My First Year at the Airlines

I thought people were exaggerating when they said "if you can survive the first year at the airlines, then you will be fine".  I always wondered what that even meant.  I can't be as bad as they all say, right?  I definitely didn't understand it until I experienced it.  I'm writing this post so that you can be educated, because even though it will still be tough, at least you know what to expect.

Keep in mind that this is my experience only, and it doesn't mean yours will be just like mine.  I've seen some pilots get hired and hold a line (hold a line just means you get a schedule) within weeks after training.  I've also seen people who get hired and are on reserve (reserve just means on-call) for years before they hold a line.  But here is my story.

I finished IOE middle October 2012.  I lived in Utah at the time, but had my IOE trip out of Palm Springs, California, where I got based.  Though I had never flown standby, I quickly had to figure out how it worked so I could get to my IOE trip in Palm Springs.  Palm Springs is not an easy commute because the flights from SLC-PSP and visa versa are always full.  But I figured it out and got myself to and from PSP for IOE.

I finished IOE late one night and woke up first thing the next morning to travel back home to SLC.  As I walked into my Springville, UT home, I got a call from Crew Support telling me I would be on reserve for the next 5 days or so starting the next day.  What?!?  I just walked in the door.  There was literally no way for me to get back down there that same day.  I figured I would have a couple of days off after IOE, but I was wrong.  I had to use my 4 moving days starting the next day so I could figure everything out.

As Palm Springs does not have good city transportation, and movement in the company halted- squashing my hope of getting based in SLC, I decided to drive a car down.  I tried to live with my Grandparents who lived exactly 2 hours away, but after being late for work the first time I was called in, I realized that was not going to work.  So I found a crash pad.

My Awesome Crashpad

The crash pad had zero furniture, was not sound proofed at all, and had only 1 bedroom to be shared by me and 2 other guys.  Not ideal, but better than being late for work.  Because I was so junior, even though I bid for the reserve schedule I wanted, I never got it, and ended up being on reserve every weekend.  My husband and I realized that if he didn't come visit me on the weekends, we were going to see each other only a few hours each week.  That is hard on the marriage!



Luckily we didn't have any kids and my husband was willing to travel standby, so if I hadn't been called in by Friday night, he would go straight to the airport after work and fly down to stay with me in the crash pad.  Leaving him every week was really hard; especially since I knew I may not work; but also because I knew he may not make it down on those always full flights and then I would be alone for 4-5 days.  Not working (even though I was getting a paycheck) was the hardest thing I have ever had to do.  Working makes a person feel useful and productive.  Sitting around all day is awful!  Especially when you are not at home, staying in a place with no furniture, and living out of one suitcase.

After 1 month the crashpad fell apart, so I had to find somewhere else to live.  I rented a room from a single lady just a few minutes from the airport.  It was better than the crashpad (I had a bed now!), but still really weird to rent and have a roommate when I was used to living with just my husband.  Also, I came to realize that I hate dog hair, and she had 3 dogs that shed like crazy.  She was great to rent from, but I really did not like the situation.  My husband and I rarely saw each other, when he came to visit it felt weird sleeping in this lady's house together, and commuting was getting old.

I had 2 and sometimes 3 days off in between reserve days, but I had to use most of those days commuting, so it almost wasn't even worth going home.  But seeing my husband for just one evening was still worth it to me.  I can't even imagine doing this schedule with kids, but I know people do it all the time- those people amaze me!

After having this crazy schedule for only 5 months, I began to see why so many airline pilots are divorced.  If our marriage had been rocky (which it wasn't), this easily could have pulled us further apart.  What's a marriage if you never see each other?  The company was still at a standstill and there were only rumors of when movement would start again, so my husband decided it would be best, and a fun adventure, for us to just move down.

We moved down the middle of March.  Kind of scary to have everything you own in a tiny moving truck. Good thing it didn't get stolen!  My husband got a temporary restaurant job, and I continued to be on reserve.  Things started to look hopeful.  I was still bored out of my mind and wanted to work, but the company was overstaffed by hundreds of pilots, so I rarely got called.

Most of the time when I did get called in I was TDY'd (Temporary Duty Yonder) to LAX and had to sit in that hotel waiting to be called.  And I never did.  It sucked!  The closest grocery store was over a mile away, the area surrounding the hotel was super sketchy, and though the room was nice (pic on the right), eating out of my cooler for 4-5 days at a time was not ideal.  Though I am sure some pilots would love this situation, I did not.  I wanted to work!  The bad thing about not flying that much was forgetting things.  I continued to study, but every time I got back in the airplane I felt a bit out of place.

Like I've said before, some people like reserve, but it was not for me.  I had to have a bag packed at all times.  If my husband and I wanted to go do something, we had to drive separate cars.  I also didn't like being required to have my phone on me at all times.  Sometimes I like to not have it.

Finally in July 2013 things started turning around.  I got a composite schedule, which is half reserve half schedule.  It was fantastic!  I had a lot more days off, but got to work a decent amount.  August I got a full line!  Though I got stuck with whatever was left, it didn't matter because I was working now.  By October my seniority jumped from bidding 20 to bidding 6!  I went from getting what was left over to getting exactly what I wanted.

Though it was incredibly hard for me in the beginning, it was worth it.  If somebody told me that I would have to go through all that my first year at the airlines, I would still go back and do it because the payoff is fantastic.  During that first year there were many times I wished I would have stayed flight instructing, but now I realize that this job is so much better than that!  My life is better than I ever dreamed it would be.  I get to fly with great crews, I get to fly to beautiful destinations, and I get to travel all the time.  So when you go to the airlines, know that it will be an adjustment in the beginning, but if you stick with it, it will be worth it.