SkyHigh

It was the summer of 1993 and I was a 20 something know nothing kid who was employed as an Alaskan part 135 single engine captain of the tundra. My mission that day was to fly up to a small village and meet a small party for a commanded scenic flight. Scenic flights were rare in the bush since you cant even go to the dentist without taking an airplane ride so I was intrigued and looking foreword to it.

On the ramp stood four stoic figures. I taxied up being careful not to blast them with dirt, and introduced myself. The oldest promptly projected himself and announced his name quickly followed by his title as a United Airlines Captain the second and third then did the same in similar style. They were all from a legacy of United Airlines hierarchy and carried themselves with the reserved poise of English royalty. The introductions were brief and I was stunned you how young a few of these United Airlines captains sons were. At the time I was one of the leaders in the industry from my college graduating class and my best was to Captain a Cessna 207. A recession was on and jobs were difficult to come by, however these guys were already First Officers in the 737 for UAL and my guess was that the sons were all in their mid to early 20's.

I felt small by comparison. I mean, what failures had I made to be so punished by my lowly position? At the time however, I knew few who were better off than I and none who wore a white shirt to work. The eldest gave a short list of attractions that they wished to view and I set to work instantly to fulfill their wishes. The weather was good and the season right to view many varieties of wild life and I felt satisfied that I met the objective. After an hour and a half we were back at the runway on final. I expected there to be some seat shifting and groans from the back as I glided to the gravel threshold but instead there was calm silence. I made a special attempt to make a smooth landing witch can be difficult in a heavily loaded 207 with oversized tires. To my relief the reunion with the earth was indeed non eventful and I was able to hold my head high throughout taxi and shutdown.

Back on the ramp the gray haired Captain projected his right hand with a five dollar bill and a stern “thank you for the nice ride” throughout the flight I was able to determining from eavesdropping that he was also involved in hiring at United so I mustered my courage and asked him what he thought of my chances at UAL and what I should do to improve my resume. With a quick glance and one squinted eye he asked only one question of me “who do you know at United”? “No one” I answered, in fact they were the first pilots who I ever met from United Airlines. After a short pause he answered a quick sentence “Not now, Not ever” and then turned and walked away.

I was stunned as if shot through with a bear gun. It took a minute or two to recover from the immediate shock of impact that those words had on my sole. I couldn’t believe that after that near perfect flight that he could so coldly assess my chances like that. I mean I was a good example of a healthy normal American kid who had perfect vision and a healthy love of aviation. How could he have known enough about me and my character in that 90 minute flight to be able to give such a harsh assessment of my young chances? Years later I was able to determine that he was trying to offer a kindness through a quick kill.

My guess is that he determined that without a strong introduction form someone well placed on the inside that my chances were slim. I was another garden variety suburban boy who would be lost in the ocean of clawing faces unable to rise above the mob in order to gain attention from the Human Resources Department. His words turned out to be prophetic. Not only did I never see the interview room at United Airlines but none of my coworkers in Alaska did either.

In the years to come I made a hobby out of going to aviation job fairs. I would stand in line with another hundred or so guys and gals dressed in dark blue suits. Always waiting at the end was a reserved and nearly emotionless guardian of one of the legacy airlines. Beyond them lied the path to my dreams. They would give my proud resume at least five seconds before either handing it back or waiting for you to turn to leave before tossing it into the trash. The brief meetings would conclude with an "I'm Sorry" or "Try again next year". All the while I knew that younger people with less experience were getting in. I was a healthy, athletic 20 something guy with good grades and an aviation degree. I had thousands of hours and a totally clean record in every way.

I applied to just about every airline that was hiring at the time. Eventually I began to recognize a pattern in those who did get hired and the slow realization began to sink in that my hopes would most likely would not be fulfilled. Looking back now I am thankful that things turned out as they had. I was forced to seek a life outside of aviation and though it has been difficult we enjoy a high level of life satisfaction as a result.

Skyhigh

Learflyer

Nice story. You and I sound about the same age. It resembles about what I went through. Except, my defining moment was just recently when one fractional called me for a phone interview and at the end said I wasn't qualified. I had spent 6 years at a different fractional. I wasn't qualified because I was short on the new PIC reqirement that the company wanted. I've been told no for the last time in Aviation. A peace came over me that day, and became excited for what lies next for me and my family........

Maria80386

I received a call yesterday from a bottom-tier airline that was really excited about me 'til they found out how much I hadn't flown on reserve for a certain former airline of mine. "Call us back when you get XX hours in the last six months."

If I was really desperate, I'd have those hours in two days. I certainly can afford it thanks to my other lines of business. It's going to take me one-two weeks as I've lined up flights in odd and rare aircraft. Instead of XX C172/PA28 hours, I'm going flying in Ercoupes, Supercubs, a Waco, a Pitts, even a Stearman. One of those might even be on floats. At the end of those XX hours, I may decide not to contact said airline again. I'm on this planet to fly, not sit on my ass.

jban642

Skyhigh i truly enjoyed your stories. You are 100 percent right it not what you know its who you know. That how I got my current flying job. It can be frustrating getting told no. Some people get mad at you for being negative but it is good for people to see both sides of the story. Safe Flying

DYNASTY HVY

Nice story skyhigh and for every one of you there is one that does succeed,did you try the regionals?and if so what kind of reaction did they give to you?Not flaming just asking.

SkyHigh

Yes. I went on to fly various turbine and jet aircraft for several different miserable small companies. Eventually the job market improved and I did get hired at Horizon Air. I spent two years with them before realizing that even if I had stuck it out there I was getting too old to make it to the big time. Horizon Air is full of guys whose dream shot ended there. It was a dead end and I needed to move on.

I had an opportunity to make the jump to flying a Boeing 757 for a LCC which I took. My thinking was that it was possibly the only opportunity I would get to fly a bigger jet and if I was able to upgrade quickly it could salvage my career dreams by making my resume stand out from the ocean of RJ Captains.

I was on my way until 9-11. My name was just a few short of upgrade when the door was slammed shut. I was however able to interview a few times at my dream airline and sat in the waiting room as an unknown long shot. At one job fair I basically cornered the chief pilot and would not accept the courtesy glance and departure greeting. He took a hard look at me and saw the desperation and determination in my eyes. He took pause while his mask of indifference drained away for a second or two. He then wrote a few things on my resume and placed it into the good pile.

A few weeks later I was in the interview waiting room at Alaska Airlines. The guy who was sitting next to me got a call to congratulate him on getting hired at Alaska but he hadn't even been into the interview room yet. After he returned from his back slapping laugh fest the board member who shook his hand on the way out told him to "say hi to your dad for me". The interviewers body language then changed as he coldly turned and motioned for me to enter the room.

My experience was very different. They all just took pot shots at me and turned my proud resume into an excuse to call me a looser. By that time in my life I had made it through a 15 year gauntlet of obstacles in my professional life. Paid my own way through flight school. Got most every job on my own and never had an advocate to pave the way for me. As a result I had to work my way up a long ladder of crummy companies and difficult working situations to make it to that interview room. I was one of three out of twelve who survived the simulator earlier that day and here they were trying to make it my fault that I wasn't born an RJ captain. It seems that HR would serve up the occasional random guy on the street so that the hiring board could gun us down. They need fresh meat to shred on occasion or else they do not feel like they are doing their job.

Soon after I was laid off when my LCC shut down and the dream was over. I was 36 years old and had a pregnant wife and two small children to think of. Times then were like they are now. No one was hiring and if I did not have the political capital to get hired during the good times I certainly did not have it then. Most everyone I knew was laid off as well. I did have a few close calls with Frontier and ATA though. The regionals and smaller airlines seemed like they did not want to touch me. I was told that I was "over qualified". I went into construction in order to provide for my family and the rest is now sadly history.


SkyHigh

JoeyMeatballs

FYI, I know a very talented female who is a well qualified pilot who ha d alot of LOR's as well as her father being avery senior CA at DELTA who had an interview and didnt get the job. Yes she got an interview becuase she knew some people, but doesnt meant its an automatic job either. I think the best example of "who you know" is CAL.............

At least SWA interviews a lot of people................but last I checked you were to good for them

SkyHigh

Yea. That is a funny one. I'm too good for SWA. I am sure that you are just joking. I have about as much political credit with them as I do with NASA.



SkyHigh

jedinein

It ain't over 'til you take your last breath.

Deciding to not put up with the BS that is the airlines does not make one a failure. I almost quit on the spot putting up with parking tag BS. What are you willing to handle and what are you willing to put up with?

I grew up with my father in construction. We moved more times than the military, more times than those in the witness protection program, even more times than pilots, combined. Dad was gone for weeks and sometimes months. We'd get to move on short notice. Pay sometimes sucked. Construction projects sometimes ended with a chain around a gate and a note, "everyone is fired". Sometimes there wasn't a note. This world is going to kick you, beat you, work you hard, spit you out, and all you have to show for it is a nice headstone which may get replaced to something that is easier to maintain, or removed completely to make way for a new bypass. Life sucks, then you die. And in a hundred years, you probably won't matter anyways, except possibly to be another annoying name to learn in someone's history class.

The secret, and possibly the insanity of this, is to be happy where you are, even as you strive for something better, and no matter which choices you make. That really irritates other people who think you should be at least as miserable as they are, if not more miserable.

SkyHigh

I wanted to pass along to you that during one of my interviews there were three RJ captains from XJT among the group. One guy was an arrogant 28 year old who I was with in the sim. He strode in and took the first run. Almost immediately he ran into problems. When instructed to enter a hold he almost rolled inverted while trying to figure it out. His altitude was all over the place and panic began to overtake him.

Eventually the examiner gave up and radar vectored him to a hand flown ILS. His oscillations got so strong that he impacted the ground about 3/4 of a mile before the runway and left the sim nearly in tears. Earlier in the waiting room when we all meet at 4 AM we exchanged greetings and asked each other who they used for interview prep. The XJT guys claimed that they did nothing to prepare and that they flew approaches everyday and did not think that the sim would be a problem.

None of them made it past the simulator. The lesson here is to practice and prepare. Before that day I had never even heard of ExpressJet and here there were three RJ captains all under 28. My guess is that they did not really have a strong attitude instrument background before getting hired into a fully automated glass cockpit. Once away from the flight director they fell apart. It is important to occasionally return to the flight school and practice the basics. complacency can sneak up on anyone. Especially in our automated world.

SkyHigh