How Professional Pilots Can Survive Probationary Periods

A career pilot offers practical tips for airline new hires.

Friday, March 15, 2024

A career pilot offers practical tips for airline new hires. [Courtesy: Sam Weigel]

In this edition of V1 Rotate, FLYING contributor Sam Weigel walks new and aspiring professional pilots through probationary periods—why they are important and practical tips for how to survive them.

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Sam Weigel

Sam Weigel has been an airplane nut since an early age, and when he's not flying the Boeing 737 for work, he enjoys going low and slow in vintage taildraggers. He and his wife live west of Seattle, where they are building an aviation homestead on a private 2,400-foot grass airstrip.