What You Should Know

Most of you who follow or have just started following this amazing blog are either already in training, or at least considering it. I was once in the same situation, but I had never really thought about how life would be on the other end. In other words, what is life really like once you land that first job? This will differ greatly depending on your age, previous experiences, personal circumstances, and also what you're expecting out of it.

It is important to mention that I only base what I say on my own experiences, and I reserve the right to change my views of how things are in a few years, since things change so rapidly.

There are a variety of factors that determine how good or bad this job can be, and one of them is of course finance. Many centuries ago, airlines used to sponsor young hopefuls, and where there weren't cadets, there would be a pool of ex-military pilots that needed a job when they were too old and wrinkly to pull 8Gs in an RAF Tornado. Recruitment was never a problem. However, since the economic downturn, and the relentless growth of Low Cost Carriers, we've seen the pool of ex-military pilots reduce, and a wave of self-sponsored pilots flooding the industry. Pilot recruitment has changed dramatically.

Nowadays, the airlines have pushed the financial burden of training onto their cadets, costing anywhere between £20,000 to £30,000, sometimes more for a Type Rating. And that's not to mention having to cover personal expenses during the training period. The world of pilot recruitment is now an industry of its own. Let's be honest, no one likes this, especially after paying upwards of £90,000 on the Ab-Initio training. Unfortunately, we have to accept that this won't be going away anytime soon.

The contracts are also not what they used to be. I am paid by the hour which puts me in a good position since I am working out of the largest base in the network, but the same can't be said for people in smaller bases where the income can be very seasonal. It does also mean that I am reluctant to play certain contact sports, seeing as a loss of my medical fitness would mean that my bank account would look just as bad as the injury. I almost forgot to mention that joining a LCC will mean that you will most likely have to bring your own food and water to work, and pay for your own uniform. Reheatable food containers come in handy.

But an opportunity is an opportunity. I think that it is only logical to go for an airline that will relieve you of a further £20-£30k for training as your first choice. And if you can go for an airline sponsored Cadet Programme or even an MPL scheme from the beginning, then by all means do it for that peace of mind, knowing that you'll have that job at the end of the tunnel.

So what about the lifestyle? Surely after all that hard work that you'd be rewarded with layovers with a hoard of beautiful cabin crew knocking on your hotel room at 2am, free first class meals, a limo ride to and from the airport, and a free apartment... Well not quite, and believe it or not, these don't necessarily mean happiness at work (although they all do sound quite appealing)

I think that the lifestyle is something that isn't carefully considered by a lot of people, and I personally believe that it is one of the most important factors. I again, count myself lucky to be based in London Stansted; I live at the doorstep to London, where the vast majority of my closest friends are, and I only need to drive an hour and a half further out to see my family and girlfriend. The 5/4 roster makes all of this an ideal situation. But the same can't be said if you have a family at home, and you need to suddenly move away with no idea of when you can expect to return. This is unfortunately all part of the deal. Unless you are very lucky, then you are going to have to accept that being away for extended periods of time, or even relocating permanently is a necessity.

I've met a lot of naysayers, and some extremely negative people already in this industry. You don't exactly need to dig far on pprune to find some horrendous testimonials. For me, I can only think about the positives: The learning and experience building is unrivalled, the roster is great, I get to see my closest friends and family regularly. But most importantly, I have a job!
It's very easy for people to get bogged down and focus on the negative aspects, so much so that they forget how far they've come, and what they've achieved so far. 

I would always say to people that I speak to at open days that this isn't something that anyone should do unless they really want to do this. This isn't a case of just having a go. A lot of sacrifices need to be made, from the moment that first deposit is handed to your Flight Training Organisation, to the day you retire will be years of perseverance. This isn't a debt, it's a mortgage. If you really are passionate enough for the job, then you will deal with any of the challenges thrown your way.

When you do make it through, make up your own mind about how things are. Don't ever let another person tell you how it is, or how it should be. Have an open mind, and enjoy the ride. In either case, whether you like how things are or not, it's all about getting your foot through the door in the beginning. And like with any job, the more experience you get, the more valuable you will become in the long run, and that will only be a good thing. 

Regardless of the politics behind this industry, we can all agree that everything is worth it when you get to experience views like this:

It's all worth it

Good luck and stay positive.

A Day In the Life Of...

Alarm blasts off at 04:00Z, on goes the uniform (usually after a 5 minute snooze) I escape downstairs to the bathroom, brush my teeth, splash my face, gel my hair and apply some moisturiser (very important before spending the day in a 0% humidity pressurised tube). I then pour myself a glutinous portion of Nature Valley Cereal, accompanied by a strong coffee, and then sit myself down to eat in front of BBC news 24, or sometimes Sky News to mix things up. I check the weather at Stansted and my destination(s) and alternates for the day, this makes my day a lot less stressful. Once I'm done with my morning routine, I check, double, triple, and quadruple check that I have all that I need, being the work iPad, ID, licence, passport and food that I have prepared the night before, and it's out the door and into my car for the 10 minute drive to the Airport.

After a violent battle to find a parking space, followed by a groping at security, I finally make it to the crew room. I search on a computer to find out where my aircraft is, then sign a register where I also find out my workstation. It is then an Assassin's Creed style walk through the room to find my assigned work station, where I meet the Captain and Cabin Crew. First Officers usually get there first to do all of the paperwork. Personally, I like to leave at least an hour a half just so that I can look through everything and relax before the Captain arrives. The ultimate goal after checking the flight plan, weather and NOTAMs is to decide on the amount of fuel to take. Potential go-arounds and extra holding fuel need to be considered and discussed with the Captain when he/she arrives.

The calm before the storm

We then introduce ourselves to the cabin crew and brief them about the day ahead. After a concise discussion and sometimes a few jokes, it's a brisk walk to the aircraft, which can be conveniently parked outside the crew room, or if you are really lucky, a cross-continental hike to the other side of the airport through wind, rain, sleet, snow.

From the moment we jump on board, it is all go go go. I usually start the day as Pilot Flying, which means that I will do the preflight checks in the flight deck for the first sector. The Captain (Pilot Monitoring) will perform the exterior inspection. Once he's satisfied that the aircraft is airworthy, he makes his way back to the flight deck for me to brief him on the departure and we complete the Before Start Checklist together.

Once all the checks have been completed, and the doors are closed, I grab push and start clearance. Upon our clearance for push and start, the Captain will then liaise with the ground crew to ensure the tug is connected and the pushback can commence.

As the aircraft is pushing back, we begin the elegant process of waking up engine no.2 then no.1 in sequence. There's always a sense of empowerment in being able to start a couple of 26,000lb powered pieces of incredible engineering. 
Once push back is complete, the captain sets the parking brake and clears the ground crew to disconnect the tug, and once clear we begin the Before Taxi Procedure and Checklist. I then call for taxi clearance and we're rolling away.

Eventually we get to the holding point of our departure runway. At some point after a short wait behind departing and/or arriving traffic, we are cleared by tower to line up and wait or take off, We simultaneously line up onto the departure runway and complete our Before Takeoff checks. When we are cleared for take off, the Captain hands over control of the thrust levers, and I advance them to an N1 setting that is just above 40%. When both engines have stabilised at the same N1 setting, the Captain calls "stabilised", I then push the TOGA switches and just follow the thrust levers as they advance to the preset take off thrust, feeling the bottom of my seat pushing onto my buttocks. Once take off thrust is set, the Captain calls "Take off thrust set, indications normal" and takes control of the thrust levers while I place both hands on the control column, and feet on the rudders to keep the aircraft on the centreline as it rockets down the runway. Passing 80Kts, the Captain calls "80kts", I respond with "Check", to let him know that our instruments are reading correctly, and that I am still breathing. Once the aircraft reaches V1, the decision speed, the Captain will call "V1", and at Vr, he calls "Rotate", at which point I pull back on the control column, aiming to lift the nose up at a rate of about 2 degrees/second, until the main gear lifts off and we climb away from the earth. From here, it is a busy period of configuring the aircraft, after take-off checks, and a lot of frequency changes and clearances until we are clear of the London TMA. 

The best departures are southbound on a clear winter morning, when the lights of London are clearly visible. Then the climb and crossing over the English Channel, watching the sky turn from red to orange as the sun emerges on the horizon.

During cruise, the Pilot Monitoring will do paperwork on the flight plan, and the Pilot Flying will monitor the aircraft. This is a good time to have some food and drink. It is also a great opportunity to simply admire the glorious views; from clear sunsets and sunrises, to cruising over the snow covered mountain tops of The Alps. This relaxing period of course varies in length. If it is a Stansted to Dublin and back, then there is just about enough time for a sandwich since the cruise period is so short, and even the paperwork needs to be completed in the climb.

Usually at about 100 nautical miles from the Top of Descent, we begin to prepare and brief for our approach to our destination airfield, and of course a nice PA to our passengers. Every airport has its own challenges, some can be straight forward, where you have really helpful ATC, a straight forward arrival with no surprises, and a long runway for that greasy landing. Other times, you could be flying in an area with awful ATC, threats of terrain and obstacles, monsoon-like weather conditions, Non-Precision Approaches, and a runway length which is just within the braking distance required for the aircraft. It is always important to brief the approach, right the way down to the taxi, sometimes even allowing more time to brief if there are a lot of potential threats at the destination.

Approach plate on our electronic flight bag

After a baby smooth landing, its either a short or very long taxi to the stand. Some small airfields, such as Kerry, are a simple 180 degree turn on the runway, then a 10 second taxi to the stand. Some larger airfields like Madrid have a huge taxi route, with multiple frequency changes on the ground. After the engines are shut down on stand, the entire crew is ready to go go go again. Flight deck crews will swap roles between PF and PM to set up the aircraft, and the cabin crew do their magic to disembark, clean, then board the new passengers again.

Everyday is a new experience, and a new challenge. Stansted is the largest base, serving over 180 destinations, so this means that I rarely fly to the same airport more than once in the same month. I still find myself seeing completely new destinations every week, which really does keep my on my toes. For me, I feel truly lucky to have this kind of exposure. The journey continues...

Line Training

After Base Training it was onto the next stage; Line Training. This is where everything begins, where all of our hard work to date is now further expanded on, and where we really become line pilots.

Everyone is given a choice of base for line training. I was fortunate enough to be granted Stansted as my base initially. Not only was this convenient for me (since you have to cover your own living expenses) but it also has the most amount of destination, so the exposure is invaluable.

The training is very well structured. Every cadet is provided with a training file which has a variety of sections that need to be signed off before your line check. Initially, everyone flies with a safety pilot, which is a more experienced First Officer sat in the jump seat to just be there in case you make a mess of things. The minimum required for safety pilot release is 12 sectors, along with certain items to be signed off from the training file. 

There are a broad range of sign off items, such as Altimeter Setting, Approach Speed, Landing and Rollout, and also several important discussion items such as CFIT Awareness and Winter Operations. There is a long and exhaustive list, but it is quite surprising how much can get done in one day of flying. And fortunately I was able to be recommended for my line check at 70 sectors, which took me around a month and a half.

Credit: Artur Bado

The crew room at Stansted can be quite frantic. The 'first wave' as they call it, is what they call the first set of departures which all leave at the same time. So as you can imagine, it's like opening a can of syrup next to an ant's nest. It's all very good learning though, and eventually it's something that everyone adjusts to.

The standard of training at Stansted is remarkable. Although it is just the beginning, I would learn so much yet notice improvements everyday. I really got a full appreciation of how important and effective the SOPs are, and the exposure to the network allowed me to gain experience very quickly. I am very excited about the opportunities and experiences to come.