Obviously, it has been a
while since I updated my career journal.
So after a month of saying “Yeah I’ll get to it”, finally here I am.
I’m home right now enjoying the
sun and 70-degree weather before I return to work tonight on the America West
red-eye that has become my best friend for commuting. So far I have three single-day trips scheduled in the next six
days and three reserve days, so there should be some good variety in my
schedule.
Honestly, I don’t think I’ve
ever been happier in my life than I am right now. This job is not a job – it is a way of life and I enjoy it
immensely. While I put in some very long
hours and spend long periods of time away from home, I know right now that I am
doing exactly what I want to be doing.
On my last four-day trip the captain and I were cruising along at 33,000
feet in a highly advanced jet aircraft, listening to his CD player over the
intercom and enjoying an awesome view of the Appalachian mountains. We came to the conclusion I just described –
we wouldn’t want to be doing anything else.
The people at this company
are awesome. I’ve flown with about 25
different captains and at least as many flight attendants and have had not even
a single conflict or found any of them less than nice. Most everyone is friendly and treats each
other with respect which is exactly what you would want in a workplace. We take our jobs seriously, fly
professionally and have fun on our overnights.
I’m feeling comfortable with
the aircraft after having logged 163 hours and 50 landings but still learn
something on every flight. I enjoy
making announcements to the passengers while flying and saying goodbye to them
as they de-board the aircraft.
Chicago is a fun city
although it has been very cold this winter.
I’ve learned how to bundle up and deal with the wind and sub-zero
temperatures but am really looking forward to spring. I am making friends there which makes sitting on reserve a little
less boring.
There is one dark cloud that
hangs over everything, and that cloud is called United Airlines. When you get 85% of your revenue from a
bankrupt company, there is always reason to wonder if you will still have a job
next month. I try to think about it as
little as possible. If worse comes to
worse and I end up facing the second furlough of my short career, I do take
some comfort in the fact that Continental Express has already begun recalling
its furloughed pilots and will eventually get to my seniority number. I hope it doesn’t come to that as I would
rather stay at ACA, but at least I won’t be on the street for years to come
without a flying job if things end up in the crapper with United.
A few eventful things have
happened since my last update. Last
month I got to fly a charter trip to Denver.
We occasionally transport NCAA basketball teams between games in
addition to all of our regularly scheduled flying. I jumped at the chance to fly a 2-day charter mainly because I
knew it might be my only opportunity to fly into Denver International Airport. While I was there, I met my friend and
SkyWest pilot Mike Lorenzetti for an hour or so before flying back to Oklahoma
City. Here is a picture of us in our uniforms, and me approaching runway 35L. And of course, the Rocky Mountains.
Here also is a nice picture
of an aircraft landing in what I think was St.
Louis as we were taxiing for takeoff.
I’ve had to reject one
takeoff and do one missed approach so far, both in the last two weeks. Also had to return to the gate prior to takeoff
for a medical emergency. These are not
particularly fun events when you have a bunch of passengers on board but it
does happen and I certainly learned from both events. I am sure there will be more – this is just part of flying.
I thought this might be
interesting – here is a picture of the airports
where I have made landings throughout my flying career. The blue ones are in general aviation
aircraft, the red ones are in the CRJ while flying for ACA.
I’m planning to update this
more often. Honestly, I’ve been busy –
I’ve flown nearly every day on duty for the last month which is exactly what I
want, but doesn’t leave a whole lot of time for writing. Stay tuned!
