A pilot's commute is, in theory, no different than anybody else's trip to and from work. Sure we do it by air and cover a longer distance but the idea is pretty much the same. In reality though, it can be quite the adventure everytime ; and depending on seniority ( yes again ), the line ( schedule ) held and where the pilot commutes from, it can more often than not be a source of fatigue and stress. While pilots usually have in their contract what we call a commuting clause, allowing then to miss a trip without prejudice, it's a privilege that shouldn't be abused. Consider it a get out of jail free card and like in monopoly, u don't have that many. To explain how it works, lets look at First Officer Larry Totalymadup. Larry lives in Cincinnati and he is based a mere 250 miles away, at Chicago O'Hare. There is a decent airline service between the two cities thanks to three different carriers. A major freight company is also based there and Larry can jumpseat on it if needed. He holds a line so unlike someone on reserve, he knows his schedule well in advance allowing him to plan ahead. This month is looking good for Larry as all of his trips are commutable. Morevover he has every weekends off... or so he thought.
For this four day trip, Larry has a sign in time of 11.30 PM on tuesday. It gives him 4 different flights to reach his base on time and work the 12 hour duty period that makes his first day, taking him all the way across three time zones, to Los Angeles.
Here are three scenarios of how an simple commute can turn out to be much more complicated.
Scenario 1 : Larry wakes up at 5.30 AM and after spending an hour getting ready, he jumps in his car and drives to the airport. The weather is nice and the traffic is fluid. Quickly Larry makes it to the departure level and while the 6 AM flight is already gone, Larry has a plan. The night before he diligently prepared his trip and monitored the capacity status of each flight. He already knows that the 8 AM flight is wide open and hopes to jumpseat on it. Lucky for him, the gate agent hands him his ticket with a confirm first class seat. The plane is on time and soon the wheels are retracted in the under carriage, heading toward Larry's office at 25000 feet and he settles down for a 40 minute nap. He makes it there with a few hours to spare before officially starting his day. By the end of it, he will have been up and working for about 20 hours.
Scenario 2 : In this case, Larry who is known to be proactive, checks the status of flights before going to bed. He realizes that the 6 AM and 8 AM flights are already cancelled. Now only the 10 AM departure can guarantee him to arrive on time, at Chicago. He knows that with theses two cancellations, the remaining seats on the third flight are gonna be given to stand by passengers. He also knows that because this flight is operated by a competitor, he might not get the cockpit jumpseat because another pilot from that company has priority. As a last resort, Larry decides to use a freight airplane as his ride. He calls the airline and lists his self. Finally he goes to bed for a very short night and tries not to worry about it. By 3.30 AM, Larry wakes up and quickly gets ready. Outside the weather is pretty decent and fortunately he makes it to the cargo ramp on time to board the airliner as the last boxes are being loaded in the cargo hold. But his luck runs out. The plane is experiencing a four hour delay due to a mechanical problem. In the cold morning, sitting in a breakroom, he starts looking at other options thanks to the help of his smart phone. He starts getting nervous and frantically checks his watch every so often hoping to avoid an unpleasant phone call to scheduling. Finally, Larry ends up in a replacement airplanes and soon he is airborne. He lands with about half an hour left to the clock. Just enough time to get a ride from the cargo area to the main terminal. He rushes through security and make his sign in with minutes to spares. By the end of his day, he will have been up and working for about 22 hours.
Scenario 3 : Sometime the crap really hits the fan and poor First Officer Larry Totalymadup is about to discover it first hand. As he tries to wake up with a fresh cup of joe, he can see through the window that the night brought in a major snow storm and it has already dumped about six inches of fresh white powder. He rushes to the door, knowing that his day will start by shoveling his car out. he finally makes his way slowly to the airport but unfortunately its too late to make it on the 6 AM flight. He patiently waits for the next departure but he knows that it is not going to be easy. Soon he realizes that the plane he is hoping to be on at 8 AM, diverted due to the storm. Very quickly things start going south. All his options are being cancelled and he fears being stranded and miss his assignment. Larry becomes anxious because he is a fairly new hire and therefore on probation and does not benefit from the commuting clause. Not showing up for his trip could prove to be disastrous for his job. Thanks to the time zone difference, Larry has about 5 hours left to make it on time. With that much time he decides to hop back in his car and make the drive, hoping the highways are in a decent condition. During the entire slippery ride heading north, his stress is palpable but his determination shall be rewarded and while he arrives late for his sign in, he still manages to get on his airplane on time for departure. By the end of his day, he will have been up and working for about 21 hours.
In theses three scenarios, our fellow pilot made it on time to his cockpit but at what price ? Sometime commuting comes with a lot of frustration and its fair share of stress. The most visible secondary effect is usually fatigue. In this example, I have used a pretty easy setting. I know so because it is the one that I do. Short distance to commute, lots of flights between the two cities and it is also drive-able if needed. The truth is about two third of the pilots commute. Some of them from the other end of the country with limited flights and often have to make one stop. The less fortunate ones are known to commute the day before and have to pay a hotel every time the night before their trip starts. Commuting is not necessarily forced upon a pilot and sometime it is a choice of lifestyle. I, for one, have learn to deal with it. Some days are easier than others but so far it has been good to me. I certainly spend a lot of time figuring out my options on the day prior to my trip but knowing what I can expect helps me put my mind at ease and avoiding unnecessary stress is the first step to mastering the art of commuting.
I have now been sitting reserve for a couple weeks, at Chicago O'hare. While it took me a few days to get my bearings around one of the largest airport in the world, I now feel comfortable operating within the organized chaos that chicago can turn out to be when weather rolls in. Due to the current hiring at American Eagle, pilots on the CRJ are usually on reserve for about a month and a half, which was the case for me as I already hold a line next month. The difference between the two is the lifestyle. While a pilot is on reserve, he has 11 days off a month, very little control over his schedule because there is no telling where or when he/she may be called to fly and how long the trip can last. To sum up the experience sitting reserve, I would say that it is almost like playing the lottery and with the right attitude, you can almost feel the excitement when you get awarded something you were hoping to get. While pilots get paid a base salary every month, per diem is almost a necessity to make end meet while on a first year pay rate, and the only way to cumulate such hourly income is to fly. This is where seniority really comes into play. The day prior of being assigned reserve, pilots look at open trips available for the next day and select them in order of preference. This process is called proffering. The trips can go from a single turn with 4 hours of flying to a full 4 day trip with 20 hours of flight time and 75 hours of per diem. When crew scheduling pairs up pilots with open time, they proceed from the top of the list. The most senior pilot gets his first pick and the last one, the last trip. Very often there are more pilots then open trips, therefore, the remaining crew members get assigned one of two different types of duty periods. One is " on call " where a pilot can sit at home and be available for 14 hours a day ; the other being " stand by " and has the pilot sitting at the airport for 8 hours a day, ready to go on a moment's notice. While sitting around at home might be good if you live in the city you are based, it is still a big loss of possible income and useful experience. Most of the people sitting reserve are new hires to whom it would be beneficial to spend more time flying to feel comfortable in the plane as soon as possible. The other bad side of not being awarded a trip is the additional expense it can create. As you know, most pilots commute and therefore, while sitting at their base without having any kind of scheduled flying, they have to find a place to spend the night. There are three options that crew members have to choose from. Getting a crashpad, going to a hotel or sleeping on a recliner in the crew room. The two first ones can easily reach 200 dollars a month. The last one, while being obviously cheaper, is very uncomfortable and it most likely will leave you less than well rested. During my month in reserve, I have been at both end of the spectrum. I had three or four day trips during a five day reserve, but also spent days sitting in an hotel room waiting to be called. While this was frustrating at times, it is imperative to find ways to occupy your time. Sitting reserve requires a lot of patience. Before the hiring boom started at Eagle, a lot of junior guys sat reserve for three years. With only a short time in that position, I was very lucky ; and for the time being, I wont have to play the lottery.
The rumor is that pilots are fed up with the marginal life style forced upon them by the industry so called leaders. Time for a change ? watch this video fellow pilots and then visit the website to learn more.
IOE or Initial Operating Experience is what every pilot has to go through to be a qualified crewmember flying the “line”. Under the supervision of a highly experienced captain, at Eagle, we are required to complete a transition of at least 25 hours. During this period, every aspect of the job are discussed and experienced, and this obviously includes flying the airplane during a three or four day sequence. After a few days of waiting after my check ride, my first sequence was fast approaching with mixed feelings ranging from anxiousness to excitement. I have been trying to get used to the idea that behind the reinforced door of the cockpit will be sitting 70 people relying on me. A big change from flying packages. As Saturday morning rolled in, I suited up in my new uniform on which the company wings, the three bars epaulets and the tie with an embroiled eagle were proudly displayed. I added the sunglasses to hopefully appear somewhat confident but probably more so to hide the lack of. I grabbed my blazer, my suitcase and my flight bag and had my better half drop me at the terminal on time to catch the early morning shuttle to O’Hare.
First I had to meet with the assistant chief pilot for my base orientation, during which we covered the rules and toured the crew facilities inside the terminal, located under concourse G. After a few years of dreaming of being part of a big airline, I finally get to see what goes on behind the curtains. The sight of hundreds of crew bags that are decorated with stickers representing anything from flags to messages and lined up on racks clearly say that this is a sizable operation. I was due to report at noon for a turn to Columbus, Ohio. This was not my first trip as a crewmember, but what is called an observation flight. This is basically the opportunity to watch from the jump seat, a qualified crew operating the aircraft on a regular line. The experience was very interesting as it was my first time being in the cockpit of the CRJ700. After a quick return flight to ORD, I headed to the hotel before officially starting the next day, my IOE. As I woke up from the rumbling thunder and a very dark sky with an impressive lighting show, I realized that my first day on the job might get a little trickier than what I had bargained for. None the less, by mid afternoon, I started heading toward the airport where I was to meet with my captain and start my sequence. We were supposed to deadhead to Bentonville, in Arkansas. From there I was to fly the airplane back to Chicago then head to Newark later in the evening, where I was scheduled to spend the night. Unfortunately, the local weather had other plans for everybody in the biggest airport in the world. As the building cumulonimbuses were passing through Illinois, all inbound and outbound movements came to a sudden stop and delays started increasing steadily.
By five o’clock, chaos was the name of the game and landing traffic were being sent to the “penalty box”. This is the nickname given to an area on the airport where airplanes can be parked while waiting for their terminal gate to be available. Our flight progressively got delayed from a late afternoon to a late evening departure and along dozens of other trips finally ended up being cancelled forcing scheduling to change our sequence. I was sent back to a hotel for the night and my sequence was planning for me and Cleve, my captain, to deadhead the following morning to Newark in order to catch up with our original trip. I was obviously a bit disappointed but such events are part of the job.
The next morning, I got an early phone call by my captain who let me know that our trip was modified once again. Our deadhead to New York and flight back to O’hare were cancelled, leaving us with just one flight for today. We decided to meet up at the gate for our flight down to XNA around 4 pm. After dropping my bags in the crew room, we sat down to review some of the local procedures especially the communications between airplanes and controllers to get in and out of Chicago. Due to the enormous number of movements, taxiing between a gate and a runway requires a lot of attention and precise lingo from both parties to make for a smooth, safe and efficiently run operation. As our departure time approached, we made our way to the airplane for a thorough preflight under Cleve’s expertise. We first went down on the ramp to do a walk around. This was my first time looking at the airplane from this angle and as we were walking around it and inspecting everything from the nose to the tail, I stopped a moment kneeling by the main gears and realized how big this airplane actually is. The tires are as big as the one on an 18 wheelers. While I didn’t feel overwhelmed, I most certainly was in awe looking at this modern piece of engineering and technology with its tail standing 25 feet high.Afterward, we settle inside the flight deck and proceeded to test the systems and set up the flight plan. It was not long after that our passengers started boarding the 70 seats Bombardier and were greeted by our two flight attendants and music playing over the P/A. The captain decided to let me fly the leg and I was looking forward to do so. After having briefed our takeoff and having the jet bridge pulled away from the main cabin door, we were being pushed out and started our engines. Soon we were on our way to runway 22L. After letting the 63 passengers know of our eminent takeoff, we lined up on the 2 miles long stretch of concrete and the captain, after calling for takeoff checklist, handed over the controls to me. With our takeoff clearance issued by ATC, I tried to apply the thrust as smoothly as possible and in less than 30 seconds I rotated the 72000 pounds bird at 145 miles an hour to initiate our climb toward 36000 feet.
Flight 3712 was airborne. After a few turns to clear Chicago’s airspace, I aimed the airplane for the Ozarks, the national park surrounding the Northwest Arkansas airport. The feelings I experienced during this takeoff are hard to describe in words. With almost the full power of our engines unleashed, my heart was pounding as fast as the turbines were spinning. As we were reaching our cruise altitude, the CRJ started accelerating toward 550 miles per hour and I was able to relax a bit and enjoy the view from my new highest altitude as a pilot. As I turned my head to the right to look through the side windshield, I found myself searching for the wing only to realize that on this long airplane, they are located so far toward the back that I could only see the wing tip with the six foot tall winglet and the bright pulsating strobe lights. I have to say that the view is magnificent from my seat. Within an hour, we were in range and I was about to complete my first landing. The sky was setting down and the weather was clear in a million and after a few vectors from towers, I was cleared to land following a visual approach. With a bit of oral coaching from Cleve, I flared the airplane at about 140 miles an hour to touch down within the dedicated zone but a bit firm to my taste. I quickly applied the powerful reverse to slow us down and in no time we taxied to the gate where our passengers deplaned. It was the end of my first flight but only the beginning of the new adventure. With the rest of the crew, I headed to the hotel where a dinner and a good night sleep were waiting for me.
The next day was a busier one as we went from Arkansas back to Chicago, followed by a quick hop to New York and finally Toronto, in Canada. It was very interesting as while on approach, we made a turn coming from the Atlantic ocean to intercept a visual approach which took us over east river. Located between Manhattan and long island, it offered us and our passengers a view of the statue of liberty as well as all the skyscrapers and the beaches along the Hamptons. From a young pilot’s perspective, landing in JFK is a memory I will cherish forever. When I first came in the US in the mid 90’s, Kennedy was the first thing I saw in this country and to be landing there today, as a professional pilot, between Lufthansa’s airbus 380 and Jet blue’s A320, meant a lot to me. I feel like I have achieved my goal to succeed on this side of the pond. While I took some time to enjoy this moment, we had to turn the airplane in 30 minutes to head for Toronto. In no time, we overflew the Niagara falls, and I landed the airplane to officially make this my first international visit as a pilot. We got to spend part of the afternoon and the evening there, and early the next morning made our way back to Chicago to complete my first sequence of IOE.
It has been a bit more than two months since I started at American Eagle and today, I have completed my training and officially carry in my wallet the coveted crj700 SIC type rating. To be precised, it is called a CL65 type. While I am very satisfied to have achieved this goal, I have to admit that it was not easy toward the end. During the entire course, I have put a tremendous amount of hard work by studying systems, profiles, call outs and so much more, day in and day out and felt very comfortable with my level of knowledge and my ability to fly the simulator. To be honest, I always put my best effort regardless of the task or challenge I am embarking on. In this industry, where a pilot's performance is monitored through an official record made available by the FAA, it is important to demonstrate up to standard skills on a daily basis. Since I started my pilot career, 5 years ago, I have been able to maintain a spotless record. Unfortunately like people say in this business, there are two groups of pilots : " the ones who have failed a checkride, and the ones who will ". I am guessing you know where I am going with this. While I did not experience any difficulties passing my oral or my written, I found my self stumped during my checkride concerning the preflight section. I left frustrated and dissapointed in my self but determined to not dwell on it. I hit the books even harder and spent a few more hours in my room looking at a poster of the cockpit display practicing my flows and callouts. The wait to be rescheduled is what stressed me the most because the more time went by, the more I started questioning my abilities as a pilot. This is not the best mental condition to do a checkride, because if you doubt yourself, you will become your worse critic and lose what is left of your confidence. I decided to view it differently and thought that since I have to come back, I will come back strong. After a few more days of sitting around, I was rescheduled for a 2 am show, passed my preflight inspection without any problems and went in the full motion box as optimistic as i could be, ready to demonstrate my stick and rudder skills. It was very straight forward and beside one or two hiccups during this couple hours process, I found myself being handed my type rating as the sun was rising upon this wonderful sunday morning.
I was recently approached and interviewed during my sim training for the crj700 by an high school student working on a project. The main subject of the video is about how chemistry applies to airplanes. I was however asked about the future of the industry. I thought the video was well done and decided to add it to my blog. Hope you will find it interesting.