Pack Like a Pro: Toiletries

TSA security checkpoints have had their liquids system in place since 9/11. In the last few years I've noticed the security checkpoints at various airports have become very inconsistent in how strongly they're enforcing this rule. If your ticket says TSA pre-check they want you to go through the pre-check line. I didn't sign up for it, I didn't ask for it but I got it anyway! This is great if you're traveling alone or don't mind separating from your party because odds are not everyone in your party got it and they can't go with you. When you go through this lane (as of 8/2015) you do not have to take off your shoes and you do not have to take out your liquids. This is always a nice perk to get! 

On one occasion I have gone through the regular security line only to have mine merge with TSA pre-check and it became very confusing, very fast. A TSA agent on a power trip was directing people and when I asked if we needed to pull out our liquids he replied, "Did I say you need to pull out your liquids?" Wow... somebody hadn't had their coffee yet! On another occasion I asked an agent and she asked me how much liquids I had. I replied back, "A standard quart size bag." She thought for a moment and said, "Nahhh it'll be fine." I'm in the airport roughly every other month and I never know what to expect when going through the security because it seems to change every day and even different security checkpoints at the same airport are run differently. 

Over the past year I have tried to develop the perfect system for getting your toiletries through security easily while keeping what you need on hand easily accessible. Typically, I fly in the early mornings where I'm rolling out of bed and into the car so I'm doing my morning routine either in the car, in the airport bathroom or on the plane. 

The first thing I bought was this:

I thought it would be perfect. With a million pockets and pouches, everything would have its own place and I would always know where something was. This turned out to be true... unless it tipped over and everything fell out. Which happened a lot. I also found that the size and shape made it hard to pull out of my carry on bag easily and anything sticking out of a pouch got caught on my bag. This made it through one trip until it got the boot.

In my efforts to be ready for anything when it comes to security checkpoints, I always have a liquids bag ready for removal and my current toiletry system is in three bags. 

1. Liquids Bag:

This is the current bag and bottle set I use for liquids. All of my required liquids fit in this little guy. The tubes have held up quite well but the bag stopped sealing properly after about 6 months of heavy use. 

2. Essential Toiletries

I have a small pencil pouch sized bag that has everything I really need for traveling and the things I usually need quick access to like chapstick, makeup and contacts.

3. Non-essential Toiletries

This is a slightly larger bag that contains everything else. I always try to get this bag in my backpack but sometimes it ends up in my roller bag. It contains things like a little hair brush, makeup remover wipes and bobby pins.

These bags also contain all of the items I usually keep in my purse so I don't normally take my purse with me when I travel. I opt for a wristlet, mini crossbody or my husband's pockets :) 

Aussieland Day Eight: Non-Revving Cairns-Sydney-Honolulu-Los Angeles-Seattle

Our last day in Australia put us in a very interesting non-rev situation. The night before we left Cairns, we tried to check in for our flight from Sydney to LAX only to find out the entire flight had been cancelled. Not only were we not going to get on but 200+ people who had actual tickets for that flight were now being rebooked on every other possible option we had to get home.

We got up extra early to take the first flight to Sydney we possible could in hopes that we could catch an earlier flight that other passengers may not have been aware of. What we didn't account for was landing in Sydney's domestic terminal and trying to get to the international terminal. I've never been to an airport where you had to buy a ticket to take a bus from one terminal to the other. The bus didn't run very often, it stopped in a bunch of places along the way and we ended up missing the first flight.

Take me with you!

We sat in the airport for 12 hours trying to hop any flight that would get us back to the west coast but everything was well overbooked. We racked our brains and tried to find any flight on any airline that would move us in the right direction. Finally, that evening, we got tickets from Sydney to Honolulu. We were told that because of the flight being cancelled there were people displaced for days, so somehow this flight to Honolulu must have gotten overlooked!

We made it to Honolulu the next morning, went through customs and out of security, grabbed our next set of standby tickets and went right back through security. I got in a couple of deep breaths of sweet tropical air before getting right back on a plane bound for Los Angeles. From Los Angeles we were able to catch the next flight to Seattle and we were home that evening. Overall, it took 30 hours to get home. I was exhausted and in dire need of a shower but we made it! Breaking up the journey by traveling through Honolulu was really nice and I recommend it to anyone who's feeling a little leery about a 14 hour flight to Sydney from LAX!

Aussieland Day Seven: Cairns

Our last full day in Australia ended up being my absolute favorite day of the entire trip. We woke up in the morning, grabbed our swimsuits and towels and headed to the marina. Just past the lagoon at the end of the boardwalk is the marina where there are tons of boats just waiting to take you out on an adventure! We booked an all day snorkeling and diving expedition on the great barrier reef with Reef Experience. They were well priced, they feed you a great lunch and their staff was warm and friendly. We rented an underwater camera. They had a photographer on board taking photos but it was a large group for just one photographer and we really wanted our own camera. They also sold pouches to make your phone waterproof which would be a good slightly cheaper option.

We spent the morning in one reef spot and then retreated to the boat for shade and lunch while they took us to a second reef spot. We both took an introductory dive which was absolutely amazing! If you've ever thought about trying to scuba dive, you can't go wrong with the Great Barrier Reef!

One thing the staff did not go over was what kind of things you would see. We saw tons of different kinds of fish and we know there are turtles but unfortunately, we didn't see any. However, we did see a black tip reef shark. He wasn't huge by any means, about 3-4 feet long at most and skinny. It was startling to see and it definitely got my heart racing!

It was a full day at sea and I had the sunburn to prove it. If you ever have the chance to go to Australia, the great barrier reef is an absolute MUST! I discovered diving wasn't really my thing but I love to snorkel and reef is so shallow that snorkeling gets you a front row seat to incredibly diverse and colorful sea life.

Aussieland Day Six: Cairns

We woke up in the morning and headed to a village up in the rainforest called Kuranda. What I love about this village is the way you get to it- by gondola. We had a couple of morning times to choose from and I highly recommend picking the earliest one! There's actually quite a lot to see up there and the village shuts down by mid-afternoon so go early!

The gondola ride provided awesome views as you headed up the side of the mountain and into lush rainforest. We opted for a glass bottom gondola so we could see the tops of the trees below our feet! They offer a couple of stops to get off at and explore a little and they have guides there to tell you about the plants and wildlife.

We saw the biggest spider I will probably ever see in my life. His body was about the size of my palm and his legs could've easily covered my entire face. It was terrifying and awesome all at the same time. If you have an extreme fear of spiders, just don't look up!

One of the main reasons I wanted to trek up to this little village is I had heard that somewhere in that village, you can hold a koala bear. I wasn't disappointed! At the Kuranda Koala Gardens you can hold a koala bear, feed kangaroos and see all kinds of other wildlife. It's not cheap to hold a koala bear but it's a once in a lifetime experience that I was more than willing to pay for!

After going through the koala gardens, we did a little souvenir shopping, grabbed lunch and headed down to the train. You can take a gondola back down or you can take a vintage train back down. My husband and I wavered a bit and considered taking a gondola back down (we're not big into trains and they have no air conditioning) but ultimately decided to take the train for the experience. If you're into trains and a slow, scenic route, this is for you. If you're not that into trains and all you want is A/C after being hot and sticky in the rainforest all day, take the gondola.

By the time we made it back to our hotel it was about time for dinner. We changed, headed to the boardwalk and sat down at one of the many amazing restaurants to eat at. We were feeling pretty adventurous so we ordered what the restaurant called "Hop, Skip, Jump and Swim" which was four of the most Australian meats you can eat- Kangaroo, Emu, Crocodile and Burrumundu (white fish). The emu was our favorite! After dinner we took another walk through the night market to pick up a few souvenirs for home.

Aussieland Day Five: Cairns

When we woke up in the morning we took our rental car back to the airport and hopped the first flight to Cairns. We boarded an A320 that had no first class or business class, just rows and rows of coach! I had never seen anything like it!

It was a 3 hour flight and we admittedly slept most of the way there. When we landed we felt as though we had definitely arrived in a magical, tropical location. The air was humid and we were surrounded by lush rainforest. The airport was small and only 10 minutes from town. We took a taxi to our hotel and the people behind the front desk showed us that everything in and around town was less than a 15 minute walk away.

We walked down the boardwalk and had pizza at a local restaurant. The boardwalk was high above the beach and there were ladders every so often to get down to the beach below. However, a local informed us that the beach if off limits due to crocodiles and to go hang out at the lagoon instead. I've seen beaches closed down due to jellyfish and a shark sighting but never crocodiles!

What Cairns lacks in beaches, it more than makes up for with the Esplanade Lagoon! It's a giant, shallow, warm, salt water pool that is right on the boardwalk and is open to everyone for free. You can lay on grass or sand and there are plenty of trees for escapes from the ozone free sun.

As the sun started to go down, we headed back to our hotel, changed and headed back out for a night on this little town. I had been warned about bats but I was still unprepared for just how many bats and how loud they would be!

There's a casino nearby if that's your kind of thing but we spent our evenings at the Night Market. It is a partially outdoor market filled with vendors for everything you could imagine. If you ever wondered where you could get every souvenir imaginable, dinner, a massage and dessert for very little money- this is the place! We spent every evening we had in Cairns exploring this market, it was so much fun!

Aussieland Day Four: Melbourne

After a very late night with the penguins, we awoke early with an hour drive ahead of us to meet our helicopter pilot. Yes, oh yes, we were headed to see the 12 Apostles! I should point out that in Australia they refer to them as simply the Apostles because there are no longer 12 of them and there haven't been 12 for decades. And they will get annoyed and correct you. Every. Time.

We hit the road and made our way from the east side of the bay to the west. Most people who head out to see the Apostles drive and make it a day trip or rent a camper van. It takes about 3-4 hours to drive out to them making for a 6-8 hour round trip. You can also take a day trip by tour bus. My husband and I were on a very tight schedule so we opted to take a helicopter instead! It was definitely our splurge of the trip but our helicopter tour was completely private and it only took 2 hours round trip.

We arrived at the rustic Geelong airfield and our pilot came running out to meet us. I set up this adventure entirely by e-mail due to international calling and the time difference. They were flexible, answered all of my questions completely and were just so great to work with- thank you Geelong Helicopters!

We had a great chat on the way there and back with our pilot about all the differences in the English language and what they call things vs. what we call things. He made a few passes over the apostles and made sure we got all the photos we wanted before he headed back.

Currently, there are four apostles and the ocean waves continue to erode the stone around the base until eventually they fall over into the ocean. Our pilot told us in just a few decades there probably won't be any left.

After landing, the pilot pointed us towards the nearest beach and town with some recommendations for lunch. We set out to downtown Barwon Heads and wandered Hitchcock Ave. We ate at an adorable little restaurant called BeachHouse and found this great unique smoothie joint planted on a little hill of grass between buildings. After some wandering we set out to see some of the beaches! We drove to Raffs Beach and although it was a bit cold and windy it was nice to enjoy the sand. There were lots of spots where you could drive your car right down to the beach and have your own little cove to yourself.

By the time we made it back to our hotel we were starving for dinner and decided we wanted one more taste of the amazing burgers over at Dandenong Pavilion. They did not disappoint although there was quite a wait for dinner! When we got back to our hotel after dinner we melted into the bed. Knowing we had an early flight to Cairns in the morning we were asleep within minutes.

Aussieland Day Three: Melbourne

On day three we woke up fairly early and decided to check out of our hostel early. We headed to the airport and were off to Melbourne! Melbourne (pronounced Mel-bin) was on my list of cities to see for two reasons: Phillip Island and the 12 Apostles.

When we landed we found ourselves instantly surrounded with a sea of people of China. What I didn't realize was that we had decided to travel on Chinese New Year and Australia is an extremely popular vacation destination from people in China! We found a payphone in baggage claim and called our hotel to let them know we were coming in early (to which they replied "no worries" because Australians are awesome like that). In all of our last minute scrambling and planning I did not secure us a car rental in Melbourne which turned out to be a bit of a hassle. We were able to finally secure a car rental from an off-site rental place. Truthfully, we lucked out. Big time!

Once we secured our rental car we headed off to our hotel! We stayed in the Dandenong suburbs of Melbourne. I was hesitant about driving in Australia so I didn't want to stay too close to downtown and I wanted easy access to the freeways to get to our major destinations. Driving a right hand drive vehicle on the left side of the road was terrifying for the first 10 minutes, stressful for the first half hour and an absolute blast after that!

Once we made it to our hotel we were starving for lunch! We did a quick search for local places to eat and ended up at Dandenong Pavilion. What we didn't realize was we stumbled upon the best little burger joint we've ever been to. Seriously. They were voted best burgers in Australia and they even have a secret burger menu. We loved this place so much we ate here twice in the two days we were in Melbourne! We had an awesome chat with the waitress who told us about all the local events going on and she said she loved our American accents (but I think we loved your Aussie accent more)!

After lunch we headed out to Phillip Island for the Penguin Parade. The penguin parade is a nightly occurrence that happens year round in Melbourne. Every night at dusk dozens of penguins come out of the ocean and make their way up the beach and into their burrows. They have grandstands that sell out often and fill up early! We chose to pay a little more and do the Aboriginese Heritage Tour. It gave us reserved front row seats, a little bit of background information on the area and access to another reserved area for an extended up close viewing of the penguins. We weren't allowed to take photos so you'll just have to trust me when I say it was a once in a lifetime opportunity!

Picture courtesy of visitphillipisland.com

Aussieland Day Two: Sydney

With the 19 hour time difference we were awake bright and early on our first full day in Sydney. We were out and exploring before most businesses were open, found a cute fountain down the street from our hostel and headed back to the Harbour.

We went into the Royal Botanical Garden which is free to enter and explore and is a nice big park where lots of people go running and do yoga. We passed by what looked like a very skinny pine tree with shore branches and up high in the top of the tree were three wild white cockatoos.

The gardens loop back around to the backside of the opera house so we made our way around the harbour and over to the bridge where we had schedule a Bridge Climb! This was one thing I've always dreamed of doing. They put you in jumpsuits and harnesses and attach you to cables that go all the way up and around the bridge. It was a very wet experience to remember as our time slot conveniently fell during a passing rainstorm.

After the bridge climb we had worked up an appetite and someone recommended we go check out Chinatown so we hopped the train for a few stops and headed to Chinatown. We stepped out of our comfort zone and ate at a restaurant where our waiter spoke very little English. I was a little nervous but the food was delicious! 

After lunch we hopped the train and then a bus to the famous Bondi Beach. It was a little cold and windy so we didn't stay for long but we did see a surfer or two! 

That night we found a great little sushi bar downtown for dinner and decided we were going to leave the next morning for Melbourne. Onward and upward!

Aussieland Day One: Sydney

After nearly missing our flight from LAX to Sydney due to a visa issue we were so thankful just to get on the flight. We were both in middle seats in row 50 but ended up being able to switch some seats around to sit next to each other. The 14 hour flight was long but bearable thanks to a few essentials: a good travel pillow, ear plugs and an OTC sleep aid. When we arrived in Sydney it was about 8:30 am local time and we hit the ground running. Sydney has an amazing transportation system that is easy and convenient. Trains leave straight from the airport to tons of different destinations. I downloaded an app with the Sydney rail map so I knew exactly which rails we would need to take when we got there.

We found the hotels in Sydney to be extremely expensive so we stayed in a hostel instead. We had never stayed in a hostel before and it's certainly not for everyone but we spent very little time actually in the room so we didn't mind it much. The hostel we stayed in was directly across from the Kings Cross station. This made it very convenient to get from place to place (especially since we were pulling luggage) however if we were to stay in Sydney again I would choose a different area. It wasn't the nicest part of town and there were a few too many strip clubs on the street for my taste.

When we arrived at the hostel our room wasn't ready yet but we were able to leave our things and change. We packed important essentials in our backpack since there wasn't a safe and off we went! We went straight to the harbour to check out the bridge and the opera house. One of the things we really loved about Sydney is they have water bottle refill stations everywhere! We never had to buy drinks and we just kept refilling our bottle everyday. After a quick lunch by the water we hopped a ferry to the famous Manly Beach. The ferry gave us a great view of the opera house and harbour bridge. Manly beach was beautiful! The beach itself was quite large and people were able to really spread out and relax.

My husband's wallet popped out of his back pocket as we were taking our shoes off and we didn't notice it missing until a couple of hours later as we were heading back to the ferry. We retraced our steps and combed the beach in a little bit of a panic. Thankfully the lifeguard was holding onto it! Even more thankfully, all of the cash and cards were still there. Australians are awesome.

After catching the ferry boat back from Manly beach we were on a quest for Kangaroo pizza and boy did we find it! We wandered over to the Australian Heritage Hotel where we found good food, good beer and good company!

Non-Revving: Not for the feint of heart

One of the amazing perks of being married to a pilot is taking advantage of the flight benefits. You get to fly anywhere in the world at heavily discounted prices depending on the agreement your husband's airline has with the airline you're trying to fly on. Every airline is different and has different rules so being prepared is key. The major downfall of being able to fly this way is that you have to fly standby. No guaranteed seat. We have been stranded and it has been a nail biter on more than one occasion but overall we've gotten pretty lucky so far.

A few weeks ago my husband and I returned from 10 days in Australia! I'll go over our trip in a few posts simply because there was so much to see and do. We were able to get on our first choice for almost every flight and we flew a lot getting there and then getting around the country as well. We almost didn't make our flight from LAX to SYD because of a visa issue that we spent close to two hours sorting out with a very patient and amazing gate agent. We almost didn't make our flight from SYD to Melbourne because of a very tight security protocol and a small bottle of sunscreen we forgot we had purchased in Sydney. Our flight from SYD to LAX was cancelled, displacing us and 200+ paying passengers. We didn't make three more flights after that due to the cancellation causing us to get a little creative. After spending the entire day in the airport we took a late night flight to Honolulu, hopped the very next flight out to LAX and then finally returned to SEA after 32 hours of traveling!

While it was stressful and cost us a little bit of time, non-revving is the only reason we could afford to go to Australia at all. We flew SEA-LAX-SYD-MEL-CNS-SYD-HNL-LAX-SEA and we never would have been able to afford all of those flights! Allowing for extra time is key and know your other options and where those gates are because you could be waiting for hours and it could come down to changing flights at the last minute and running to your gate. Also, keep in mind that the fastest route to your destination might not be the most direct route. When we took the flight from SYD to Honolulu we had grand ideas in our head about being able to take a direct flight from Honolulu to Seattle because there are so many of those! When we arrived we found that our chances of getting on any of those direct flights were slim and we had much better odds going from Honolulu to LAX and then from LAX to Seattle. It took longer but we would've rather gotten on the flights we knew we could then sit around and set ourselves up to get stranded.

Non-revving requires a lot of flexibility and I am a major planner. So instead of having one plan and panicking when it falls through, I have several. When your first plan doesn't work out you could miss out on your second plan trying to look up the next flight because it might be leaving minutes after the first one. Knowing all of your options and having them all written down will keep the stress level down!

P.S. Overseas they call you staffers or staff travel instead of non-revs :)

Private Pilot Flight School: Financials

Are you ready for some hard truth?
Flight school is crazy expensive.
Like private university expensive.

In my last post I talked about how holding a job is a really bad idea for pilots first starting out but it's also very expensive. Your best bet is to scrimp, save, live on ramen, take on roommates, donate plasma, do whatever you need to do in order to avoid holding a job that will interfere with training. To cut down on costs DH started his training at a community college. Even though the program was through the University, it was significantly cheaper and more comparable to community college pricing. However, for every hour you fly a plane, you're renting it. And that adds up fast. The farther along you get in your training the type of plane you have to rent changes and becomes more expensive.

We were extremely lucky in that DH's parents agreed to pay for 2 years of his 4 year degree. They let us choose which two years so we chose the last two years since we knew they would be more expensive, and then instead of holding a job he worked his butt off and completed his degree in 3 years, so we only ended up paying for that first year when we were at a community college. We managed to graduate debt free and while I don't know the exact percentage I can tell you we were in the extreme minority on that one. Most of our pilot friends that had little to no assistance graduated college with roughly 100-110k of debt. They currently make mortgage sized monthly payments towards their student loans.

We were also extremely lucky that we had each other. We weren't married until we both finished college but we were already depending on each other financially. After I completed my first year at the community college I took my degree completely online which allowed me to hold an almost full time job. It was a typical college student job and it didn't pay much. The best way I can describe how we managed to graduate debt free is we got really good at being poor. I coupon clipped, got creative with my cooking and leftovers never went to waste. Trips to a sit-down restaurant were far and few-between, only allowed for the most special of occasions and only if there was a coupon or deal.

Knowing that our lifestyle was only temporary helped us embrace it. Every month I would try to out do myself in how much I could save or how little I could spend. You have to make it fun, make it a competition, make it a game. Dream big about where you will be when you get there and know that the flight school portion is just a stepping stone to get there.

Private Pilot Flight School Training: Weather and Flexibility

At the very beginning of flight training, with 0 flight hours under his belt, DH had a ton of limitations as far as what kind of weather he was allowed to fly in. Weather plays a huge factor in whether or not your flight is cancelled. As you gain certifications and ratings you're allowed to fly in different weather conditions but it takes many many hours to get to that point. His first year of training took place in Eastern Washington which can be known for wind and rain, especially in the Fall. Which isn't the greatest time to be starting out as a pilot, I'd like to point out.

Since he chose to do his flight training through a university there was a curriculum that corresponded with his flights and he was expected to schedule those flights with his instructor and keep up accordingly. There are pros and cons to this but it was difficult to keep up for the first two years simply because weather is unpredictable and fog, rain, a breeze or simply low clouds is enough to cancel a private pilot's flight.

So when DH first started his training, holding a job was not an option. He was part of the University of North Dakota satellite program which was a rigid university structured curriculum with the smaller class sizes of a community college. Since our first year in college was spent at a community college many of our classmates were working while going to school at the same time.  I won't sugar coat it- the majority of his classmates didn't make it past the first year because they fell so far behind.

Flexibility in your schedule is absolutely key when it comes to getting flight hours. Trying to hold a job while doing flight training generally leads to flight training becoming an expensive hobby. Every flight hour is crucial and when your schedule is limited it will lengthen your training time exponentially. DH did flight training for 3 years and held a part time job flight instructing for the last 6 months of his training. However, he didn't take summers off like most students did. It was more common to see training last the full 4 years, with most students also holding a job flight instructing for the last year of their training. 

While there are many different routes to obtaining flight training, we chose the college option because we were right out of a high school and it was a natural next step and because many airlines now require their pilots have a 4 year degree. By going this route he was able to knock out both at the same time. Also, since UND is one of the top flight schools in the country, it looks pretty good on a resume too. 

Learning to Fly by the Seat of your Pants

I am a former control freak. I did not roll well with sudden changes. I did not like surprises. Actually, I still don't like surprises. I am less of a control freak than I used to be but now I'd like to just call myself a "planner". I used to have a plan and if things did not go according to that plan I rarely handled it well. It has taken me years to evolve into someone who can simply go with the flow and I can think of a few moments in particular that have forced me to let go a little.

When we lived in Spokane and DH was first attending flight school he would regularly come home two-three hours late. Dinner had long gone cold and any date night plans were broken. I found myself getting upset with him on a regular basis over circumstances he couldn't control. Growing up I had one of those classic cat posters in my room that said, "If you can't change a situation, change how you feel about it." I woke up one morning thinking about that poster and realized that if I couldn't learn to let go over what time we had dinner at I would never survive this industry.

When we graduated college and moved home I thought we were home for good. We were saving up for a down payment on a house and I was constantly perusing listings and crunching numbers to see what we could afford. I was so excited to be planting roots. Then this flight instructing opportunity kind of fell into our laps. While it sucked emotionally, and the last thing that I wanted to do was move again, logically it just made sense and it was too good of an opportunity to say no to. It felt like a major step backward because it meant putting off buying a house indefinitely with no timeline for when we could come back. But looking back it was a huge step in the right direction for his career and we wouldn't be anywhere close to where we are today without that opportunity.

Finally, when DH started working for an airline my favorite perk of being a pilot's wife kicked in. The flight benefits. Depending on the agreements with certain airlines you either fly for free or for a small fee which is usually the cost of taxes. However, these flight benefits never guarantee you a seat on a certain flight, you fly standby. You are given a seat if they have any open and after they've already given seats to everyone in front of you on the standby list. So if the flight is full you have to wait for a flight that is open. I've heard of families being stranded in an airport for two days before getting a flight out. So far, we have gotten extremely lucky in that we've been able to play our cards right and, for the most part, get the flight we wanted. Sometimes we sat together and sometimes we didn't. We've had some very close calls where the flight was full and we almost didn't get on but at the last minute someone didn't show up. It can be very stressful and I am still learning how to let go and trust that we'll get to wherever we're going but it may not be right away. I am also still learning not to make plans in our destination based on getting on the first flight!

I'm still a little bit of a control freak. And I still always have a plan. But I also always have a plan B, C, D and E.

Regional Airlines: Seniority and Bases

DH has been on with a regional airline for a little over two years now. There is a lot going on within the system and a heck of a lot to learn, but I think after two years I might actually have it down to a science.

The first thing you have to know about any airline is that everything is based on seniority. Airlines have thousands of pilots as employees with the only main interaction being between the first officer, the captain, the flight attendants and the gate agents. While the captain has the ultimate say as to what goes on in the airplane, he's not really "the boss". The actual bosses are managing hundreds of pilots at once and rarely know your name. While I think it's refreshing to watch an industry where the majority of the employees govern themselves and truly work together as a team, this does mean that promotions and base transfers are never based on merit and you can't really ask for a raise. Everything is earned based on the amount of time you've been with the company.

With DH's airline they have a constant bidding system where you can put in a request to be upgraded from first officer to captain or request to change bases or airplanes. Since it's based on seniority this means that someone with higher seniority than you can bump you down on the request list even if you put in your bid first. However, if you've been granted a base and later someone with higher seniority wants into the same base they can't bump you out of the base. But when a slot in your base does open up they'll still have more seniority than you.

Now let's talk about bases for a minute. In every airline they have a list of everywhere their pilots can be based out of. Bases in high demand that don't have very many pilots new to the company are called senior bases. Bases where all the new guys usually get sent to are called junior bases. The order of bases from senior to junior changes occasionally due to demand and it isn't open or common knowledge to anyone not with the airline. When we were researching airlines and saw that DH's airline had a Seattle base, we had no idea if it was something he could get right away or if it was something we would be waiting forever for. After getting into the airline and taking a look at all the people who wanted into Seattle we had estimated it was going to take about five years before he could get based where we live. BUT! It's been two years and he'll be transferred to Seattle next month. Things change, bases have expanded while other bases close. If there's one thing I can guarantee about this industry it's that there are no guarantees.

Getting Hired by an Airline

When it comes to job interviews I always tell myself that it has to be a good fit for both parties. The interview isn't just about the company trying to see if you're a right fit for the job, it's also about you trying to see if this company, job, schedule and work environment is the right fit for you too.

When you get hired on by an airline you immediately enter into this ladder of seniority that determines your schedule, where you're based and how much you're paid. So when you commit to an airline you want to make sure you've made the most informed choice possible because if you decide in a year or two that you want to switch companies, you start all over.

We researched every single airline listed on airlinepilotcentral.com (which I highly recommend and still consult weekly). You can view pay rates, if they're currently hiring and what their requirements are, how many airplanes they have of each type and where all of their bases are. The list of bases was the top priority that determined which airline was going to be the best one for our family.

When DH had his final interview with the airline of his dreams we were still living in Phoenix. We had been there about a year longer than I had planned and I was doing my best not to get my hopes up. I was in Seattle staying at my parent's house, working and helping out with the family business while my sister-in-law was on maternity leave. DH and I had decided not to tell anyone about his interview in our efforts to keep the pressure off of him.

The day my nephew was born was also the day DH found out he had been hired. He didn't want to tell me over the phone and made me wait until we could Skype that evening. I was exhausted from being at the hospital all day but quickly found myself bouncing with excitement and unable to go to sleep. My mom stayed at the hospital overnight to help out with the baby and came home the next morning emotionally exhausted and confused as to why I was beaming and could not sit still. I'll never forget the moment I told my mom we were finally coming home, for good.

The Route We Choose

There are so many ways to get from student pilot to professional pilot. There are different end goals and different routes to get there. At every crossroads we weighed our options and chose the shortest road even if it was toughest, which may not work for everyone.

My husband and I were born and raised in the suburbs of Seattle. After graduating high school in 2006 we moved to Spokane where we both attended a community college. My dream program was at this school and it just so happened that the University of North Dakota (his dream school) had a satellite commercial aviation program at the same community college. We spent a year in Spokane and then transferred to UND, packed our bags and moved to the eastern border of North Dakota in a very small college town called Grand Forks. We spent two years in North Dakota before graduating with our bachelor degrees. Before you wonder how on earth we walked away with bachelor degrees after 3 years, let me explain. My husband was smart enough to do running start in high school so when he graduated from high school in 2006 he already had an associate's degree. I transferred my schooling completely online when we moved, took more than a full time student's load and always took a full load during the summer.

After graduating from college in 2009, I decided I didn't care much for the frigid cold and missed home. We moved back to Seattle in the prime of the recession and struggled to find jobs. No one was hiring and those that were wanted way more experience than we had. For 6 months my husband searched for work flight instructing before he finally got on with a company. Only to find out it was part time and offered very little flight time for the amount of ground time put in. We started to expand our search and after living back in Seattle for a year we packed our bags again and this time we headed south to Phoenix, Arizona. My husband got on with a flight school, full time salaried position. We were well aware that salary meant he was going to be working hard, long hours, and he was. But he got the flight hours he needed and I don't think he could have done it anywhere else in that short of time.

Currently, the FAA requires any commercial pilot to have an ATP rating. This rating requires a minimum of 1500 flight hours. Which means the days of pilots being hired straight out of college are long over. My husband graduated from UND with roughly 300 hours and wasn't hired on with a regional airline until he had 1800 hours.

At the time that he was looking to get on with a regional airline, the ATP rule had not yet been implemented. The minimum amount of hours required was 1000 hours, which he had after working at the flight school in Phoenix for a year. He started applying to airlines right away but had his eyes set on a very specific airline for quite a few reasons. It took another year for the entire process to take place but finally in Fall of 2012 he became a regional commercial airline pilot at the airline he always wanted. I'll never forget the crazy chaos of that time and how happy we were to be able to move home.

The last two years of living the life of a regional airline pilot's wife has been a completely new experience that nothing can really prepare you for. But hopefully my experience won't leave you as in the dark about it all as I was.