Oct 12th, 2011 at 11:00AM: "I'm getting kind of tired of these chicken Caesar salads."
I said those words just a few months into my career at American. The statement resonated loudly after I was furloughed and flying for a freight airline with barely a bottle of water on board, so I vowed that I would never complain about a crew meal again.
In fact, when I came back to AA I nearly cried when a flight attendant entered ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
pilot posts
Cockpit Chronicles: Video—Food in the cockpit. How it's prepared and what is served
Oct 12th, 2011 at 11:00AM: "I'm getting kind of tired of these chicken Caesar salads."
I said those words just a few months into my career at American. The statement resonated loudly after I was furloughed and flying for a freight airline with barely a bottle of water on board, so I vowed that I would never complain about a crew meal again.
In fact, when I came back to AA I nearly cried when a flight attendant entered ...Cockpit Chronicles: A captain's line check
Sep 16th, 2011 at 10:30AM: Once every two years a captain is required to be observed by a check airman. And captains over sixty must be checked every six months.
I touched on the line check in the last Cockpit Chronicles, and I've had yet another trip with a check airman performing a line check, making it two in the last eight days. Both of the captains I was flying with were over sixty. As a result of the change in ...Cockpit Chronicles: A 'new' pilot's first trip on the line
Sep 8th, 2011 at 4:00PM: To say it's been a long time since we've seen any newly hired pilots at our airline is an understatement. Up until now, the junior most pilots have been here for more than ten years.
As I was riding in to work on the JFK Airtrain a few weeks ago, I looked up the crew list again on my phone. I was surprised to see that the co-pilot (I was the relief pilot this day) was listed as 'open.' That ...Cockpit Chronicles: Landing an airline pilot job just got harder, but here's one way to do it.
Jun 30th, 2011 at 3:00PM: Last year H.R. 5900 was signed into law requiring the FAA to set a new 1,500 hour minimum flight time requirement for any new airline pilots including small companies hiring co-pilots for their 19-seat airplanes.
The law is mandated to take effect by August of 2013 and was one of the recommendations to come from the Colgan Flight 3407 accident in Buffalo, even though both accident pilots had ...Southwest Airlines pilot saves the day - turns screaming boy into honorary pilot
Mar 26th, 2011 at 11:30AM:
We all know that flying has its challenges - and most of us know that flying when trapped inside the metal tube with a screaming kid only helps make things worse. That was the prospect facing passengers on a Southwest Airlines flight from Houston to San Antonio earlier this week.
When Captain Joe Gautille was preparing for his flight, he heard the screams of three year old Alex coming down ...Cockpit Chronicles: Is it time for pilots to ditch the hat?
Mar 22nd, 2011 at 9:00AM: Call it civil disobedience. Or, for some, it's a way to express displeasure at management. Maybe the hat just doesn't work well with their haircut. Whatever the reason, pilots have been ditching their hats lately at airlines across the country.
Some companies have heard enough complaints that they've changed their policy, making the hat optional for their pilots.
In fact, effective March ...Video: pilot fakes fainting - passenger freaks out
Mar 8th, 2011 at 3:00PM:
Consider this "pilot fakes fainting" video a "do not watch" if you are afraid of flying. For all others, you be the judge of whether the clip is fake of not.
Either way, sitting in the back of a small prop plane and watching your pilot pass out, hearing the engine throttle down and starting to descend is a sure way to scare the crap out of anyone. And yes - we know the clip is slighly old, ...
Cockpit Chronicles: Alaska flying - then and now
Mar 1st, 2011 at 12:00PM: Last week I found myself flying to London with a captain who had started his career in pretty much the same way I did-he too had worked for a couple of airlines in Alaska, albeit more than a decade before me.
As we headed out to dinner, we happened to run into another pilot I knew who, coincidentally, flew for Era Alaska just as I had. Even more surprising was that his co-pilot flew for an ...Hot coffee hijacks United Airlines plane?!
Jan 5th, 2011 at 3:30PM: Drinking and driving is a problem ... and drinking and flying is no different. A United Airlines pilot found this out the hard way: he spilled his coffee, which triggered a hijacking alert. So, United Flight 940, which was set to go from Chicago to Frankfurt, Germany, had to dash across the border to Canada for an unscheduled stop.
A hijacking alert can have that effect, you know.
The plane ...Ryanair insanity: Captain Morgan suggests mutiny, ordered to Lithuania
Dec 7th, 2010 at 1:30PM: If I could make this stuff up, I'd become a novelist. Seriously.
Captain Morgan Fischer, a pilot with Ryanair, decided to try out the type of stunt for which his boss, Michael O'Leary, is famous. And, he learned what happens when you tangle with a master media whore.
Apparently implying that O'Leary is a moron, Fischer took public issue with the company CEO's notion that a co-pilot could be ...Plane Answers: What kind of math skills are needed to become a pilot?
Nov 27th, 2010 at 3:00PM: Zach asks:
Hello First Officer Kent!
It has been my dream since early childhood to earn a private pilot's certificate. For a number of reasons--both financial and otherwise--it is only now (pushing age 30) that I am able to seriously begin the process of choosing a flight school and creating a road map to the goal of earning the license (while I would love to work as an airline pilot, I am ...Pilot body scans and counter-terror operations: distant consideration for special forces
Nov 24th, 2010 at 3:00PM:
The uproar over TSA body scanners and pat-downs has hit every corner of the aviation world, from passengers to pilots. The vocal consensus, at least, is that nobody likes them, even though 64 percent of Americans support the practice and 70 percent don't expect it to impact their travel. A friend of mine, flying today, tweeted that he made it through security at New York's JFK airport in a mere ...Airlines powerless against the pregnant
Sep 22nd, 2010 at 10:00AM: Fortunately, there aren't many babies born on planes. Run the numbers on this one: it just doesn't happen much. One would assume that rules around flying later in pregnancy have helped, but it turns out that these requirements really boil down to an honor system that leaves the carriers virtually powerless.
Of course, most pregnant women pay attention to the rules (or guidelines, in ...Delta pilot nailed for (allegedly) drunk-flying from Amsterdam to Newark
Sep 15th, 2010 at 2:00PM: It's a long flight from Amsterdam to the New York City/Newark area. I've done it. I get antsy and bored. I bring lots of stuff to do. Anything that could make the time pass a little faster would make it onto my list ... and that includes putting a few cocktails back.
Of course, I'm not the guy flying the plane.
A Delta pilot was arrested and fined for being drunk, allegedly, when getting ...Trucker-style pilot gets nine months in jail
Sep 7th, 2010 at 12:00PM: Stephen Sharp was pushing for probation. The former US Airways Express pilot was nailed by the feds for selling "selling a powdered drink mix over the Internet that he claimed was '100 percent' effective in helping drug-using truck drivers, pilots and train engineers pass federally mandated drug tests."
Yes, it was a genius move for a man in a highly regulated profession ... which is why the ...Spirit Airlines grounded by pilot strike - UPDATED
Jun 13th, 2010 at 10:30AM: Spirit Airlines has found itself grounded this weekend, after contract negotiations with their pilots failed to result in an agreement.
The pilots have been negotiating for four years - and Spirit claims they have offered a 30% pay increase over the next five years, along with several other perks.
Sean Creed is the head of the Spirit Airlines pilot group within the union, and had the ...JetBlue pilot removed from Boston plane after gun threat incident
May 23rd, 2010 at 12:00PM:
A JetBlue co-pilot has been removed from his Boston crew lounge when he sent an email to his ex-girlfriend mentioning his plans to harm himself.
The pilot is a member of the TSA Federal Flight Deck Officer program, which allows pilots to carry guns on their plane - the program was developed after the attacks on 9/11. Upon being confronted by authorities, the pilot handed over the gun and ...
If only it were that easy
Apr 22nd, 2010 at 12:00AM:
Many people who write into the Plane Answers column have questions about what it takes to become a pilot. Little did they know, the answer lies in the genius of the online comic XKCD. Perhaps this is how the venerable Kent Wien reached the pointy end of the plane.
[Via XKCD] ...Plane Answers: Crew rest seats and identifying pilot uniforms
Mar 29th, 2010 at 2:30PM: Welcome to Gadling's feature, Plane Answers, where our resident airline pilot, Kent Wien, answers your questions about everything from takeoff to touchdown and beyond. Have a question of your own? Ask away!
Ignacio asks:
Say you're on a Boston-Paris trip. The flight is totally loaded up, so there are no free seats, neither First nor Tourist class. When it comes to rest-time, what do you ...Plane Answers: A controller opinion on the JFK kid and a college major for pilots
Mar 10th, 2010 at 1:00PM: Welcome to Gadling's feature, Plane Answers, where our resident airline pilot, Kent Wien, answers your questions about everything from takeoff to touchdown and beyond. Have a question of your own? Ask away!
A friend of mine who works as an air traffic controller emailed me with his thoughts on the JFK 'bring your kid to work' controversy. Here's what he had to say:
Each of my 3 kids have ...
