The lost of generation of pilots

A friend and former coworker recently remarked to me that, as professional pilots who were starting our careers in the late 1990s and early 2000s, we were part of a lost generation of pilots. We began our flight training with the plan to move quickly from the regional airlines to the cockpit of “heavy iron” at the majors. Everything changed after September 11, 2001.

Aviation’s lost decade started with the terrorist attacks of September 11. Almost immediately, airlines stopped hiring and started furloughing pilots. Less than a year after the attacks, the airline bankruptcies started with a filing by US Airways in August 2002. Many airlines were only beginning to recover when the second half of the one-two punch, the 2008 recession, landed. Before the wave of bankruptcies was over, almost every major airline would be affected.

The airlines used the bankruptcies to negotiate with unions for reductions in employee pay and work rules. Pay rates were decreased at most companies. For some pilots who were downgraded from captain to first officer, the cut in pay approached 50 percent according to the N.Y. Times. Changes to union contracts meant that pilots worked more for less pay. Generous pension plans were dissolved and replaced with 401(k) plans.

The economic crisis also set off a wave of airline mergers as companies sought strength in combining operations. Amid falling ticket prices, companies merged to strengthen their route structures and reduce the number of seats available in hopes of driving up prices. The smaller number of airlines also meant that fewer pilots were needed.

Pay cuts and loss of pensions may have contributed to the decision to change the “Age 60 Rule” as well. This controversial rule, first established by the FAA in the 1950s, required that airline pilots retire when they turned 60. In 2007, President Bush signed a bill into law that changed the mandatory retirement age for airline pilots to age 65. Overnight, the airline hiring outlook changed drastically as thousands of senior airline pilots nearing retirement found their careers extended by five years. This meant that, with little growth in the industry, airlines could put off hiring new pilots for another five years. For first officers already flying with the airlines, it also meant that their upgrades to captain would take years longer than expected.

By 2012, when senior airline captains began turning 65, a career at a major airline wasn’t as attractive as it had been. Pilots who now had stable corporate flying jobs or who were senior at regional airlines often did not want to take the cut in pay or to lose their good schedules to start over at a major airline.

Airline Pilot Central reports that the current first year pay for a United Airlines pilot is $66 per hour. This sounds like a lot at first, but the pay is for flight hours only. The United contract specifies a minimum pay of 70 hours per month. This works out to about $55,000 per year. For most pilots, it would take years return to their old pay rates.

Airline Pilot Central also reports that the most junior captain at United was hired in 1996. As retirements increase, future new hires might upgrade quicker, but most can expect to spend a long time in the right seat. The numbers for other major airlines are similar to those of United. For companies like Southwest, Spirit, and JetBlue, the upgrade might be quicker but starting pay is lower.

In addition to the pay cuts and quality of life issues, many pilots of the Lost Generation are skeptical of the stability of the airlines. After having seen two horrific cycles of long-term furloughs, few are willing to risk a stable corporate or charter flying job to go to the bottom of an airline seniority list. Airline seniority means “last hired, first fired.”

Returning to the airlines would also likely mean the loss of precious free time to pilots of the Lost Generation. Airline pilots can live anywhere, but they must commute on their own time. For many, this would mean spending days off commuting on airliners. With the high passenger loads common in today’s airline industry, commuting as a standby passenger would be an uncertain and frustrating way to get to work. The alternative would be to move to a lower paying job.

Along with good salaries and quality of life, many of the pilots of the Lost Generation have found that our priorities have changed. As we have aged, flying heavy airliners to the far corners of the world is less important than being home to watch our children grow up and making a life with our spouse. Flying is not as important as it was when we were 20 years younger and our logbooks were several thousand hours lighter. It has become a means to an end rather than an end in itself.

For pilots who give up their current jobs, willingly or not, the airlines still provide an attractive career path. For those who take this path, the rewards can be attractive. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that airline pilots and flight engineers (themselves an endangered species) earn a median income of $114,200 annually. For those at the top of the profession, captains of large jets, Salary.com shows a median income of $122,014. As airline pilots gain seniority, they typically work less as well. A crewmember on a heavy airliner on transoceanic trips might reach his maximum monthly flight time in two or three trips.

As more and more airline captains reach the cutoff age of 65, the airlines will have to look harder and harder to qualified pilots to fill their cockpit seats. Recent rule changes that require more flight experience and a reduction in flight training since 2001 mean that those seats will soon be hard to fill. The shortage of qualified pilots may exert some upward pressure on pilot salaries.

Nevertheless, for many pilots of the Lost Generation, an airline career is not in our future. It simply wouldn’t be worth the reduction in pay and the upheaval in our lives. After more than decade of watching our industry undergo gut wrenching change – and finding ourselves changed in the process – we’re okay with that.

Are you a pilot of the Lost Generation with a story to tell? Comment below. I will tell my story next week.

This article is dedicated to my friends and former coworkers at Independence Air and CitationAir, many of whom are part of the Lost Generation.

Read the full article on Examiner.com

How to annoy your First Officer

My career as a pilot involved spending more than a decade as a First Officer, a copilot to those not initiated into the terms of aviation. After more than ten years and 4,000 hours of flying as an FO at four different companies, I am uniquely qualified to speak on behalf of FOs everywhere and explain to captains what rubs their second-in-command the wrong way. Read on and discover how to annoy your FO.

1. Keep your hand on the flap handle on an approach. This is a common move for both experienced and inexperienced captains. While flying an approach, when the captain feels that it is time to lower the flaps, I would often notice the captain place his hand on the flap handle, just waiting for the second when I, as the flying pilot, would call for the flaps.

I don’t know whether they thought I would forget to call for the flaps, wanted to give me a subtle reminder, or just wanted to keep themselves from forgetting. Regardless, I found it annoying and would often delay calling for the flaps just make them keep their hand in an uncomfortable position.

If the landing checklist is completed properly, the flaps will not be forgotten. As long as flying pilot complies with aircraft limitations and company standard operating procedures, the flying pilot has discretion on when to call for the flaps. If the nonflying pilot believes that the flaps have been forgotten, a better way to remind them is verbally, stating, for example, “We are still at flaps 20.”

2. Never let him fly. FOs are qualified pilots. Often, since aviation new hires typically go to the bottom of the seniority list, the FO might even be more qualified than the captain. The vast majority of FOs are more than capable of safely flying the airplane.

FOs are supposed to be able to land the airplane successfully, not just lower the landing gear and work the radios. Nevertheless, flying is a perishable skill. How can an FO improve and stay current if he never touches the controls? Your life may one day depend upon your FO’s ability to fly an approach to minimums or land in a strong crosswind.

As an instructor, I saw a number of pilots who had logged hundreds of hours in an aircraft type, but who had very little actual experience flying it. This caused difficulty and more than a few problems in simulator training when a First Officer upgraded to captain.

The captain who never lets his FO fly or only rarely throws them a bone with a short leg does his fellow pilots a disservice. The fairest way to divide legs is the way that most airlines do it, by alternating each leg. This helps both pilots to maintain proficiency and interest.

3. Don’t keep him in the loop. CRM (cockpit resource management) is not just three random letters from the alphabet. If your FO going to effectively back you up, he needs to know what’s going on. This includes planning items like changes to flight plans and weather forecasts as well as more basic things like announcing what switches you are flipping. Particularly if the captain is the nonflying pilot, it matters if you do something like switch the anti-ice on or off. Don’t just do things and expect your FO to automatically know what you’re doing and thinking.

Most FOs can’t read their wife’s mind; they certainly can’t read yours.

4. Don’t start a radio conversation and expect him to finish it. Many times, even though the FO is the pilot monitoring, the captain will initiate a radio conversation with ATC. This in itself is not a problem. Sometimes it is simply more expedient to say something yourself than relay it through your fellow pilot.

The problem comes when the captain initiates an exchange and then fails to follow through. Often the initial exchange is followed immediately by an altitude or frequency change, leaving the FO to wonder “will he respond or not?” Usually there is a pregnant pause while neither pilot answers and the FO scrambles to acknowledge the instruction. It would be much easier for the captain to respond since he was already talking to the controller.

5. Don’t share the paperwork. Typically programming the flight plan is an FO duty, but how can he put in an “as filed” route if you squirrel away the flight plan in an undisclosed location on the left side of the cockpit? Further, as mentioned earlier, the FO cannot cross check the captain if he doesn’t know what the captain’s plan is. For example, without the flight plan or dispatch release showing the amount of fuel required for the flight, the FO cannot verify that the aircraft is properly fueled.

A good captain puts the paperwork in the middle where both pilots can check it as needed. A great captain makes the FO his own copy. Captains who don’t print out flight plans make FOs want to pull their hair out.

6. Act like a check airman. The captain and FO may not be equals, but it is not the captain’s job to test my knowledge. The FO not required to let you quiz him on memory items and aircraft limitations. I have learned a lot from some great captains, but they didn’t act like instructors, let alone check airmen. If every flight feels like a checkride, the crew is going to have a miserable time together. Unless you are a check airman, don’t act like one.

7. Try to do his job. A competent FOs knows his flows. He can run a checklist. He is trained to program the FMS and work the radios. Let him do his job. Don’t try to do it for him. CRM teaches that both pilots have their role and should stick to it.

When you try to do the FO’s job as well as yours, you break his routine and increase the chance of errors and mistakes. Do you really want the FO to try to race you to retract the flaps after landing? There are very few things that need to be done quickly in an airplane and having both pilots competing to reach the same control first is a recipe for disaster.

The other extreme is the FO who will let the captain take his duties. This may work well until the first time the captain misses and item and the FO, who is now simply along for the ride, doesn’t catch it either.

8. Use nonstandard procedures. You will be captain on the next trip, but odds are that your FO will be flying with a different captain. Make it easy for him. Use standard procedures. If he spend several days getting used to your nonstandard way of doing things, he’s going to have to relearn the right way to do things next week or next month.

The whole idea of standardization is that everyone does things the same way and that any two crew members can be comfortable together without a long period of adaptation. Keep it standard. He’s an FO, not a chameleon.

9. Shut him down. Your FO your backup. His job is to question you when something seems amiss. This requires open lines of communication. Countless airplanes and lives have been lost because First Officers didn’t speak up. In some cases, captains intimidated their First Officers into silence. CRM has been around for nearly half a century, but there are still captains with this sort of god complex.

It is in your interest for your FO to speak up. It requires teamwork to safely and efficiently fly a turbine airplane. If you intimidate your crew into silence, you may both pay the ultimate price.

10. Lose his trust. Both crewmembers are professionals. Our wellbeing and careers depend upon a certain level of competence. Everyone makes mistakes, but if you repeatedly get your FO into trouble he will spend more time crosschecking you than doing his own job. This is just as bad as when the captain tries to do both jobs.

To be an effective captain, the captain must be familiar with basic knowledge items such as aircraft limitations and FARs. NOTAMs should be closely checked before each flight in addition to the weather. Before flying an arrival or departure procedure, check the plate closely and be sure to look for notes, crossing restrictions and speeds. The captain should also possess basic airmanship skills. This may seem basic, but it is the cause for many mistakes and violations.

If the crew is to be an effective team, both pilots need to be able to depend on each other. If you and your FO have a long history of filing NASA or ASAP reports, you probably need to evaluate our performance as a team.

When considering how to treat your FO, it is important to ask yourself how your actions affect safety and CRM (for more information on CRM, consult GlobalAir.com’s Aviation Directory for courses on cockpit resource management). While safety is paramount on any flight, it will normally be enhanced by making FO more involved in the decision making process and showing that your value and respect his opinion and skills.

Read the full article on Aviation Examiner

Prospective airline pilots can save $1000s by taking ATP test before August

Time is growing short for prospective airline pilots to take the written test for the Airline Transport Pilot license without taking a course that includes 10 hours of simulator training. As detailed in Examiner, on August 1 candidates for the written test will must have a graduation certificate from an approved course that will cost $15-20,000.

As Rick Durden pointed out on Avweb, the regulations as currently written provide a last chance for prospective airline pilots to take the ATP written without enrolling in the approved simulator course. As Durden points out, FAR 61.156, which spells out the requirements for the written test (“knowledge exam” in FAA parlance), does not contain any prerequisites for the test until after July 31, 2014. This means that a pilot who does not yet meet the requirements for the ATP can still take the test before August 1.

Once a candidate passes the written test, the results are good for two years. If the pilot met the flight experience and eligibility requirements within two years, he could take the checkride (“practical test”) and earn the ATP license without passing the FAA-approved simulator course. If the written test expires, the pilot must then pass the new ATP simulator course in order to retake the test.

The changes to the ATP are likely to exacerbate the pilot shortage that regional airlines are already experiencing. As the need for qualified pilots becomes more pronounced, Congress and the FAA are likely to issue regulatory changes to make it easier for pilots to qualify as ATPs. These changes are likely to be long in coming, however, and pilots who are close to meeting the requirements would be well advised to take the written test before August 1 if at all possible.

There are several traditional study methods for FAA knowledge exams. There are books available that familiarize test-takers with the questions in the FAA written test bank. There are also computer training courses that simulate taking the actual test on your own computer. Many vendors for these test prep services can be found on GlobalAir.com.

Given the short amount of time left to take the test, a classroom seminar might be the best solution. These courses often last one to two days and are essentially cram sessions for test-takers. ATP Flight School is one of several companies that offer one-day test preps at locations around the country. These “quickie” courses are perfect for busy professionals who don’t have a lot of time to study.

It is possible that the shortage of qualified pilots will force the FAA to change the regulations regarding the ATP, but there is no way of knowing how long those changes will take. In the meantime, a pilot who has already passed the ATP written may very well have an advantage in getting hired by the airlines.

Read the full article on Aviation Examiner

New FAA copilot rules in effect

A new Federal Aviation Administration rule that requires copilots on U.S. airlines to have additional training and flight experience is now in effect. The final rule, required by the Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act of 2010, was published in the Federal Register on July 15, 2013.

Previously, first officers on scheduled airline flights were only required to hold a commercial pilot license. The commercial license requires a total of 250 hours flight time. Under the new rule, airline first officers are required to hold an airline transport pilot license. The ATP requires 1,500 hours of flight time. Pilots must be at least 23 years old to earn an ATP.

The rule also includes provision for some pilots to obtain a restricted ATP with fewer than 1,500 flight hours. To qualify for the restricted ATP, pilots must be at least 21 years old and must either be a military trained pilot or hold a bachelor’s or associate’s degree in an aviation major.

There are other requirements in the new rule as well. First officers in scheduled airline service must also hold a second class medical certificate. If the aircraft requires three or more pilots, the first officer must also have a type rating for the specific aircraft type to be flown and a first class medical certificate. Airline captains were previously required to hold an ATP, a type rating, and a first class medical certificate. A new requirement under the rule is that captains must have a minimum of 1,000 hours in air carrier operations.

The new rule was passed by Congress after the February 12, 2009 crash of Colgan Airlines/Continental Connection Flight 3407 in Buffalo, N.Y. The NTSB report faulted pilot training at the regional airline as a factor. The new rules also come in the wake of the July 6, 2013 crash of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 in San Francisco. Although the NTSB is still investigating the accident, early indications are that the crew training may have played a role in the accident according to Politico.

Kevin Kuhlman, professor of aviation and aerospace science at Metropolitan State University of Denver, is not sure that the rule change will be worthwhile. “It seems logical that more hours equals safety,” he argues in the Denver Post, “but the reality is that it is the quality of the training not the quantity that matters. That’s what the (Asiana Airlines) and Colgan accidents really show.”

Kuhlman also is concerned that the new requirements may lead some pilots to falsify their flight times. Pilot flight times are maintained largely by an honor system in which pilots log their flight hours in a personal log book. It is only when pilots are finally hired by commercial operators that their times are tracked by others. Even then, the company only keeps track of flight time earned by the pilot while at that particular company.

Another potential problem is that the more stringent requirements for an airline career may dissuade people from beginning an aviation career, especially after a decade of wage and benefit cuts for airline employees. When paired with looming retirements as hundreds of airline pilots reach age 65, the new rule may trigger a severe shortage of pilots qualified to fly airliners.

Originally published as National Aviation Examiner

How to brief an approach

A common skill for pilots that is likely to be tested on an interview is how to brief an instrument approach. Briefing an approach is the art of confirming the details of an approach with your fellow pilot without overwhelming him with irrelevant information. There is an abundance of information on an approach plate, some of which is vital to the safety of the flight and some of which does not apply at all.

A sample approach plate is the ILS 35R for Centennial Airport in Denver found nearby. Most companies and airlines use Jeppesen approach plates similar to the one depicted here, however military pilots and some general aviation pilots might be more familiar with approach plates published by the FAA. These are also called “NOS charts” because they were once published by the National Ocean Service. NOS charts are public domain and can be found online at no charge on sites such as Globalair.com. A NOS chart has been included for reference, but most interview briefs will be conducted with Jeppesen plates.

Ideally the approach should be briefed while the airplane is in cruise and before the descent. The crewmembers should obtain the ATIS information and set up the navigation radios for the approach before conducting the briefing. If the ATIS is not available, the weather forecast from the dispatch release or preflight briefing can be used.

Briefing a Jeppesen approach plate is simple thanks to its logical format. Start at the top with the airport, date of the plate, approach number and title to confirm that both crewmembers are looking at the same approach plate and that both plates are current.

Most briefings skip the top line, which contains communications frequencies. Air traffic control gives the pilot the next frequency when they are handed off, but the frequencies on the approach plate are useful in order to preset tower and ground frequencies in the radio’s standby field. The ATIS frequency can also be found there.

The next line of the plate contains navigation information. In the case of ILS 35R, the plate contains the localizer frequency (111.3) and identifier (IAPA). The final approach course is 350 degrees. Verify that the nav radios are set to the proper frequency and HSI needles are set to the inbound course as you brief. The decision altitude (DA) for the approach is 6,085 feet above mean sea level (MSL), which is 200 feet above the ground (AGL). If your airplane has a place to set the DA, verify that it has been done correctly. If the DA, cannot be set exactly, round up. For example, if you can only set the DA in 100 foot increments, set 6,100. The elevation of the touchdown zone of the runway is 5,885 feet.

The circle on the right side of the page gives the minimum safe altitude. This provides 1,000 feet of clearance within 25 nautical miles of the fix referenced. In this case, the fix is CASSE, the locator out marker with the identifier AP. The safe altitude is 8,100 MSL in the direction of flight, but rises to 13,100 in other directions. The boundaries for the altitudes are noted as 140 degrees to (320 degrees from) and 250 degrees to (130 degrees from) CASSE.

To follow a logical order, skip the missed approach procedure for now and look at the notes. Several notes apply to this approach. ADF or DME is required to identify CASSE and radar is required. The glideslope and VGSI (visual glide slope indicator), in this case a PAPI (precision approach path indicator) on the right side of the runway, are different so the airplane may not appear to be on the visual glideslope if it is tracking the ILS.

The transition altitude and transition level in the notes section are used when flying outside the United States. This tells pilots where to change between standard and local altimeter settings. In the U.S., this is done at 18,000 feet (Flight Level 180), but in different countries these altitudes may change.

The plan view in the center is the “God’s eye” view of the approach which looks down like a typical map. In most cases, aircraft will be given radar vectors to join the final approach course, but if you expect to fly a transition you should brief it. The ILS 35R does not have transitions, but there is a speed restriction, 210 knots at FIRPI intersection. The note labeled “1” at FIRPI points out that radar or DME is required to identify the fix. At this point, verify that the frequency for CASSI (260) is set in the ADF.

The plan view also notes obstructions and terrain with their MSL heights. The brown areas in the bottom left corner denote high terrain. The highest point on the chart is marked with a black arrow. In this case it is 8,068 feet MSL to the southwest. Obstructions and terrain may be briefed if they are applicable. For example, in particular pilots arriving from the west would want to consider the high terrain that will be encountered as they are vectored for the approach.

Below the plan view is the profile view, a side view that shows altitudes to be flown. In most cases, controllers will instruct the aircraft to descend as they vector it towards final. The aircraft should be at 8,000 feet as it approaches CASSI. However, if the airplane is instructed to fly to FIRPI, the mandatory crossing altitude is 9,000 feet for that fix. If the approach is an ILS, other altitudes in the profile view can be disregarded. They apply only if the ILS glideslope is out of service and the airplane is flying a localizer only approach.

Also in the case of nonprecision localizer approach, the maltese cross over CASSI and any stepdowns should be briefed. The maltese cross represents the final approach fix. For an ILS, the final approach fix is at glideslope intercept at the published altitude (8,000 feet).

The missed approach point (MAP) should also be briefed. This can be determined several ways. For an ILS, the MAP is the DA on the glideslope. For a nonprecision approach, the MAP can be determined by the “M” on the profile view at 1.8 DME or by the box below the profile view. For a groundspeed of 100 knots, the MAP would be reached three minutes and 47 seconds after crossing CASSE.

Next to the missed approach box is a graphic description of the runway lights, in this case MALSRs and a PAPI, and simplified depiction of the missed approach procedure. Brief the missed approach with either the simplified description here or the textual description above the plan view.

The bottom of the approach plate contains information on the approach’s minimums for a variety of conditions. Ensure that the DA (or MDA if nonprecision) briefed above is correct for aircraft approach category and available equipment. The maximum speed for each approach category is printed with the circling information for reference. Check for notes that affect minimums such as note 1 which states that sidestep or circling to 35L is not authorized at night if the 35L VGSI is not operative.

The full instrument approach briefing might sound something like this:

This is the ILS 35R approach to Centennial airport, February 1, 2013, 41-1.

The localizer is 111.3 and inbound course is 350, set right and left. Glideslope at CASSE is 7,977 and DA is 6,085, which is 200 AGL. Minimum safe altitude is 8,100 to the northeast and 13,100 in all other directions. ADF or DME and radar are required. The glide slope and PAPI are not the same. Frequency for CASSE is 260. There is mountainous terrain to 8,000 feet to the southwest. There is a mandatory 9,000 foot crossing altitude and 210 knots at FIRPI which is 14.5 DME based on the localizer. Inside FIRPI we can descend to 8,000 until intercepting the glideslope. There is a PAPI to the left.

The missed approach point will be the decision altitude of 6,085 feet. The missed approach procedure is to climb straight out to 7,400 then make a right turn while climbing to 9,000 and intercepting the localizer southbound. Holding will be over CASSE at 9,000 with a parallel entry. Minimums for the approach are a half a mile visibility.

Originally published on Examiner.com:

http://www.examiner.com/list/how-to-brief-an-approach

Getting Started in an Aviation Career

Presently, the United States is undergoing a shortage of airline pilots. For the first time since 9/11, virtually all companies, from flight schools to the majors, are hiring. If you have ever thought about becoming a professional pilot, the time is now.

If you would like to pursue an aviation career, the first step is to get a college degree. Most companies do not require a specific course of study, but do require a bachelor's degree. Since aviation is an inherently unstable industry, my recommendation is that you major in something other than aviation. If you have a physical problem or lose your job in an industry downturn, this will make it easier to transition to another career.

After earning your degree, you will need to obtain a commercial pilot license for multi-engine airplanes. A commercial license requires 250 flight hours and an instrument rating. Typically, students earn a private pilot license first, then an instrument rating, then a commercial license.

Aside from military training, there are two main routes to a commercial pilot license. The first option is to go to a local airport and find a flight school there. The second option is to enroll at a large training academy. There are advantages and disadvantages to both options.

Local flight schools, normally called FBO (fixed base operator) schools, are more convenient and less expensive. You don't have to move or take time off from work to attend. You can work on your own schedule and your own budget. FBO training also offers more real world experience than academy training. You will find different aircraft, different instructors with different perspectives, different weather, and different places. Most academies are located in Sun Belt areas like Florida or Arizona, so your exposure to bad weather is limited.

Disadvantages are that the training might not be oriented towards professional flying and the instructors are of unknown quality. Some FBO instructors are excellent and some are not. Some are retired jet pilots and some have never flown anything larger than a Cessna 172. Some are very professional and others are only building time to go to an airline. Speak to current students and find an instructor that is right for you.

Flight training academies are expensive and may require you to quit or take a leave of absence from your job, but they also have some important advantages. You can complete your training at an academy much faster than at an FBO. Zero time students can obtain a commercial license in as little as nine months. Because academy instructors are standardized, you can be sure that the quality of your training will be high, regardless of who you fly with. Many academies also have placement programs or offer interview opportunities for graduates.

Academy training is similar to airline training in many ways, and this can help you later in your career. Academies use checklists that are similar to those found in jet aircraft. Additionally, academies will expose you to flight simulators. Simulators are used extensively in the airline interview process and in airline training.

An additional consideration is that academy graduates often log more multi-engine time than FBO pilots. The normal progression for an FBO pilot is to earn a single-engine commercial license then add a multi-engine rating. In the academy where I taught, the normal syllabus called for a private multi-engine license first. The student then flew multi-engine airplanes while working on his instrument rating. Finally, they would add the commercial license. This means that academy students have many more multi-engine hours on their resumes. This looks good to prospective employers. Other than that, the license that you will receive from training at either school is the same.

My personal recommendation, based on instructing at FBOs and academies, is to start flying at an FBO. Earn your private license at an FBO and see if flying is for you. Continue to fly and build some cross-country flight time, which is a requirement for the instrument rating. If you continue to believe that an aviation career is for you, transfer to an academy when you have a private license and twenty to thirty hours of cross-country time. This will give you the advantage of more standardized training for your instrument and multi-engine training, while giving you the real world experience of FBO flying for the first part of your training. At the same time, you will save thousands of dollars.

Depending on the job market when you get your license, you may need to build flight time to be attractive to the airlines. If you are lucky, the airlines will be facing a pilot shortage and will hire you as soon as you get your license. If you are not lucky, you may spend years building time.

The most common way to build flight time is to earn a Certified Flight Instructor license and teach others to fly. This is not for everyone. To be a good instructor, you have to be a good communicator as well as being a good pilot. Others might find jobs flying freight in twin-engine piston airplanes or flying as a First Officer for a charter company. Forest fire patrol, aerial photography, traffic reporting, and flying on personal business are other ways to build flight time while earning money. Groups like the Civil Air Patrol and the US Coast Guard Auxiliary don't pay, but do allow you to build time at low cost. Opportunities to earn Pilot-in-Command (as opposed to Second-in-Command or First Officer) or multi-engine flight time look best on your resume.

When you get close to the minimum flight times found on the websites of your target airlines, start sending out resumes. Your first airline job will probably be with a regional airline flying turboprops or regional jets. These companies pay poorly for the first couple of years, but allow you to earn hundreds of hours of jet time each year. Job fairs, such as those put on by Air Inc. (jet-jobs.com) are are excellent ways to meet airline recruiters and get interviews.

Entry level jobs in aviation pay poorly and require long hours. Find professional pilot mentors to find out what the career is really like before you start the journey. If possible, save a large nest egg to pay for training and help you through the early years. Avoiding large debts early on can help minimize your stress level later.

Professional aviation is a fun career. The view from the office window is great and it definitely beats working for a living. Plan your career and make good choices and it will be a source of enjoyment for years to come.

Life as a Fractional Pilot

If you have paid attention to the aviation industry over the last few years, you have heard about the rise of the fractional aviation companies. As the airline world hemorrhaged money, the fractionals gained market share and grew in numbers of pilots, aircraft, and revenues. Today, many misconceptions remain about what fractional companies do and what fractional flying is like.

For pilots, one benefit of fractional companies is that fractional growth has continued, even while the airlines downsized in the years following the September 11 attacks. Today, only one fractional company, Flight Options, is reducing the size of its fleet. Most other companies are actively taking deliveries of aircraft. Fractional hiring has driven much of the commercial pilot job market over the past five years.

Fractional companies can best be described as time-share companies that deal in corporate jets rather than real estate. The concept is simple: When a client buys a share (fraction) of a jet, they become entitled to a specific number of flight hours in their jet. In addition to their purchase price, the owner also pays a monthly maintenance fee that covers items such as insurance and crew, and an hourly fee that includes fuel.

Buying a share of an airplane, rather than the whole thing, allows an owner to share costs with other people, just as a flying club allows private and recreational pilots to reduce their costs for a Cessna 172 or Piper Cherokee. The concept of sharing costs makes private jet ownership more affordable for more people.

Shareowners prefer flying their own airplanes to the airlines for many reasons. They can avoid the hassle of government security checkpoints and long lines. Private jets allow travel on the owners schedule rather than an airline schedule, making it possible to travel out of town for a meeting and then back with minimum lost time. Many owners also travel to small airports that are not served by the airlines. Airline service is limited at best to airports such as Houma, Louisiana, Findlay, Ohio, or Key Largo, Florida.

The stability of the fractionals is a big reason that these companies find it easy to attract pilots. Most fractionals have large companies as their backers. Net Jets is owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, which also owns Flight Safety International. Citation Shares is owned by Textron, owner of Cessna, and Tag Aviation. Bombardier, the manufacturer of the Challenger and Lear Jet, owns Flex Jet. Avantair is partnered with Piaggio Aero, manufacturer of the turboprop Piaggio Avanti. Flight Options is a subsidiary of Raytheon, which builds the Beechcraft and Hawker corporate jet lines.

Even manufacturers of smaller aircraft are getting into the fractional business. Alpha Flying operates Plane Sense, a fractional operator of Pilatus PC-12 single-engine turboprops.
Additionally, many pilots find the fractional work rules and quality of life to be superior to that of the traditional airlines. Fractional pilots are typically paid a salary instead of an hourly wage like their airline peers. Fractional pilots typically earn significantly more money than equivalent pilots, particularly those in the regional airlines. Per diem, a daily allowance for expenses while traveling, is also paid at a higher rate for fractional pilots.

Fractional pilots also have more days off than most airline pilots. Most fractional companies use a "seven-on, seven-off" schedule. Pilots are on duty for seven days in a row, then get seven days off. This means that the fractional pilot will get at least fourteen days off each month. Airline contracts typically call for a minimum of 8-10 days off. To get fourteen days off, an airline pilot would have to be very senior in his aircraft and seat.

Additionally, airline pilots have to bid for their schedules each month. This can make it hard to schedule very far in advance, especially if you are junior. The fractional seven-day schedule can be projected far into the future.

A fringe benefit that is not available to airline crews is participation in hotel and airline points programs. Fractional pilots get to keep their airline miles, and they get plenty since they normally are fly as passengers on the airlines to and from their aircraft at the beginning and end of each workweek. Fractional pilots typically pay for their hotel rooms with a credit card and are reimbursed by the company. Therefore, they also get to keep their hotel reward points, as well as any points that their credit card company offers.

Even with these benefits, many pilots are unsure of what the fractional lifestyle entails. It is a very different world from airline flying and most of unsure of what to expect when they make the transition.

Even from the interview, you will notice that fractional companies are different from the airlines. Fractional companies are much more interested in customer service skills than are the airlines. This is because most fractional aircraft do not carry a flight attendant. Therefore, the flight crews are the employees with the most direct contact with the fractional owners. In addition to the normal questions about your flight experience, you are likely to be asked about your customer service background and what you would do if you had an unhappy owner in your aircraft.

Training is not as long as airline training. Indoctrination (Indoc) takes about a week. At Indoc, new hires learn about the company culture, operations rules, and procedures. This week you learn about everything from filling out expense reports to inflating the emergency life raft.
Aircraft training is typically done through a company such as Flight Safety International or CAE Simuflight. Most companies give First Officers, as well as Captains, a type rating in their aircraft. In the airlines, an FO would not normally get a PIC type rating. A type-rating course in a corporate jet typically takes about two weeks, although some aircraft, such as the Citation Sovereign, take longer. Unlike airline ground schools, you can expect to go straight through the course with few, if any, days off. You will probably even have some days with sessions scheduled in both the simulator and the classroom.

After completing initial training, a new hire will go through Initial Operating Experience, or IOE. IOE is actually flying the airplane on the line with a company Check Airman. IOE is typically two tours, or workweeks. While simulator training is good, any jet pilot can tell you that you learn only the basics in the sim. The real learning occurs flying the airplane in the real world under real flight conditions.

Fractional flying is much different than airline flying. A large part of airline flying is to and from central hubs. You see the same airports over and over. Often, you repeat the same three or four day trip every week for a month. In contrast, fractional flying constantly offers something new. I fly into at least one new airport every tour. While we often fly into small reliever airports, I have flown into nearly every major airline airport in the country in my fractional jet.

Fractional pilots also see airports that few, if any, airline pilots ever see. Teterboro, New Jersey is general aviation's answer to La Guardia. Both Teterboro and La Guardia are very high-density traffic airports with complex approach and arrival procedures. Teterboro is the GA gateway to New York City and easily one of the most demanding airports from which I have ever operated. Teterboro is a place that every fractional pilot gets to know well.

Challenging in a different way are the Colorado airports, Aspen and Eagle. These are mountain airports with one way in and out. There is high terrain on all sides and the Rocky Mountain weather can change rapidly.

Fractional airplanes have no real base. They simply float from one airport to another. When one crew goes home, they leave the airplane and another arrives to pick up the plane. Therefore, a fractional tour normally begins with a trip to an airline airport. The company buys the pilot a ticket to wherever their airplane happens to be. Rarely, you might be driven to a local airport if your airplane happens to be nearby.

Since fractionals are not scheduled airlines, there is no typical day. Even if you think you know is happening, your schedule for the day might change if there is a pop-up trip, or if another airplane breaks. The company has notified me via the satellite phone while in flight to change my destination on several occasions.

The crew normally starts the workday with preflight duties. As at most airlines, the FO is responsible for the preflight checks, as well as obtaining the ATIS and clearance. At my company, the captain files the flight plans (since we don't have true dispatchers), checks the weather and NOTAMS, pays for the fuel and FBO fees, and obtains the flight release and paperwork from the company. Additionally, the FO has the very important "PIC" duties of stocking the airplane with papers, ice, and coffee.

Our first flight today is a "position leg," which means that we will not have passengers on board. We will be departing from Fulton County airport on the west side of Atlanta and will pick up our passengers to Orlando Executive airport in Florida. We depart FTY in late afternoon in order to arrive at ORL an hour before our "live leg" with passengers. We even leave a little early because thunderstorms are forecast in the Orlando area. Over half of all fractional flights are position legs with no passengers aboard.

The flight to Orlando takes 1.7 hours. The thunderstorms cost us time, so it's a good thing we left early.

We arrive in Orlando on schedule and start to refuel the airplane. The FO gets local newspapers while the captain orders and pays for the fuel, then calls our dispatcher to get a release for the next leg. The FO also gets the new ATIS and clearance to Tallahassee, Florida. It's a good thing that we are early because our passenger arrives early. The FO loads the passenger's bags while the captain gets the flight release.

Bags loaded, the FO steps into the cockpit to conduct the safety briefing, a flight attendant duty on all but the smallest airliners. At the same time, the captain is starting the engines. When the FO steps into the cockpit, both pilots complete the after start checklist and the FO calls for the taxi clearance.

Like the airlines, fractional pilots take turns flying. Since the captain flew the first leg of the day, the FO flies now. Unlike airliners, which have tillers for ground steering, the Cessna Citation Bravo we are flying is steered with rudder pedals on the ground. Therefore, after completing the taxi checklist, the FO can take control of the airplane and continue the taxi to the runway. Since First Officers do not taxi in the airline world, you might go years without controlling an airplane on the ground.

After waiting a few minutes for our IFR release, we are airborne and on our way to Tallahassee. This flight is planned at 0.9 hours. Since the thunderstorms are mostly east of our route, we will probably be close to an on-time arrival.

As we get the Tallahassee ATIS, we find that the field is IFR due to smoke from forest fires. We set up for the ILS and conduct our approach briefing. In addition to normal items, the captain, the non-flying pilot, calls the FBO with our fuel order and checks on the passenger's ground transportation, a chauffer driven SUV. With visibility at 2 miles in smoke, the approach is uneventful and we land in Tallahassee. The captain completes the after landing checklist while the FO taxies to the FBO.

Upon reaching the FBO, the FO hops up and opens the door. He then runs around to the baggage compartment and offloads the bags. The chauffer drives the SUV up to the airplane and the bags are transferred. The passenger shakes hands with the crew and rides away as the fuel truck pulls up. While the airplane is fueled, the FO restocks the galley with snacks, cleans the passenger cabin, and dumps the trash. The captain pays for the gas and gives the FBO both pilots fuel reward program information.

Our next and last leg of the day is another position leg. This time we are going to Teterboro to position for a flight tomorrow morning. This leg is scheduled at just over two hours. It's our last leg and we are flying for ourselves, so we gas up, get the release, and go.

By the time we get to Teterboro and secure the airplane, it is getting late. We grab a ride in the FBO van to the hotel. Our minimum rest is longer than the minimum airline rest, so we have time to eat and get a good night's sleep. The captain gets a fax from the company with tomorrow's tentative schedule and starts the flight planning after dinner.

Fractional flying is not for everyone, but for those who choose this career path, life is definitely better than at the regional airlines. Company stability, better pay, more days off, and more challenging work are only a few of the reasons that the fractionals are forcing airlines to become more competitive for pilots. While no one knows what the future holds, it is a safe bet that more and more passengers, tired of bad airline service, inconvenient schedules, and long TSA screening lines, will choose to buy a share of their own private aircraft and join other jet-setting fractional owners.