Airline with the most physically fit pilots
 

Bonus points if you know the ones with most widebody pilots.

Guessing SAS or Icelandair. Americans are headed for WALL-E.

We got lots of surfers at HAWAIIAN, so I'd say us.

Definitely not DL. I asked about the quality of hotel gyms in overseas layovers and about half the responses were "just skip the gym and go grab a beer"

How are you expected to go for a jog when you only have 25 hours in Lisbon?!

Ditto on DAL…..but the bright side of it, is that it gives you a good feeling that your seniority will improve every time you look around when you go to work….

DAL probably does the most to actively discourage staying in shape. I was summoned to the CPO and told I can't race mountain bikes or motocross and even riding on a Supercross track was verboten.

I told them to stuff it as did ALPA.

Long term the occasional broken bone is cheaper than me being out on LTD at 50% high 12/36.

I say this as I'm chowing down on a begneit but I also did a 15 mike mountain bike ride this morning.

Interesting! How'd they even find out?

He was on TV. Hahah

This is double funny because not only assuming 25 hr layover is too short to get a quick workout in, but also because most of these dudes associate going to the gym with just doing a little cardio.

Better question…..how are you expected to go for a jog in Lisboa when the food is so off the charts there? Grab a cappuccino and pastel de nata and fuggetaboudid the jog.

I was on FAA leave when I was on TV at the Tampa Supercross

I was actually on vacation during the Washougal National.

I did race at Unadilla and Southwick this year as well but no TV on either.

I'm not actively racing at that level, haven't been competitive since I got splatted in a helicopter in 03, I was part of opening ceremonies at Tampa, and was brought out for a "parade lap" with a bunch of military vets who used to race at Washougal.

My one claim to fame since getting rebuilt like a Teemu Darth Vader was beating Chad Reed in one moto, in the 40+ Pro/Expert class, on a technicality when his wife protested him and he got docked 2 laps.

He then lapped me in the second moto, 4 laps in (this was at Lake Sugar Tree in Virginia)

Read his post history. He is trying to exceed Wile Coyote in accident history. I suspect his use of sick leave brought the CP into the discussion. CP was probably frustrated because with his medical history he knew he can't touch him. Delta tops at 270 hours of sick leave a year replenished each year.
I would disagree on Delta and fitness. They promote it to the extent they have employee gyms in many locations and offer cash for fitness goals. The pilot lounge in NYC has a gym and showers.

We've got quite a few "widebody" pilots here at Atlas.

Considering my summons was more than a month after my last sick use, which was for a double ear infection (not bike related) it was straight up harassment.

The only time I have been out sick for anything motocross related was September through November 2022, and that was that long because Delta via thier UHC lackeys took over a month to approve surgery after making me drive 1600 miles home pulling a camper with a snapped collarbone, and the month of improper healing turned a 45 minute outpatient surgery into a 6 hour rebreak and reconstruction, and put me from "back at work in 2-3 weeks" to out three months.

But yes. Let's harrass the guy who was good enough at a sport to still get invited to pro races 20 years past his pro days, and can still occasionally run with former world champions.

And while your at it, trucking companies too? OTR guys are behind the wheel 12 hours a day. Still never seen a gym at a truck stop. I'm thinking box truck delivery drivers UPS, FedEx.

Oh, and why BTW do you care? Isn't this an individual issue?

I flew with a 320A last year with who rode dirt bikes and had a story for every broken bone. Part time USAF heavies. Dude was in his 30's so we either flew together or you got a protege in the seniority list.

I'm mid 40s and Navy Helos to E2s, to oilfield engineering to MC-12s to Delta. So not me but my FO on my last trip rides and has a track in his yard and his wife and kids race.

The venn diagram overlap from motocross and dirtbikes to flying is pretty big.

Spirit pilots about to be in really great physical condition!

Running for the hills and swimming after you jumped off the sinking ship gets your cardio up real fast!

UAL guys are definitely in the running for most in shape. Well, minus the IAH guys, and obviously our (actual) wide body pilots because they look like death is already knocking, and also the commuting lifestyle isn’t all that good for you either so that kinda takes out SFO, EWR, and LAS guys… on second thought maybe we can take the figurative cake for most figurative wide bodies.

Fellow Helo and C-12 bro here (branch undisclosed because it's too obvious). I'm too scared to stratight up motocross now, but maybe once I take my Husky 701 through a few trails in North GA I'll have scratch that itch.

My vote is not for American.

Heres the story.

https://www.airlinepilotforums.com/d...mr-denial.html

A solid 50% of my sick calls are probably bike or snow related, it'd be fun to have that convo with the chief.

"Stop hurting yourself and enjoying life"

"Ok, I'll just sit on the couch and get fat so I REALLY use my sick time"

Package delivery will actually keep in you great shape, hopping in and out of the truck and throwing boxes around all day, every day. Gotta watch the back and knees though.

I had a girlfriend who did that during college. When she graduated, UPS wanted her to become a manager (diversity reasons I assume). She was afraid to get out of shape at a desk, so she kept putting it off. Finally they forced the issue by "finding" minor dings on her truck and documenting those as "accidents". After the third "accident" they called her in for mandatory termination (as a driver) and said OBTW do you want a job in management? Last I heard, 30 years later, she managed to stay in shape.

Hey now, with that fat PS check, splurge and buy the CA a double bacon cheeseburger and help that process along.

​​​​​​​Man, did you see years ago when the trikes were making the comeback and that dude on the ATC-250R hit the skyshot? It HAD to be altered. It defied physics, there's no way that dude got that much air. The sheer drag created by his giant set of balls would have prevented that kind of air.

Depending on the year, that maniac on a 250R might have been my father. I started on 3 wheelers, then switched to two wheel MX as I hated quads when threewheelers went away.

I cleared skyshot on a 1986 KX 125 at MX Rewind this summer. instead of doubling the uphill going into the left hander before skyshot, I singled, scrubbed a bit then just RAILED the outside line. I was 4th or 5th WFO coming up the face of it "Kehin VM34 carb, blessed by Mitch Payton himself, do not fail me now and bog" granted 5th on my bike is like 4th on most others as I run 13/54 gearing because I'm very large for a 125.

Favorite moto story my mom tells.. 1985 or so. My dad (a truck driver who raced) had a delivery in Sidney the day before the national. We went to the track, camped out in his 1977 Kenworth cabover, then watched the race.

My mom (who had been to Dilla in the 70s when it was nuts) when we got home "you took him... to UNA FREAKING DILLA with the crazy HILL PEOPLE" (mom didn't say freaking)

Mom: CX what did you learn.
Me and brother in unison "THE OTHER SIDE SUCKS!"

It's for sure a young man's game.

I think the likes of Larry Ward, Mike Larocco, Micke Dymond, etc went to moto GP/Motard, then to mountain biking?

Boy you nailed it wrt Houston folks. By far and away the largest segment of big ol boys who’s shirt buttons are hanging on for dear life, and ties that barely make it half way down their guts.

Reminds me of a number of Mesa CA I have run into.

I would say in general pilots at Cathay or Emirates as their corporate cultures sort of discouraged sloth. You don’t just upgrade over there with your number. It’s an overall assessment and physical fitness and appearance is 100pct on the list(not necessarily published).

Of course there are always a few outliers but by and large I’d say those are fit groups.

Everytime I see a tubby DL captain shuffling up to the register at “Piece of Cake” or Five Guys in ATL, I’m over there like….

https://external-content.duckduckgo....4bc&ipo=images

Saw a delta cpt every bit of 400lbs waddling through the airport. He could go about 30 steps then had to stop to catch his breath.
idk how he passed a medical.

Our medicals don’t really do a whole lot to ensure you are healthy.
Vision (correctable), urine sample, blood pressure, and ekg.
Load someone up with enough beta blockers and they will be ok to pass it.

If they disclose nothing, then good to go. Until they bang an airplane. Good thing they only fly 5 days a month and a single leg in those days.

And the oldest, fattest pilots usually have 2-3 other old, fat pilots to back them up..so at least there's some built in redundancy.

...safe to say he may be a fan of the Airbus? Ingress and egress with the sidestick works better for those with expanded waistlines...maybe?

Idk, the most rotund aviator I've ever seen flew the Mad Dog. I could hear him mouth breath over the background noise in flight.

Flew with a former Emirates pilot. He said that the quality of food over there is MUCH better too. He would eat cake, break, etc.. and still not gain wait like he would here.