Another Take on Pilot vs. Co-Pilot

I'll add my two cents soon but for now, here's another take from NYC Aviation on the topic of pilot vs. co-pilot.

Now on to pilot vs co-pilot. I’m not sure why or how this perception came to be, but it seems that much of the general public doesn’t think the co-pilot is a real pilot or is somehow grossly inferior to the actual “pilot pilot.” To better describe their roles, let’s get away from pilot and co-pilot, because they’re both pilots, and start with the actual industry nomenclature. We have a captain and a first officer. Both pilots have ATPs and type ratings to fly their assigned aircraft. In fact, when a captain and a first officer are paired together to fly, they typically split the flying 50/50. If the pairing has them working 4 flights together, the captain will act as flying pilot for two flights, and non-flying pilot for two flights. The primary distinction between the roles of the captain and the first officer, is that the captain carries the weight of responsibility and authority. The captain, or pilot-in-command, in addition to being proficient at flying the aircraft, also assumes the role of in-flight manager. This role of authority is often more effectively accomplished when the captain is not piloting the aircraft, especially in an abnormal or emergency situation. With the first officer at the controls, the captain is allowed to widen his or her scope of attention, to be able to gather input from all available resources – from the first officer, the flight attendants, dispatchers and air traffic controllers to determine the course of action that would result in the most positive outcome.

via NYC Aviation

The "Without" [You] App

Being without my family or my wife stinks. Plain and simple. I love the job, but it's really bad when you have a crew of slam clickers (those who go to the hotel and don't do dinner or sightsee) and you find yourself at the hotel playing Clash of Clans for hours.

Here comes a beautiful app appropriately named "Without" by Mr. Jeremy that brought the amount of buttons pushed from 17 down to two! Awesome idea, amazing app. Check it out and share it with your loved one.

Avoiding Turbulence

Stronger computing power, improved satellite and radar technology and more sophisticated scientific models have all given airlines a more detailed understanding of flying conditions. This means they can better plan their operations before flights — for instance by canceling flights early and avoiding stranding passengers at airports. During flights, they can better navigate around storms and avoid turbulence.

- via www.nytimes.com

Just so you know, we definitely try our best to analyze and determine the best flight path for our guests. You're welcome and thanks for flying with us. 

Judge Rules IN FAVOR of Commercial Drone Pilot

"I view the decision as a victory for technology," said Mr. Schulman, a New York-based attorney with Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP and a recreational drone user. "For seven years our federal government has told business people and entrepreneurs that they must stop using drones for commercial purposes, and I think that's had a very negative effect on this really exciting emerging high-tech industry."

Where does the line get drawn especially if it's a hobbyist who loves to fly helis, quads and planes who discovered that they could make awesome videos when attaching a GoPro HERO3+, iPhone or any other camera? We aren't talking about Predator UAVs here but simple quadcopters such as DJI Phantom or the just released DJI Phantom 2 Vision+.

In any case, commercial drone laws aren't slated to be finalized until 2015 so until then, fly safely but more so, responsibly. Hey, let's start doing more real estate videos too!

via WSJ

What Pilot Shortage?

Matthew C. Klein on Bloomberg sums it up in one awesome sentence.

If airlines want to replace their aging corps of experienced pilots and continue serving second- and third-tier cities, they are going to need to boost pay and raise ticket prices. Alternatively, they should ditch unprofitable routes. At least that strategy doesn't require making up stories about pilot shortages.

For further reading, check it out from an Insider's Perspective.

The Truth about Regional Airline Pilots' Pay Wages

I've written about this topic before but in light of the upcoming tentative agreement voting window closing today at 10 EST, why not post another about the real wages of the airline pilot. In fact, I wrote a few which you can find here. My Schedule / Rest and Regulations At my airline¹, we are guaranteed 75 hours a month at rates of $43.59 an hour for first officer and $74.89 an hour for captain. My first year here, I made $19.02 an hour and didn't even break the poverty level for a family of 3 let alone barely rise above the family of two². Not to mention that my loan took 70% of my paycheck too but yes, I did chose this profession³. I didn't know what I was in for either but ignorance was / is bliss.

A portrait of these hourly pay scales becomes even more pathetic when you consider that regional airline pilots, who are paid only from the time the airline leaves the gate to the time it arrives at the destination, only are on the clock on average about 21.5 hours per week.

For a first-year co-pilot at Republic Airlines, for example, that translates into gross weekly pay of a mere $495 per week.

For a pilot with 10 years’ experience at SkyWest, the weekly gross paycheck might be around $1,312.

But, then you have to consider that these wages don’t nearly reflect the hours that regional airline co-pilots and pilots have to put into the job.

Although they may only be on the clock 21.5 hours per week or 85 hours per month,” pilots typically are away from base, and from their families, about 240 to 300 hours per month (or about 60 to 75 hours a week),” according to the Airline Pilots Association.

For the lowest paid co-pilot on Mesa Airlines earning about $22 per hour, this imbalance works out to $6.80 an hour for a 60-hour work week.

Make sure you navigate over to skift for a full on perspective with pay scales and fancy charts too! Also for further reading, check out "The Truth About the Profession".

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1. On average, I personally safely fly 150 people a day four times a week. Just yesterday, this airline recorded over 2206 departures second to Southwest! ↩
2. $17,170 for 3 / $13,690 for 2 via http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/07poverty.shtml/ ↩
3. Just to clarify, I am a 7th year commercial airline pilot who recently made captain. The quality of life on a reserve schedule is a whole other topic. ↩

A Beautiful Approach Flying into Queenstown, New Zealand

If I had flying views such as this, I might never land. Heres an amazing video of a beautiful approach into Queenstown, New Zealand (ZQN/NZQN) via the RNP-AR arrival to Runway 5 which is no longer in use. http://youtu.be/7mxmFCw-Dig

via Flying Magazine

Virgin America Ups the Competition

Virgin America one upping the safety video category with this amazing and truly entertaining video directed by none other than Jon M. Chu http://youtu.be/DtyfiPIHsIg

Forcing Technology on Pilots

A company looking for a "good" deal implements a technology that's unproven and has been lacking in support. I wonder how much money is really involved in this deal. I know that the pilots aren't too thrilled that the company wants to reinvent the wheel.

"In less than two years, Delta cockpits will be paperless as we roll-out the Microsoft Surface 2 tablet running Windows 8.1 RT as our company-issued device," the airline alerted its employees recently. "The 757/767 fleet will be the first to make the transition with the 777, 747 and MD88 as fast followers. Look for an announcement from Delta and Microsoft in the coming days about our partnership on the initiative."

via Windows IT Pro

Three Flights Down to One Long Extended Flight

Something things go right sometimes they don't.  Yesterday wasn't something out of the ordinary but I guess some of you never experience the frequency of weather or maintenance that we encounter working at an airline.  Looking at the weather prior to our departure from Dallas-Ft. Worth, we knew that we could expect some thunderstorms during our approach into Charleston, West Virginia. Blocked to just a little over two hours, and looking at the terminal aerodrome forecast (TAF), we took off with confidence that we could "beat" the storm.  Whether or not to jet east and then up and around the front or penetrate earlier in the flight and fly behind it, we chose the former.  Usually you chose the latter, but once we were in the air, the weather didn't look that bad.

Almost an hour after our scheduled arrival, we made a safe approach and landing safely getting all our passengers to the terminal.  It wasn't without bumps and initially the weather at CRW wasn't calling for landing conditions, but after 45 minutes, the initial thunderstorm cleared and calm winds presided.

Arriving at the gate, the plan was to leave as soon as we could board up, refuel and clean the aircraft but things changed. The plane gave us a flashing light notifying us of a maintenance item which after two hours of coordinating with dispatch, maintenance control and crew scheduling, ultimately led to the cancellation of the flight. Repositioning the aircraft to another portion of the airport, coordinating a shuttle and hotel stay our day came to an end with nine hours of sleep.  We also had the opportunity of riding the hotel shuttle back to with some passengers who were taking the cancellation well.

So back to present time, scheduling had us report at 5:15am this morning and to no surprise without a phone call or notification from anyone back at company, we came down for the scheduled shuttle back to the airport only to find out that the aircraft wasn't ready. I'm now back in the hotel room killing another two hours before our next scheduled van ride. At least I can now grab some coffee.

update: I just got a call a couple of minutes ago notifying us again for a change to 6:45am which as I spoke to her was actually six minutes in the past.

LUV is in the Air

What a concept from CEO Gary Kelly of Southwest Airlines.

His formula is so basic, yet so seldom applied: Take care of employees, employees will take care of customers, customers will take care of the company and its investors.

Now if every company followed this rule, I think we'd all be happier.

via The Denver Post: Southwest CEO Says All You Need Is LUV

How and why...

"How did you become a pilot? Did you become an airline pilot via the military?" These are two of the most asked questions that I get when among friends or at the airport in uniform. Since @TimChoi89 asked them a while back via a comment on "4 on, two off, 4 on – part 2 / my printed schedule after the fact" and my response wasn't posted (error maybe or private, bugs, lost on the internet...) I decided that I'd answer them with a brand new post.  It's Friday, the 13th and raining so why not.

The second question is easy; no, I did not have a military background.  I did originally look at the Navy after graduating UCSD but flight slots were too few and in demand making my chances slim to none.  I also wear some thick eye glasses so that was another obstacle in and of itself.  I can't say that I looked into the other military branches as I grew up in San Diego.  My father and uncles too were all in the U.S. Navy so yes, I was blinded and partial in my decision.  It's Top Gun U.S.A.!  That leads me to the first question which is a lot more complicated.

I started flying as a hobby after I graduated college in '03.  It was also a time in my life where I was started to feel compelled to "do something else."  I started taking lessons and thought that I was going to make it a side project, maybe instruct or fly people around for fun.  I started receiving AOPA Flight Training Magazine and in it had ads scattered throughout boasting various flight schools and programs that could lead one to a commercial airline job.  I thought to myself, "Why not?"  I read about a few schools at the same time  deciding if I really wanted to do a post-bac and go to med school.  I ended up choosing an advanced ab-initio program which gave me a jet type rating along with whoever else I needed to get hired.  The program was launched and closely associated with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and called CAPT (Commercial Airline Pilot Training).  Unfortunately, while the program and its vision remained idealistic, fuel costs and enrollment coupled with a downward spiraling economy led the university to sell it off to the private corporation, FTSI, which has since then closed its doors.  (Phases out / FTSI New Release)   I was in the middle of the program when they accounted its transition but they promised to make good on their word and see us to the end.

I graduated in May of 2006 after 16 months of training and was offered a job with Focus Airlines.  They operated as an ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance, insurance) 747 cargo carrier and their contract with CAPT was extensive; totaling a five year commitment, the first year one would serve as a "cadet" placed in the office helping with various tasks from scheduling, hotel reservations, tech publications, IT, etc. basically an intern type year learning the ins and out.  The second year would entail upgrading to the second officer / flight engineer position on a classic 747 followed by three years as a first officer.  Unfortunately, this program ended when the first couple of CAPT cadets were not allowed to upgrade to first officers alongside the face that Focus Airlines never had a program in place.  Coincidentally, Atlantic Southeast Airlines (now officially called ExpressJet) was in the beginning stages of a hiring spree and our amazing director helped us get an interview. I scored my first flying job and the rest is history.  Knowing and keeping ties along with timing is key in this industry and it panned out.

It's funny how people end up visiting my site.  Mr. Tim ended up here,"...by searching "the verge vs. gdgt" then I stumbled upon your twitpic and saw that you're a pilot + tech enthusiast..."  Thanks for stopping by Tim and keep the questions coming.