PODCAST- Highs & Lows of Airline Pilot Life!
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- Опубликовано: 19 июн 2024
- (Please subscribe!) This is our podcast, so made for audio, not really video. You can also listen on Spotify, Amazon, iTunes and all that.
Dan (@TakingOffDan) and Christy (@PilotChristy) sit down for a conversation about the roller coaster life of an airline pilot. What can be so hard about a life of bus driving in the skies? Christy breaks down the lifestyle and the impact pilot life has on a person’s quality of living.
This may be the most honest and “real” commercial pilot interview I’ve ever seen… Thank you so much to Christy for breaking it down like she did with no perceived bias or agenda. I’m about to start my PPL and this helped a ton! Earned you another subscriber as well, great program
Hi Christy, I ran into Dan not long ago, hope to meet you as well one day. It was interesting to hear your perspective and experiences as an airline pilot. Airline hiring has always been a very cyclical experience. You are getting into airline flying at a great time. My experience, I worked as a CFI through college then flew charter in everything from an old Bonanza to light twins, even a Beech 18. I then flew Aerostars for a company that flew cancelled checks at night around the country( look up flying cancelled checks!) and into my first jet experience in a Citation500 and a Lear23. Next was almost 7 years flying for a commuter ( before 'regionals') flying the SW4 and the Fairchild FH227 . 100 hrs plus a month in the Metro, 'limited' to 1,000 hrs a month in the FH227, Part 121. Hand flying, we had no autopilots. Surviving that, I flew several years corporate, mostly KingAirs and light jets. My last gig was flying for American Trans Air in the L1011 and 737-800. Pretty heady stuff getting hired right into flying international in a widebody airplane. To the end, it still amazed me that somebody paid me to fly an airplane. But, nothing is guarenteed and I ended up having to go on longterm medical leave long before I reached 65. No water cannons on arrival on that last flight. I was still on medical a year later when ATA went belly up. I might suggest that you include a cautionary tale to young pilots that their flying until retirement at age 65 is not guarenteed and that, like anything in aviation, a backup plan is always a good thing to have. I had a great ride, had tons of great experiences and met some fantastic people. Enough memories to last a lifetime. It is fun watching your experiences as you are beginni g your career. I hope that you have a long and satisfying career in aviation. Thank you for sharing your excitement, it is contageous. You are an example and encouragement to others looking at careers in aviation. Keep up the great work! Dave
Thank you Christy for your perspective on life and work and what is important to you. It is nice to hear from someone who is enjoying work and life at the same time.
Thanks for keeping it real. Nothing better than hearing it from those who are actually doing it.
Great podcast, and I enjoy being able to just listen while I’m driving or doing something that keeps me from watching, then when just sitting can watch like I’m in a studio audience
Excellent podcast Dan and Christy. Thank you Christy for sharing such excellent insight and experiences as a professional pilot.Quality of life is huge, especially when you have a family. Thanks again for such a great podcast. Keep up the excellent work. Safe skies my friends 🇺🇸🛩️
Such a good podcast I remember when I worked on the freighters on the Great Lakes and I was away from home for months on end. It’s brutal especially if you have a family and they don’t understand what you do. Keep up the great work! We appreciate y’all
This is very informative. I’m glad Christy mentioned the good, the bad and the ugly. I basically had the same experiences and feelings as hers when I was with the regionals.
Well, I"m not a pilot, I've always been curious about all the information that is not talked about, especially, the parts about barely having enough time to eat, flying in bad weather, and all the fatigue that comes from running from A to B to C destinations, deciding on diverting, because of weather,...........this video was very enlightening.
Thank you!!! I am 66 and a student that owns a Piper Cherokee 140/150hp I been a long-haul trucker for 27 years and a owner/operator for 13 of though years I get that it's a lifestyle and its hard on family and yourself Christy you got this!!!! One flight at a time stay safe!!!
I love the honest perspective. This job is not for the mentally weak.
Christy: This career definitely has it's ups and downs.
Yes. Those are called takeoffs and landings.
I really like this podcast as it offers a real good insight into decisions on career and readiness to move to the left seat when you are ready. I wish there was more of this style of podcasts out there. This one feels more at home compared to some that feel very studio. I think the set makes a big difference. You have a new subscriber.
Interesting perspective. No job is perfect. Take the ups and appreciate them. The downs are dues paid. Easier said than done I know. As a CFI with no aspirations of airlines career, when I travel commercial I sit in the terminal and watch the flight crew and can see the stress on them. I see what life on the road seems to do to them. It does not look appealing to me. I appreciate the struggle of the professional pilot life. Regarding Captain upgrade, Kerry Franke’s book Three Feet to the Left worth a read or an audio book listen for any first officer thinking of the upgrade.
Glad there's no 360.
Much better without
At the risk of overstating the obvious, no matter how you make a living, when you get to the end and perhaps retire, you don’t get any of those lonely years back, nor are you young again. The time for reconciling your family needs and personal needs is NOW, not at the end when you have regrets or you cannot do the things that you used to be able to do.
I think that the greatest impediment to reconciliation of needs is the incorrect innate presumption that there’s always tomorrow or next week or next year. There will come a time when there is no tomorrow, but that fact typically doesn’t become real until one’s body and mind start sending messages loud and clear. For me, that didn’t start until my 50s. Until then, “What? Me worry?”
Just ran across this in my suggested videos today. This is exactly the what I need to help put a voice to the other side of everything the flight schools will try to sell incoming pilots today. Loved this whole conversation. Thank you sincerely for this content
Glad you found it helpful! And thanks for the encouragement on the content.
Thanks for podcast and perspective. Starting my regional indoc in September
Great discussion and insight.
Thank you for the great interview. When I reach the regionals I too will be a lifer..
Satisfied with your work and position. Nothing wrong with that 😎
Do you work for the job, or does the job work for you?...
John Travolta once said he became a Hollywood actor so he could afford to fly aircraft.
Thank you so much for this one! I'm close to PPL on my way to commercial, and pondering which way to go, with a little bias towards cargo, tbh. Would love to hear from that side of the industry. At 9F0 I watched all of you having fun, and I just had to join in. See you out there!
I'll bring on a freight dog soon.
I’ve been “asked” to upgrade at my first airline and it’s funny how the weight of responsibility doesn’t really hit you until you’re about to upgrade. Upgrade always felt like it was forever away.. until it wasn’t lol. Definitely relate to what y’all are talking about!
Wow! Thank you for the insight into the life of an airline pilot, very very interesting
RUclips is good. Not only can I listen on my phone with premium allowing my screen to be off, but I can view you on my big screen tv at home from the couch or doing stuff. I like the mixed format
Excellent interview!
👍☑👏Facinating insights Christy, tks
Great podcast from Dan and Christy. She gave such a great deep insight into the corporate and airline profession. Out of curiosity I wonder what the % is of airline pilots from the USA who look further afield. Like for example flying for Emirates out of Dubai. I'm a frequent flyer on their 777s and many a time its a nice American drawl from the flightdeck! 34:03 and onward, very important words from Christy. Its a great decision to stop the chasing chasing chasing and enjoy the flying and free time.
I missed half of what you said because I was concentrating on the lip sync being so far off. LMAO. It reminded me of one of those 1950's Japanese movies translated into English.
The worst day of flying is better than the best day of fishing!
I’m a FO at the same company, at the same base, on the same aircraft and I love reserve. Especially when you are a 750 hour plus FO getting that captain pay with FO responsibilities. A senior FO is a awesome life rather than a junior CA.
Great episode … enjoyment in what you beats the rat race any day of the week
Excellent podcast!!! What's you perspective on careers in the cargo airline segment vs passenger. Highs and Lows. (ex: Fedex, UPS, DHL, etc.).
Please perform this same exact interview / discussion with a legacy freight pilot. Would love to hear their version/pov from freight arena.
If you could add anything else to this interview and future, please discuss some of the incentives these airlines are pushing out and if there are any hidden fine print to look out for when considering signing onto an airline.
Also, what is the truth and realistic possibility to obtaining that six figure salary being rumored pilots can get these days and what you have to do to keep that type of salary in the long run?
I find it quite interesting that the Airline biz is much like the motor coach biz where I work when it comes to the seniority and politicking that needs to be done for the sake of Quality of Life. I'm a dispatcher right now, and I'd be very interested in what some insights from a Flight Dispatcher would be, and if there is any crossover between what they deal with in Aviation, and what I deal with on the ground.
Pls bring Christy back on the show sometime in the future. She is real and honest ❤.
If you're in a large airline, every day in the cockpit is a thousand first dates. Every day is "where you from?"
Also it's not all the romance of travel. An airline pilot gets to see the hotel, the crew van, the airport, the plane, the airport, the crew van and the hotel. Then you sleep and wakeup, and repeat. Good luck getting a good meal and a workout in.
I spend most of my free time in the hotel studying all the things I need to know as an international pilot.
How about a part 2 and maybe so on? Ok, your now an airline pilot, one of the down falls is you don't get to go home everyday? Your stuck at a hotel you have to make life time adjustments, what do couples do especially when one of the other halfs is not a pilot. Do they "honey do list" Laundry, cooking, ect while they are on their down time? Do other pilots make additional passive income?
Hi Christy, thank you for your perspective and honest reflection about being an airline pilot. What time did you start your pilot career? I'm wondering if at 45 years is too old to start.
Late 50’s would be the time it might be getting too late for airline career. In your 40’s? Go for it!
So my question for Christy is if one started at the airline as say a baggage handler and then switched to pilot, is the seniority date the day they got hired as baggage handler or the day they started as a pilot? And if one retired early and wanted to go back to work would original hire date apply or would you start at zero seniority?
Christy, do you ever fly into LFT?
When a pilot lands at a destination do they have any time to explore or is it basically land maybe sleep then off to next destination
As much as I love flying and I’m a pilot since 1985 but it never ever was appealing to me to become a full time airline pilot. 🤷🏻♂️
So you are saying that upgrading to captain is mandatory once you are qualified (1000). You can't refuse?
Thank you for this interview! Very informative. Can you be a part time airline pilot or choose how many hours you want to work in a month? I’m in my 30s and just now starting my aviation career and would love to work part time as an airline pilot if possible
I don’t think so at the 121 carriers but probably in the part 135 you can
I wish the other guy wouldn't interrupt you as much as he does. Thank you for this discussion.
Very cool to have this out in the open. Might be worth renaming this as "Highs & Lows of Airline Pilot Life - In America". After listening to this, I can say with confidence this does not represent reality in other parts of the world.
Hey Christy, I'm currently a traveling Chef after 20 +years in the industry I'm looking at going for my poilot dream... I'll be 40 in January any advice or tips?
I'm also from Baton Rouge, Louisiana if need any ideas for overnights hit me up... thanks love the podcast
Very good podcast Christy but remember that Envoy wants captains no F.O.
Dumb comment. She explained her stance and for a second career I think he pace and mindset is well put.
As I watch from the hotel on a overnight. Yep everything said 100% fact
There’s no replacement for experience. Experience takes time. Without experience safety is diminished. Just ask Stockton Crush .
Dan no profession is perfect........ all the time. I was in electronic sales for almost 30 years. There was different scenarios depending upon customer needs but there was a lot of routine too. When I was in a Mall store and I would have an 12 hour day. I would get there at 0930 it would be morning then leave a 2130 it would be dark. During Christmas it was even more hours.
A friend of mine built a successful career as a corporate pilot after her marriage crashed and burned (commercial pilot husband cheated on her with a flight attendant early in the marriage). She probably couldn’t have had the same career as a mother. Years later, early retirement was a necessity due to blown discs in her back. How many long-term pilots experience job-related injuries?
I wonder if your friend blew out her back/disc when acting as chief baggage handler in the corporate flying world. Was she a heavy smoker? Heard that smoking is bad for back health.
@@chetmyers7041 Yeah, she was the default corporate baggage handler, in addition to being the pilot. Thankfully, she wasn’t a smoker, and neither was she a heavy drinker.
She was in medicine what exactly nurse, physician?
No 360
I wish that i looked good in cockpit maps.
I wonder what territory is charted on the reverse side? Pleasure Island?
360 not on this one
Yeah it was the 360 camera, but heard from the people-- no 360! So I just settled it in between.
Took me 34 minutes to realize shes wearing sectional chart pants
Audio is out of sync!
FYI your lip sink is off by minutes 😂
THat 360 camera drifts on the sync. Im not using it anymore.
Rule #1. DON'T COMMUTE.