3 answers
Tre'von
Student
New Orleans, Louisiana
2
Questions
Updated
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As a Pilot what is your daily work experience like and how do you get through the day?
#pilot #airline-pilot
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3 answers
Sean Mcgranaghan
6
Answers
Updated
Sean’s Answer
Depending upon what airline and where you are based your day to day life will vary greatly.
Freight-
I flew freight feeder for about a year, of that year I also was a training Captain, meaning I trained the new pilots who were coming to work there. Flying for a cargo feeder your morning starts about 5am with checking the weather, the aircraft, and then finally a dispatcher to be legally released to go fly. Next you will load up your cargo and possibly fuel if it was not done already. This can take anywhere from 20 minutes to over 2 hours. You will fly usually 1-3 short flights with a total flight time under 3 hours, offloading some or all of the cargo at your stops. Every stop also requires more paperwork. Next you will spend the day in a hotel at your last stop, returning to the airport anywhere from 3-4pm and repeat the process, except you are gathering cargo at your stops to bring back to your original destination, after the cargo is off and the plane is put away for the night, all of your paperwork from the day is finished and turned in, usually leaving around 530-7pm depending on the specific schedule. You repeat this schedule 4-5 times a week, sometimes a different schedule one of the days of the week. To get thru the day a good nap in the middle of the day is a must.
Passenger airline-
The schedules vary greatly, everything in the airline world is seniority based. If you just start at an airline your schedules will start out with reserve, this means you are a back up pilot who is on call. The time to be at the airplane vary from 2 hours to 12 hours and could be less or more depending upon the airlines specific rules. After you have been at the airline a while you will find yourself with a schedule of flights for the month, the flights can be locals, where you are back to your home base the same day, to flights that can be 4 or more days away from your home base. Most airlines will have your flight start and end at your home base, occasional they do not and they will book you as a passenger to get back to your home. (you get paid for this flight). During your 1-4 days of work you could just fly one flight that is short 30 min or over 4 hours, or multiple flights, up to 6 or more. There are many legal requirements on the length of the day you may work, and more specific, the number of hours you may fly in a day, these numbers vary depending upon the time you start working and the number of flights that day. The reward is ending up in some awesome locations that have many attractions or sites to see and food from many different regions.
Freight-
I flew freight feeder for about a year, of that year I also was a training Captain, meaning I trained the new pilots who were coming to work there. Flying for a cargo feeder your morning starts about 5am with checking the weather, the aircraft, and then finally a dispatcher to be legally released to go fly. Next you will load up your cargo and possibly fuel if it was not done already. This can take anywhere from 20 minutes to over 2 hours. You will fly usually 1-3 short flights with a total flight time under 3 hours, offloading some or all of the cargo at your stops. Every stop also requires more paperwork. Next you will spend the day in a hotel at your last stop, returning to the airport anywhere from 3-4pm and repeat the process, except you are gathering cargo at your stops to bring back to your original destination, after the cargo is off and the plane is put away for the night, all of your paperwork from the day is finished and turned in, usually leaving around 530-7pm depending on the specific schedule. You repeat this schedule 4-5 times a week, sometimes a different schedule one of the days of the week. To get thru the day a good nap in the middle of the day is a must.
Passenger airline-
The schedules vary greatly, everything in the airline world is seniority based. If you just start at an airline your schedules will start out with reserve, this means you are a back up pilot who is on call. The time to be at the airplane vary from 2 hours to 12 hours and could be less or more depending upon the airlines specific rules. After you have been at the airline a while you will find yourself with a schedule of flights for the month, the flights can be locals, where you are back to your home base the same day, to flights that can be 4 or more days away from your home base. Most airlines will have your flight start and end at your home base, occasional they do not and they will book you as a passenger to get back to your home. (you get paid for this flight). During your 1-4 days of work you could just fly one flight that is short 30 min or over 4 hours, or multiple flights, up to 6 or more. There are many legal requirements on the length of the day you may work, and more specific, the number of hours you may fly in a day, these numbers vary depending upon the time you start working and the number of flights that day. The reward is ending up in some awesome locations that have many attractions or sites to see and food from many different regions.
Roy Vreeland
Corporate Pilot
12
Answers
New Orleans, Louisiana
Updated
Roy’s Answer
Corporate Pilot
You generally are on call Monday thru Friday but most trips are scheduled so you usually know in advance the days you will be flying/working. A typical flight/trip requires you to complete your flight planning duties such as file flight plans, check the weather and notams, complete a flight risk analysis, review and complete any logistics required such as meals, rent cars, hotels, etc. The day of the flight we usually show up 1 hour prior to the planned departure to get the aircraft ready. This would include, fuel, preflight inspection, and running pre-departure checklists. Once the passenger show up and are on board, the flight will proceed as planned to the intended destination. Once you land, park and shutdown the aircraft, you usually assist on getting your passengers in their ground transportation and on their way. If that is the only leg or last flight leg of the day, you will "put the aircraft to bed", meaning you will complete your shutdown checklists and secure the aircraft for the day/night. If you are on a multi day trip, you will use ground transportation such as rent car/rideshare/taxi/shuttle van to go to your hotel. If you are returning to home base, you may have final post flight items such as paperwork or cleaning the aircraft for the next flight depending on your employers requirements. So basically, most corporate flight operations require the pilots to do much more than just fly the aircraft. These are some basic and very general statements about the corporate aviation pilots daily job duties.
You generally are on call Monday thru Friday but most trips are scheduled so you usually know in advance the days you will be flying/working. A typical flight/trip requires you to complete your flight planning duties such as file flight plans, check the weather and notams, complete a flight risk analysis, review and complete any logistics required such as meals, rent cars, hotels, etc. The day of the flight we usually show up 1 hour prior to the planned departure to get the aircraft ready. This would include, fuel, preflight inspection, and running pre-departure checklists. Once the passenger show up and are on board, the flight will proceed as planned to the intended destination. Once you land, park and shutdown the aircraft, you usually assist on getting your passengers in their ground transportation and on their way. If that is the only leg or last flight leg of the day, you will "put the aircraft to bed", meaning you will complete your shutdown checklists and secure the aircraft for the day/night. If you are on a multi day trip, you will use ground transportation such as rent car/rideshare/taxi/shuttle van to go to your hotel. If you are returning to home base, you may have final post flight items such as paperwork or cleaning the aircraft for the next flight depending on your employers requirements. So basically, most corporate flight operations require the pilots to do much more than just fly the aircraft. These are some basic and very general statements about the corporate aviation pilots daily job duties.
Kevin Strange
Pilot
1
Answer
Updated
Kevin’s Answer
I am a test pilot, so my day begins early in the morning with a large amount of preparation. The test flights begin months in advance with meetings and discussions about how we are going to conduct the flight test. We go over every detail of the design and expected test results. We then spend hours practicing in simulators and flying aircraft similar to the test aircraft.
The day before the flight, I have to check and study the weather for the flight. I have to talk to the engineers and confer any updates that would affect the flight. We get together in briefings and go over the play by play details of every movement and test event we expect to execute. Once the entire team (test engineers, test pilots, and administration) is satisfied what we are doing is safe and effective, we then give a "go" decision for the next day.
The next day starts early in the morning with final checks of the weather, systems analysis, areas we are to fly and crew readiness. Then we perform the pre-flight, aircraft systems checks and power up for take off. Typical flights last anywhere from 1 hour to 4 hours. In all, a test flight day may last up to 10 hours.
There are many more items that go on. When we are not directly preparing for a flight, we are working with the engineers to calculate various speeds and parameters for the aircraft to fly in. In addition, we write reports, give analysis, design checklists and even have to give presentations on new systems.
I hope this helps.
Kevin
The day before the flight, I have to check and study the weather for the flight. I have to talk to the engineers and confer any updates that would affect the flight. We get together in briefings and go over the play by play details of every movement and test event we expect to execute. Once the entire team (test engineers, test pilots, and administration) is satisfied what we are doing is safe and effective, we then give a "go" decision for the next day.
The next day starts early in the morning with final checks of the weather, systems analysis, areas we are to fly and crew readiness. Then we perform the pre-flight, aircraft systems checks and power up for take off. Typical flights last anywhere from 1 hour to 4 hours. In all, a test flight day may last up to 10 hours.
There are many more items that go on. When we are not directly preparing for a flight, we are working with the engineers to calculate various speeds and parameters for the aircraft to fly in. In addition, we write reports, give analysis, design checklists and even have to give presentations on new systems.
I hope this helps.
Kevin