjoyed a couple extra hours at home. I figured that the pilot and flight attendant from the earlier flight would get on and that I'd have first shot on the second one. So when I showed up an hour early, and saw my friend, left over from the first flight, still there I was a little alarmed. He had gotten bumped off and didn't get on, so he already had 1 of the seats. I went to list at the gate and found that another pilot, who wasn't even listed on the flight, was already there and had listed for the other. FUCK!!!!

The flight was full, I wasn't going to get either jump seat. I didn't really want to get up at 230a for the cargo flight. I started making plans to walk over and try and get on the 830p flight to LGA if things didn't work out for me. I figured that if I didn't get on to EWR, or LGA I could call and just miss the trip. It wouldn't be all bad anyway. If I did get on to LGA I would have an adventure to write about. As it turned out, I would luck out in a big way.

As the flight was almost done boarding, it was still oversold, and a group of 8 was going to have to be split up. Half of them weren't going to get on, and they were all traveling together. They refused to be split up, so the company had to buy all of them off. While that was expensive for the company, it was great for me because it opened up 4 seats in the back, and I only needed 1. It was a huge break.

So I got to the crash pad kind of late, but it was way earlier than I would have been with any other plan. I'm the #3 guy here tonight. One of them is a massive snorer too. I get to be the last one up too. Tomorrow I'm off to the mountains, the cold of Jackson Hole and the end of a really good year.

[PilotMan]

The last day of 2015 started off quietly. I was the last one up and out of the crash pad. By 8a I was on my way to the airport. The flight time today was 4 hours and 20 minutes. We were sitting at the gate, all loaded up and ready to go, and watched our departure time come and go. The plane had been loaded as far as we could tell, but nobody was getting back to us on why we were late. The ramp Lead finally found a headset that worked and let us know that they had a cart full of skis that didn't get loaded with the rest of the bags, that we needed to get on the plane before we could go. It's a good thing too. I don't think a cart full of skis, for passengers going to Jackson Hole, that comes up missing would have made many people happy.

Once we got going we ended up about #15 for takeoff. It seemed like we were going to be late with all the time we wasted at the gate and waiting for takeoff, but we had been planned to get in 12 minutes early, and there was a generous amount of time planned for taxi out. After we took off we were only a couple of minutes behind schedule and we didn't even need to go faster than planned. The route was a circle route that took us over northern Wisconsin and just south of Fargo and Bismarck in NoDak, before heading back to the south. The ride was mostly smooth so I didn't even have to mess with the seat belt sign that much.

We started down and made our approach. We were landing to the south in Jackson Hole and that took us right in front of the Tetons on the approach. It was an incredible view. The weather was clear and cold.



After we landed I found out how cold. It was -5, but it had warmed up from -15. The high for the day was about 5. I went out and wandered around the town. I was all alone today. The flight attendants from my flight were going back to Newark. The Captain was going to Denver, and the crew that I was flying with tomorrow wasn't in town yet, and wouldn't get a hold of me anyway. So I was on my own.

I had to call the company because they hadn't put the pickup time for me on my schedule. Actually I had to call them 6 times. The first 4 I didn't get a hold of anyone, or more appropriately they were too busy to pick up. I called the transport company and they were no help at all. I finally got it sorted out with the company so at least I had a time that we were going back to the airport.

I ate some dinner alone. Drank some beer alone. Was generally ignored by the waitress. Got bored and went back to my room to see the new year in. Other than finishing the year with a little boredom and loneliness it was an alright day.

Here's a couple of interesting stats about the last year:

Total Flight Hours: 664.5
Total Takeoffs and Landings (I actually did): 94
Total Layovers : 96 (Crash Pad stays not included)
Times I flew with a Captain that I had previously flown with in 2015: 1
Times I flew with a Captain that I had previously flown with ever: 4

I'll finish all this up tomorrow after I get back home. Tomorrow is go home day, one leg back to Newark in the evening. My flight home has 2 seats on it right now, so by tomorrow, it'll probably be oversold by 12. That's how it's felt lately. I need some sleep.

Happy New Year! Have a great 2016!

[claphamsa]

thanks for writing this! have a wonderful new year

[CraigSca]

Are those statistics hand tallied by you, or is this tallied by the company?

I can't believe you only flew with the same captain 4 times! Unfathomable to me.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by CraigSca

Are those statistics hand tallied by you, or is this tallied by the company?

I can't believe you only flew with the same captain 4 times! Unfathomable to me.

The flight time is tracked by the company, but I have all of it written down too. I just haven't updated my master logbook in a couple years so it's not exactly up to date. The landings, layovers and Captains are all from my own records. All of my records are kept in smaller, travel logs that I transpose to my master logbook to keep track of all of my flight time. So what things to I log?

Date
Flight Number
Aircraft Type
Aircraft Tail Number
City Pairing
Scheduled Flight Time
Actual Block Out/In Times
Night Time
Instrument Flying Time
Instrument Approach Flown
Takeoffs
Landings
Captain flown with

I log all of that for each and every leg, every day.

So yeah, for all of 2015 I only flew with 4 guys, who were someone that I had flown with for the entire 2.5 years that I've been with this company. Just 1 repeat for the entire year. Otherwise, each guy I was paired with was someone I'd never worked with.

[PilotMan]

Well here it is! After 365 (+1) days I've reached the end of the year. It's my intention to keep posting occasional things of interest of experiences from the job. I just won't be very regular about it. I'll also keep answering questions and discussing things here that anyone else might be curious about.

I really hope that over the last year you've been able to get a glimpse into my work and my life. I really appreciated all the comments. I found it encouraging to want to keep at this. It was important to me. I'm curious if you've learned anything or had a change of opinion about the life, one way or the other. My soapbox ramblings can be a bit much at times, but thanks for sticking with me. So thank you very much.

So with that let's get to this.

I might have seen in the New Year in Jackson, but I wasn't out and about. It got down to -20 and in this ski town I was sticking out like a sore thumb in my trench coat and tennis shoes. My vented tennis shoes. Even with 2 pair of socks I was cold. Even my cold hardened North Dakota Attitude couldn't steel me enough against it. I had a show time of 1213p so I had the whole morning to myself. After breakfast I played some Rocket League, which while I suck at, is sickeningly fun and just as addictive as World of Warships.

I headed down for my show time and turned my key and when the girl at the front desk asked if I was Mr Pilotman. I replied that I was and she ran to the door and said "Shoot!" She said, " I had a note that you had checked out at 11 and the van left without you." Oh thats great. I normally don't get very worked up about this kind of thing. I was surprised when I came down and didn't see anyone else or a driver. Typically I wouldn't be the first one down. This type of thing is neither my fault nor in my control. She calls the driver company and lets them know. After he drops off some flight attendants he comes back to town to pick me up, albeit 15 minutes after I was supposed to be gone.

I cleared security and went to the gate. I wasn't late, the plane had just finished deplaning and I headed out to the cold to get on. I met the crew who had just brought it in and he said that Captain is already on board and that the plane was good and good to go.

Jackson Hole is a special airport. It requires special training for the Captain to operate in and out of there. The runway is a short 6300 feet and the field is at 7750ft asl. That makes it one of the highest airports that we go to, and one of the shortest. In fact, in the summer, I don't think the 737 can get in and out of there.

Dispatch had planned for us to take off with the APU supplying cabin pressure, while the engines use all available power. Generally for all takeoffs the engines would supply the pressure for the cabin and the APU would be off. In situations of high altitude and hot weather the engines need to be capable of supplying more power, hence the need for the APU at takeoff. While we planned for this in the preflight, after we got everything loaded up and the performance numbers run the plane was ok to do a normal takeoff. There is numerous terrain around the airport as well. Taking off to the south there is a special procedure that has to be performed in the event of an engine failure at takeoff. We briefed that, and having a good clear day always helps with terrain avoidance.

Our pushback was delayed due to the ramp taking forever to finish loading the plane. We had been early the day before because of a lack of headwind, today we were going to pay the price for it going the other way. That meant that we would have to fly faster to make up for it, and even then we were planned late. The delay off the gate just compounded the problem. Once we were airborne ATC gave us a short cut that shaved 5 minutes off the flight time and we added as much speed as we thought we could without jeopardizing our fuel situation. The ride was projected to be bumpy but at 39000 ft the ride was nice.

One thing I noticed was the snow. I've seen winters where there was only patches here and there. Not this year. It was solid white all the way to Chicago and beyond. The arrival into Newark was fast. ATC didn't delay us at all and that helped too. We touched down and got a gate change notice from the ramp as we started to taxi in. So the next time you are at the gate and get a gate change, know that we don't know any further in advance than you do.

We parked at the gate, and with our hard work, we had made it on time. We said our goodbyes and I headed off. I had about 2 hours until my supposed flight home. I needed to move so I proceeded to walk around the entire terminal and grab some dinner in one of the food courts. While I was eating I looked at my flight and found, surprise surprise, all the seats are full and I'm going to need the jump seat, yet again.

I head over to the terminal where my flight is going out of and walk up to the gate where this ancient woman who looks like she already hates you is working the gate. She informs me coldly that someone else is already on the jump seat and then she and I go around and around about being able to use the flight attendant jump seat. I ask to go down and talk to the crew so they know I'm trying to get on and to ask the FA if it's ok with her. When I come back up I realize that the other guy who has the jump seat is someone who I can boot. I have priority over him and the gate agent should have known better. After she is done boarding I point out to her that I should have gotten the jump. I wasn't letting up on her. She was acting like the Queen of Newark and I wasn't going to take any of her crap. In the end, a seat is a seat, and a seat on the flight home was me going home.

The Mrs picked me up at the airport around midnight and we headed home. It had been a full day, even though my flight to Newark wasn't that long, the flight home seemed to take forever. It just sucks when it takes so long to catch that flight home. I don't think that there's anyone out there who thinks that commuting is awesome. In exchange for getting to live where I want I have to deal with all the extra work of going back and forth. The rest of my month will be better. The heavy travel season should be over, for now, and all my trips for the rest of the month are commutable on the front and back. I shouldn't need to go to the crash pad at all.

I'm going to leave you with one last picture from Jackson Hole. The last and final gasp of the holiday season with the tree, lights and snow. It's bene a great 2015. Thanks to everyone who read and commented. I hope you enjoyed it.

PM

[MIJB#19]

Thanks for sharing, PM! I've tuned in from time to time, it was interesting to get more insight in the life of a pilot.

[PilotMan]

Thanks MIJB! I appreciate the feedback, and I'm glad you got something out of it.

[chesapeake]

I've really enjoyed reading about your career. Thanks for doing this!

[CraigSca]

I didn't realize that colder weather was actually better for an airplane's lift. Interesting that it makes THAT much of a difference (referring to your line about a 737's ability to take off in the summer at Jackson Hole).

[PilotMan]

You may or may not have hear about the report that came out talking about the FAA coming up with better ways to make sure that a pilot knows how to handfly the aircraft. While this is certainly a catchy title, as in, "Does your pilot know how to fly the plane?" It's a much more convoluted issue than that.

I've read a couple of articles pertaining to the report and while it does talk about the fact that up to 90% of time flying is with the autopilot on, it fails to mention that with changes to spacing requirements and the advent of Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum (RVSM) that planes are required to have a functioning autopilot above 29,000ft. My plane will get up there in around 15 minutes. I'm not required at this company to turn the autopilot on at that point, however, I have been at previous companies. I generally try and handfly the first 10-15 minutes of the flight, not always, but sometimes up to cruise.

The aerodynamics of lift and pressure at high altitudes almost necessitates some form of automation at the higher flight levels. The plane is traveling very fast and a minimal amount of control from the cockpit will induce a very sudden jolt in the back. At high speeds pilot inputs are actually muted by the place to prevent things like that from happening. If pilots had to handfly, at cruise, for any length of time, passengers would soon be clamoring for the autopilot again.

We can be at these altitudes for hours, so it's no wonder that the autopilot is frequently used. Taking that up to 90% number and adding some perspective to it shows that high autopilot use should be expected. In descents, depending on workload I've taken off the autopilot, but it's almost always on nice days, where I can see for miles. Bad weather, or clouds will cause my attention to be diverted too much for it to seem like the best option. Most days I'll leave the auto pilot on all the way down to the last 1000ft, or lower, depending on the needs of the approach. Again, it's all about workload management.

Contrary to popular belief, planes don't like to descend. Planes like the 737 can essentially glide for miles with the engines at idle due to the lift efficiency of the wing and the efficiency of turbofan engine. On approaches to airports speed control is essential, as is making sure that you are both complying with ATC demands and leaving yourself in a good position to start the approach. Too much speed, or configuring too late, can leave you high and not able to get configured properly to land. That will cause a go around.

The real crux of the report goes to the monitoring skills of the pilot who isn't flying (and the one who is, but more on the former.) Reports talk about the Asiana (SFO), UPS (BHM), and Colgan (BUF) crashes where poor monitoring lead the pilots to be in a position that they didn't think they were in. A pilot properly monitoring and verbally prompting the person flying would have saved each and every one of those.

We talk a lot about positional awareness and situational awareness. This, I believe, is where the greatest issues are. I've said before that my job, when I'm not flying, is to think like I am, and respond accordingly. By the same measure, when I am flying, I'm expecting the same from the other guy.

With Asiana, they didn't realize until too late that the autothrottle had disconnected. The were high coming down the glideslope and were trying to get caught back up. At the bottom, when the plane needed to arrest that decent rate, the thrust levers didn't come back up, and in the blink of an eye, they lost all their airspeed and landed short. With UPS, it was the failure to properly set up, cross check, and correctly cycle the approach into the computer. They thought the computer was set for the approach, when in reality is wasn't, leading them to crash short of the runway when the plane descended too low. Colgan was failure to control speed prior to the approach leading to the stall and incorrect stall recovery.

It's all about the monitoring. I'm not sure exactly what the FAA is going to do to better check monitoring skills, but knowing where you and where you are going is critical. It's critical to stay focused in the game in these critical flight situations. It's critical to check and cross check one another.

You're going to hear too much about the whole autopilot thing. One reason why it's a big deal is that a lot of foreign carriers train their guys to the automation. There are big pilot shortages in Asia and if they can train people the rote skills to operate the autopilot and do it that way every time, they feel, they can do it safely. English is the required language of aviation worldwide. You will hear other languages as well, but everyone has to speak English. If I had to use my second language and learn how to fly in that language I'd want more support too. Many of these carriers train their guys in the states with just enough knowledge of how to fly. That's not how the majority of us learned. Granted, there are still a whole lot of people out there who struggle with the multitasking and awareness of driving. Now add a third dimension and no visuals, along with a cracking voice in your head telling you what to do and they would suffer.

Everyone is better at some things than others. I may not be the greatest stick, but I think my awareness and ability to stay ahead of the plane makes be a better pilot. The end of all of this is not to focus on the whole autopilot argument, especially for US carriers. But to think about why that happens, and to know exactly where the real issues are, which are the constant double, and triple checking of the same repetitive procedures day after day. It takes discipline to stick to the checklist when you've done it thousands of times. Remembering what happens when you don't though should be enough of a reality in check to understand it's importance.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by chesapeake

I've really enjoyed reading about your career. Thanks for doing this!

Thanks for the feedback, chesapeake. I've been happy to have the participation in the thread too.

Originally Posted by CraigSca

I didn't realize that colder weather was actually better for an airplane's lift. Interesting that it makes THAT much of a difference (referring to your line about a 737's ability to take off in the summer at Jackson Hole).

It makes a huge difference, especially at high altitude airports with shorter runways like Jackson Hole. The amount of extra runway required for the higher temps with the 737 is just not available. Even in Denver in the summer, you'll see many 737's with weight restrictions and that airport is nearly 3,000 ft lower and the runways are twice as long.

[PilotMan]

I was flying to Newark on the day of a winter storm warning. I didn't want to go, but when I looked at the weather I was pretty sure that we would be leaving prior to the weather moving in.

I left home at 745a for a 915a flight to Newark. My flight wasn't until 445p that afternoon and I didn't have to be there until 345p, but this was the best time for me to be there. The company allowed me to fly to work with an official seat instead of space available, which offered peace of mind about being in position to be able to work.

I got in dumped my stuff in ops and grabbed some lunch and brought it back to eat and let the waiting begin. We had CNN on and because there's really nothing else to watch. Snow. Snow. Snow. The snow was coming. The company had already made the determination to suspend operations in both Newark and DC. They had begun to cancel flights and move planes to be ready for the restart.

All those decisions happen at a high level. The faster that the operation can get back up to speed when the times comes, the better. They had been telling us to keep a close eye on our schedules in case anything changed. I was pretty sure that I was going. I had one leg to San Diego and a 33 hr layover to look forward to.

At 200p I got a phone call from the company. They informed me that my pairing was cancelled. My entire pairing. They had basically released all my flights to get rescheduled at a later time. They then said that they were going to put me on airport reserve for 4 hours in the event that they needed me to ferry a plane out to another airport. They said they didn't forsee that, but that they needed me there just in case.

That put me at the airport now until at least 745p. I was in luck that there was a flight back to Cincinnati that was still scheduled as on time leaving at 830p. I put the chance that the flight was going at around 60-40. I figured that they didn't want that plane sitting in Newark overnight so I might go, but on the other hand, they might steal it for something else too.

My plan B was to go to the crash pad. I had planned to be gone from home until Monday. I knew that I could hole up at the crash pad for a couple days, but I would much rather be home. Hour after hour I waited. 430 nothing, 530 nothing, 630 nothing. Now I wanted it to stay that way. It did.

I wasn't used and now had been at the airport for over 8.5 hours. About this time I got a notification that my flight was delayed by a couple hours. Not good. The snow was supposed to start around 9 and we were delayed until 1030p. If your flight is delayed that early, it's not good. It's something that has the potential to string into something much longer. I didn't have longer.

I felt the stress of the waiting. I was going stir crazy. The delay was for the inbound crew. They were coming down from Manchester NH. They finally left and the countdown began. It had started snowing in the meantime. It wasn't sticking yet, but it was starting to get heavy.

I had been at the airport for 11 hours when the flight home started boarding. I was relieved. There was even a seat for me. I ended up walking in the door at home at 130a the next day. So I get paid for the entire trip. I don't have to do any flying and I escaped the big winter storm in the NE, and I get to be home 3 days early. Another weekend at home.

I was trying to explain to my son that even though I was at the airport, that even traveling back and forth is like work because I'm in uniform. My day ended up being almost 18 hours long, but in the end it was worth it.

[claphamsa]

good you got to go home

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by claphamsa

good you got to go home

And you know what the crazy part of this story is? The crazy part is that if I didn't make it back on that flight on Friday night, I would still be stuck in Newark. There are guys stuck all over who can't get back home right now. There are even guys stuck outside the county. Now the international guys will get back faster because those flights are priority in a reduced operation, and they need a plane to get back home.

Domestically, there still haven't been any Express flights into Newark and that's all that comes to Cincinnati. I looked at even Chicago to get home and everything is so overbooked there would have been no chance in hell. I really, really lucked out on this one. I would have been one pissed off puppy if I'd been stuck there this long.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

We got out and had a nice dinner too. Not far from the hotel was this 315ft yacht:



It just happens to be Tatoosh, Microsoft co-founder, Paul Allen's small boat. He was trying to sell it for 160M, 5 years ago. It's longer than a football field with 2 heli pads, and a big sail boat strapped onto the side of it and is currently the worlds 43rd largest yacht.

Well this is awkward.

techcrunch.com/2016/01/28/paul-allens-yacht-blamed-for-destroying-coral-reef/

So you can imagine it more than a little embarrassing when Allen’s 300-foot yacht, Tatoosh, was accused yesterday of destroying a coral reef in the Cayman Islands that has been in an officially designated protected zone for the past 30 years.


Allen wasn’t on the boat at the time, but according to the Cayman News Service, its anchor and chain recently wrecked roughly 14,000 square feet of reef and damaged more than 80 percent of the coral in the area.

[britrock88]

An interesting take on PM's work:

The Fortifying Pleasures of YouTube Cockpit Videos - The New Yorker

[PilotMan]

I had my first go around in years yesterday. We were on approach into Newark and it was really windy. At 3000 ft the wind was screaming at 65 kts, almost 75 mph. The weather wasn't great, plus it was raining. It was a busy arrival bank and planes were stacked tight. The controller kept giving us different speeds to keep us in line with the rest of the flow.

We were behind a 777, which has a 5 mile separation requirement. The reason for the required separation is due to wake turbulence avoidance. Pretty sure on a day as windy as it was, it wouldn't have been much of an issue. The 777 has a slower approach speed and I think the approach controller left us too tight. We were going to be crawling up his backside all the way down final. We were about 8 miles out and had switched over the Tower controller who immediately had us execute the go around. We had only started down on the glideslope, but even then it's all asses and elbows for a little bit.

Approach then turns us out and has to work us back into the flow for another go at it. We were going to be about 20 early and instead we ended up a couple minutes late. Other than that a pretty uneventful flight. Passengers didn't seem too phased by it. Not that they should have been.

[CraigSca]

Interesting - I always though an "official" go round occurred only at final approach (e.g. wheels on the ground or 500 feet or less). I almost wonder - at your altitude, does that even count?!

[PilotMan]

I had another first this week. I had a flight from Dallas to Newark early on Sunday. We were very light, but had some important cargo. We were transporting bone marrow for a transplant.

Airlines will carry time sensitive organs for this purpose and they get a designation called medevac. ATC sees this and they do their best to get you to your destination as rapidly as possible. It was early on a weekend leaving Dallas, so it's not like it was busy, but as we were climbing out, just over 10,000ft the controller cleared us direct Newark. Direct. That's rare.

We went fast and were never delayed for spacing at all. I think the coolest part is just knowing that you're part of a process to save someone's life. Back in the day we used to carry eyeballs in little boxes up in the cockpit. But security changed all that. We can't carry anything up there at all now. It's all handled behind the scenes.

Anyway, I thought maybe you'd like to hear about this interesting little tidbit of aviation.