Rust Never Sleeps

Editorial Staff

Monday, August 24, 2020 at 01:42 PM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

A highly experienced, retired airline captain found his flying skills and decision-making significantly deteriorated after a brief hiatus from the cockpit during the pandemic.
He recognized that continuous practice and regular training, like that received in airline operations, are crucial for maintaining proficiency, as skills inevitably rust without consistent use.
To address this decline, he is undertaking additional instruction and simulator training, emphasizing the importance of proactive measures to regain and maintain pilot proficiency.

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I’m a retired airline captain, with some 25 years of line operations under my belt. After leaving behind the airline world, I bought a Beech Baron 55 to use on personal and business missions throughout the central U.S. Like so many during this pandemic, I stayed home and out of the cockpit earlier in 2020 in the hope doing so would allow public health officials to get a better handle on it. Also like so many others who have returned to the cockpit after shutdown orders were lifted, I found my skills and ability to get and stay ahead of the aircraft had deteriorated substantially over the period.

In my case, despite decades of accident/incident-free airline operations, I found that I had to stop and think about actions and decisions that only a few months earlier would have been automatic. I also found my basic skills—as reflected when performing tasks like programming the GPS and talking to ATC, as well as some flight maneuvers—lacked crispness and were not as reflexive as they should have been. My planning and decision-making also have suffered from disuse.