 |
| Products | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
| Communicate | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
| Affiliated Sites | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Perspectives Lee Dutson, Skywest Airlines | Lee Dutson, Skywest Airlines |
| Written by Lee Dutson | |
| Wednesday, 03 October 2007 | |
 While contemplating a career change in 2000, I found jetcareers. Since that time this site has been tremendously helpful to me in guiding my aviation career. I certainly need to give something back to it by adding my own experience to the perspectives section. When I was young I had always thought aviation might be an interesting line of work. However once out of high school I didn’t pursue aviation because I believed that all pilots started in the military and you had to be a nearly perfect student to get there. I was more of a “B” student kind of guy so I focused my career interests in other places. I pursued a degree in Economics as well as Spanish, at the University of Utah. (Go Utes!!!) This is something I do not regret, simply because it could give me something to fall back on should I find myself suddenly furloughed or medical certificate free. Years later, shortly before college graduation, I started looking into aviation and found that it was a much more attainable goal than I had previously thought. I decided to at least get a private pilot license, see how I liked it and go from there. (Like most I was hooked within several flights.) Fresh out of college I needed to work to stabilize my young family’s financial situation. So I got a so called “real job” and joined the white collar work force. During this time I researched my training options. I looked into the military but by then I was too near the max age limit of 27.5. (I believe it has gone up since then.) So I continued with my day job while working on my Private and Instrument ratings during the evenings. I flew 2 or 3 times a week at local Salt Lake area FBO’s. After several years at my day job, one Monday morning I was called into the regional manager’s office. I was informed that I along with the other younger tenured employees was to be laid off. My original intent had been to work full time, fly evenings and complete my ratings through CFI. Then I would make the jump and pay cut to flight instructing. Obviously this changed my plans a bit. So with a couple of months of severance to cover me, plus some savings, I decided to jump in, see if I could accelerate my ratings and get to my CFI. I had already finished my instrument rating and was working on my commercial. I found a job working for a flight club/FBO and its management company as a flight operations supervisor and sales person. (G & B Aircraft Management & The Utah Aircraft Alliance. The later is now defunct.) I was fortunate to be able to work at the same place I was using to complete my ratings. In time I finished all my instructor ratings and shifted most of my duties to flight instructing. I then instructed full time for nearly two years. I flew often in the usual Cessna and Piper trainers, but I also had the fortune of logging a large amount of time in a wide variety of more unique aircraft including the Seneca, Cessna 210 and 310, Cirrus, Turbo Lance, Comanche and a Beech Bonanza among other things. HIRING CYCLES Few if any regional airlines were hiring when I hit the magical 1000 hour mark so I just kept plugging away. I sent out resumes to any company that would accept them and for the most part I heard nothing. When I hit around the 1400 hour mark I managed to get an interview with SkyWest, who had just resumed hiring. Although I spent weeks in preparation, the SIM portion of my interview did not go very well and I was unsuccessful at the end of the day. When I failed that first interview, it really knocked the wind out of me. Very few airlines were hiring at the time, so as you would expect I felt that this was my big chance. The best advice I can give any one in a similar situation is to simply be patient, persistent and try not to whine. If you don’t throw your hands up and surrender eventually things do work out Around seven months later I re-interviewed and got the job. (I had around 1800 TT and 300 multi at the time of hire. These numbers were typical for my class at the time.) I was hired onto the EMB 120 Brasilia in the Fall of 2004. After a year in the Brasilia it was my intention to transition over to the regional jet, primarily for pay reasons. However no classes were being run at the time, so I stayed on the Brasilia. Four months passed and the company started to run both transition and upgrade classes. (Transition = Changing aircraft but stay in your seat as first officer or captain. Upgrade = Change from first officer to captain.) I chose to upgrade to Brasilia captain. Which is were have been since Spring of 2006.  An inside and outside view of the EMB 120 SIM at LGB  It has been mentioned on this site that aviation hiring is either feast or famine. I found this statement, at least at the regional level, to be very true. After one failed interview and a year of no job offer bites, I was suddenly flooded with interview offers from Comair, ASA, Chautauqua, and Express Jet. The same week I re-interviewed at SkyWest I also successfully interviewed at Chautauqua. I mention this not to boast but to simply illustrate how this industry can work. You may fill out ten applications, hear nothing for a long time and then by default learn to be patient. Or you could glide smoothly from your ratings to your first commercial/CFI gig, then move on to the regional job of your choice. At the time of this writing (Fall 2007) nearly all regional airlines are hiring, some with minimums lower than 600 hours total time. REAL JOBS VS FLYING JOBS I suppose I fall into the definition of “Career Changer.” Before, during and after college I have been in several professions. I worked for several years at a major financial institution servicing and trading mutual fund accounts. I sold real estate for over five years to help finance my college degree. Finally I worked for over two years as an account executive working with medium to large corporate accounts selling business supplies. Sounds kind of hokey but it was good money. While I didn’t despise any of these jobs, and I found a certain amount of personal satisfaction in them; I could not picture myself doing any of them for the rest of my working life. In addition, some of them involved high amounts of stress. I found that often times work followed me home either in the form a cell phone call from a client, or being unable mentally to turn off the events of the day. Conversely as a pilot, once I am done with a trip I am truly off. Rarely does work follow me home. To me flying for a living is certainly rewarding. However, I certainly don’t see it with rose colored glasses. Each company I have worked for, aviation and non-aviation, has the usual workplace issues. No matter where you go, no matter what industry you are in, there are going to be things you like and dislike. That said I have been far more satisfied with my professional life since I started flying for a living. (From CFI until now.) I used to have the so called “Sunday night blues,” where you dread going to work the next day. Rarely do I experience that phenomenon with my aviation career. I find the job satisfying, challenging and something to be proud of. For the first time I can see myself doing this until I reach retirement. I certainly don’t think that aviation is a career for everyone. I have close friends in different industries that have gone through several career changes until they found one that fit. Ultimately I have found that those who like what they do, regardless of what it might be, are the most successful people. For example, in my last non-aviation job, the guys who really did well, won the large accounts and made the big bucks, were the ones who loved it. They were the people who did not dread going to work when Monday morning came around. CAREER CHANGING, FAMILY AND AVIATION I started into aviation already married with a couple of ankle biters running around the house. If you are married or committed to somebody, the significant other has to be onboard if you decide to do the aviation thing. Your schedule will be different and getting there will be a financial sacrifice. If you are a career changer then you will have to deal with the opportunity cost of the better wages you would have earned at your non aviation job; while instead you pay your dues to become a professional pilot. I was fortunate to have some cash saved before I started, but it did not stretch as far as I wanted it to. I found a CFI job that paid much better than average, plus my wife had an excellent part time job that helped. Even so we still lived lean, on a mega tight budget for almost four years. Instead of buying a home we had to rent a small townhouse. We drove older cars and didn’t eat out much. (On the upside I did learn a lot about auto mechanics while fixing my own vehicles.) Only since I became a captain have I started to earn the type of money that I earned in my pre-aviation days nearly six years prior. Being away each week has required some adjustment and schedules certainly vary. On one hand you might be able to work local trips that have you home each night, on the other hand you might be away on four day, three night trip. My wife and I talk everyday while I am away. When I am home I try very hard to be there for her and my kids. I do occasionally spend “me” time with my friends but the majority of the time, when not working; my time is spent with my wife and kids. If you are going to choose the airline lifestyle, your spouse and kids, if you have any, should be at the top of your priority list when you are home. Dude where’s my Regional Jet? Recently I had a conversation with an old crusty, very retired, airline pilot. Early in his career he had flown DC-3s. His advice to me was to enjoy flying the smaller propeller driven planes. He enjoyed his life flying the big iron, but he always looked back on his early DC-3 days as some of the most fun and challenging flying in his career. Interestingly enough he was not the first person who has passed that bit of advice my way. When I was hired at SkyWest I had hoped to start out in the Regional Jet. (Yeah, I probably had a little shiny jet syndrome.) Turns out, to my disappointment, I got the Brasilia instead. Looking back I am glad that I have had the opportunity to fly a turboprop. The Brasilia is a capable airplane. It can fly up to 32000 feet, though we are restricted to 28000 with the current air traffic control RSVM system. Its true airspeed is around 280 knots in cruise. It has an FMS (Flight management system) and many are EFIS equipped. The plane has most of the systems that you would expect on larger transport category aircraft, so it provides you with great exposure in those areas. Yet it also does a great job working in and out of smaller airfields that might not be well suited for many jets. On a typical day you will fly into a wide variety of airports. You might find yourself flying into big airports like San Francisco, Los Angeles international, Portland, Salt Lake or Seattle. While on the same day you might fly into small uncontrolled airports such as Cody Wyoming, or Arcata, Crescent City or Inyokern CA. (Of course you’ll also work through many midsized airports as well, but you get the picture.) My point here is you will stretch your flying skills. In a single flight you might depart behind a 747 bound for Tokyo and an hour later find yourself flying a pattern at a small uncontrolled airport like you did as a private pilot. You might fly the dreaded flight between LAX and Orange County where you barely have time to catch your breath because the flight time is only nine minutes. Many of your flights will be in the lower flight levels, possibly still in the weather, dealing with ice, or picking your way around thunderstorms with your radar. You’ll get plenty of chances to fly ILS approaches but also VOR and GPS approaches are not uncommon. While I’m using examples from the SkyWest system, I suspect any turboprop operator will give you this type of flying experience. I could use the words of one of our checkairman who said: “This is the last airplane that you will truly fly.” Meaning sooner or later you’re going to end up flying a more automated jet of for the rest of your career. So while you are there, enjoy the “hands on” turboprop flying. It might be the Brasilia, Beech 1900, Dash 8 or maybe a Saab. In any case you’ll be a better pilot for the experience. In the case of the Brasilia it has plenty of automation yet it requires a fair amount of work from its pilots. Plus the type of flying we do is conducive to improving your IFR and “stick” skills. At some point I’m sure I will move into something with jet engines, but I will never regret my time in a turboprop.  EMB 120 Cockpit & Sunset over Nevada. Taken during a reposition flight without passengers. |
|
| Last Updated ( Wednesday, 03 October 2007 ) |