Airline Pilot

California native Sherry Smith never imagined she’d grow up to be an airline pilot. Nobody in her family is in the aviation industry, and flying wasn’t something she ever seriously considered. But when she graduated from college with a business management degree, Sherry knew that she wanted to travel, and soon found a job as […]

Utah native Luke Maddox was working as a Spanish teacher when he realized he needed a career change. “When I finished my bachelor’s degree I started into a graduate program, and did a year of that,” he says. Something gnawed at him, though, as he recalled his childhood dream of becoming a pilot. “I thought, […]

I can’t really say I know Sarah Rovner, because we’ve never actually met. We’re both airline pilots, we have a bunch of mutual friends in common, we presented at the same aviation conference (one day apart) and we’ve chatted online and on the telephone. But mostly I “know” Sarah because we’re Facebook friends and she […]

Linnea Couture is a new instructor with ATP Flight School whose aviation career is just lifting off. Like many aspiring airline pilots, her interest in flying developed during childhood. Her father, an aviation enthusiast and radio controlled (RC) model airplane builder, enjoyed taking Linnea to Chicago O’Hare Airport to watch airplanes. “I was maybe 3 […]

Jordan Lascomb was drawn to airplanes not by being around them, but by jumping out of them. She completed her first tandem skydive on her 21st birthday, and instantly fell in love with the sky. “I was back the next weekend to take the course, and 200 jumps later, I decided to move to the […]

The sun is shining and the fish are calling, but it’s online catch-up day on Windbird. We spent the past week at beautiful, isolated Conception Island, Bahamas: No people, no internet — it was heaven on earth. The news headlines that greeted Dawn and me upon our return made us wish we’d stayed a little […]

There are many interesting and lucrative ways to make a living flying airplanes, but one of the most enticing jobs is that of a senior captain for a major airline. Those at the rarefied top of their profession typically enjoy a salary in the healthy six figures, a highly flexible schedule-with up to 20 days […]

One of the most challenging chapters of an aviation career comes right after earning one’s commercial pilot license. You’ve just invested a lot of time and effort and a whole lot of money into successfully completing your flight training, yet your license alone is not enough for many flying jobs. To build your experience and […]

“I first knew I wanted to be a pilot when my father’s friend took me up in his little Cub airplane,” Envoy Air first officer Jay Herring recalls of what inspired him to pursue a life and career in aviation. “Before that I’d always kind of looked up and thought, that would be a neat […]

Regional air carriers are on a well-documented pilot hiring binge, creating “one of the most exciting times ever” for aspiring airline pilots, says Captain LaMar Haugaard, director of pilot development, and chief pilot at Horizon Air. But recruiters remain selective, weighing candidates’ training backgrounds, flight experience, and even non-pilot qualifications, Haugaard says. Trainees should keep […]