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.
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Saturday, February 21, 2015
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.
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.
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
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.
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.
Friday, February 13, 2015
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.
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.
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