Sun 6 Apr 2008
Posted by Meg under American Cities , International Travel , flying
Every time I fly, I fantasize about what it would be like to work on a plane, either as a flight attendant or pilot. It would be great to get to travel so much and see so much of the world, and the free travel benefits would be pretty sweet. But of course there’s a down side. You wouldn’t get to choose where you go, really, and it’s essentially a customer service job, which I know from too many years of experience is just about the worst possible field to work in. And the schedule would be a bitch. By the end of each flight, I’ve talked myself out of these career ambitions yet again.
Still, I’m always curious about that life. The cons may be enough to keep me from ever having personal experience, but I’d still love to hear more about the perks. And heck, as long as I don’t have to go through the bad stuff myself, I’d enjoy those stories, too. Which is why I’ve become addicted to The Cockpit Chronicles. Kent Wien is a commercial airline pilot who blogs about his job in this new feature series.
In the days before 9/11, airlines used to allow passengers to step up, take a look around the cockpit and chat it up with the pilot(s) for a while during a flight, but those days are long gone now. The only way you’re going to see the inside of a cockpit now is to become a pilot or read The Cockpit Chronicles. Wien talks about flight schedules, airplane technology and design, and shares humorous and interesting on-the-job anecdotes. He takes great pictures from the sky, too, showing views that you can only get from the front seat of the plane.
Reading these stories makes me feel like an especially savvy traveler, as Wien explains all the airline lingo and how they operate. If you’ve ever been curious about the life of an airline employee, Cockpit Chronicles is a must-read. One thing that surprised me is that even with 15 years under his belt with one airline, Wien is still pretty junior on the seniority ladder. 80% of the pilots flying out of Boston with him have more seniority — if 4/5ths of the pilots have stuck with their jobs for 15+ years, there must be something good about the work. I’ll keep that in mind next time I consider signing up for flight school…
