We are often asked at industry events and training forums for guidance on picking an airline. In the current hiring environment, we are fortunate to have options as pilots in this regard, because at certain industry low points there may only be one or two, or no carriers hiring at all.
The fact that we can even discuss options for “where would you like to go?” is a very positive trend and one predicted to continue for the next five to 10 years.
For figuring out the carrier(s) you want to target for employment, ask yourself first: Where do you want to finish your career? Do you see yourself living in a big city, flying a widebody aircraft internationally? Do you envision living along a quiet intracoastal waterway with backyard access for your boat, preferring to drive to work and fly domestically for a few days before driving back home?
What about being a senior captain at Southwest, or perhaps Delta, American, or United? Are you a legacy or have family ties to any of these airlines that you would like to preserve? What about flying cargo around the world for FedEx or UPS? Perhaps you want a shot at flying the Boeing 747 and Atlas, and its multirole operation appeals to you.
As you mull this over, really give some thought to where you want to live, or where you are willing to live—now and in the future—and then look at the bases (aka domiciles) that these carriers have to see which ones match up with where you want to be.
“But wait…” many of you are saying right now, “…as an airline pilot I can just commute to base and live where I want. No big deal, right?”
So, let’s address the realities of commuting right now, because as the saying in the industry goes: “There are those who do and those who will.”
What this means is that it is highly likely that at some point (whether you choose to do it or not), you will commute to work by air. Frankly, commuting is awful. Even a good commute is not fun, is time consuming, and is often stressful. Years ago (and by this we mean before about 2007 when airlines began instituting capacity discipline and constraint), commuting was relatively benign, with the biggest issue generally being whether or not you were going to make it back to base on the last leg of the trip in order to catch the desired flight home.
These days, with airlines building efficient (packed) pilot schedules, and operating economically efficient (full) flights, it is routinely challenging in most markets to get a seat on a flight and get to work or go home. About 68 percent of the industry commutes to work by air, including flight attendants, mechanics, and other company personnel, which equates to a lot of competition for not a lot of seats given a high industry load factor (seats sold per flight). The more junior you are seniority-wise, the harder it is. (We’ll talk more about seniority and longevity next month).
“But what about the flight deck jumpseat?
Sure. But guess what? You’re not the only airline pilot in the industry commuting to and from work and home. On full flights (again, industry norm), this means maybe or maybe not getting on the jumpseat either. (But we’ll talk more about jumpseating in a later article as well).
Furthermore, you will spend a considerable amount of time each week planning your commute. You will repetitively monitor primary flights, backup options, along with timing and loads—the number of booked seats versus other employee (“nonrevenue”) standbys and where you are on this list, according to (again) seniority.
Your commute plan will also significantly impact how you bid your flight schedule each month (Yep, we’ll talk about monthly schedule bidding later too). Then throw in flight delays, cancellations, and other general industry havoc, and suddenly getting to and from home and work can be a real hassle. Missed trips (because your commute flight did not get you to work on time) means lost income and potential disciplinary action from your airline.
Missed flights home result in cold nights in a chair in the crew room, a slog to the crash pad, or a $100 or so for a few hours in a hotel room until the next flight in the morning—not to mention the general insult of lost time at home. The same thing goes for the front side of a commute to work. When your show time (the time required to report for the first leg of your flight schedule) is too early for you to commute on that same day, you will have to commute the night before and will need a place to stay. Yes, this happens all the time.
How glamorous or exciting does this sound to you?
The upside, though, is living where you want (and can afford) outweighing the negativity of commuting—and for many pilots it does. Hence, we’re back to where do you want to live, where are you willing to live, and how does this match up with the airlines you are interested in?
Start with this for your career plan, and we will see you next month for another installment of airline pilot career planning tips. You can also read about this and everything else you need to know for understanding and managing your airline pilot career in our book The Airline Transition Manual, available at www.airlinetransition.org.
This article was written by Richard Swindell, Andrew Ross, and Jolanda Witvliet.
If you would like more recommendations and a complete explanation on how the airline pilot profession works and how you can best manage it, pick up your physical or e-book copy of The Airline Transition Manual at www.airlinetransition.org.
