Office with a View: A Day in the Airline Pilot Life

Waking up early, that hellish morning commute in rush hour traffic. Getting to the office and grabbing a cup of already stale coffee. For too many folks this is their day in, day out life. If it works for them, that’s great but it’s not the life for us! We want the freedom of flight, the adventure of waking up in different cities across the globe, and the competitive pay and great benefits don’t hurt! This time on the AeroGuard blog we’re looking at what a day in the airline pilot life looks like.

Airline Pilot Life – The Day to Day

Depending on where you’re based, your flight plans might start the day before you start a trip. For this blog’s purpose, we’ll assume you’re in the midst of a few day flight plan.

Starting Your Day

You wake up in the overnight hotel your airline has booked you and your crew in for your stay. After a shower, you tend to your morning (depending on hours) routine. You have a flight time and a show time that you want to be sure you’re making. And given the short commute you need to make before, you will probably want to eat now.

Of course, you’re in an all new city! You’ve never been to this part of the country before and you hear they have an excellent biscuit. Well, it’d be a shame to waste this opportunity, wouldn’t it? You talk with your crew and quickly head across the street to a nearby breakfast joint and get your hands on that local fare. The rumors were true, it’s delicious. You’ll have to remember this place for the next time your schedule has you running this route.

You (and crew) take a hotel vehicle back to the airport and arrive for show time. This is usually between 45 minutes to an hour before the actual flight time, but it’s an important chunk of time. During all the prep work and transitions between crews, planes, and passengers, there are at times hiccups. Luckily for you, today is smooth going so you have a little bit of downtime before you really get to work.

You’ll go through security. Sit down in the lounge and review the weather over the flight path. Grab a cup of coffee while you are at it!

Take to the Skies

Next, you’ll be heading to the gate get ready for the actual flight! There you will meet the other crew working the flight with you. You’ll go over all the flight prep that you’ve learned in flight school and continuously honed during your airline pilot lifetime. This is why you got into the job to begin with!

You fly! Enjoying the lovely weather, the freedom and indescribable sensation of flight. This is the highlight of the day, and you’re actually at work! Depending on the route you are flying and the destination the experience might vary. Some smaller airports might require different landing procedures from the majors and so you adapt to what’s required, putting your expertise to work and getting everyone where they are going, safely.

You arrive at the destination, letting passengers filter off before shutting down the plane and doing the necessary inspections. Once everything is checked and cleared (or marked and followed up on with the ground crew to take a look at) you gather up your belongings and head off.

You might have another flight scheduled in which case you repeat the previous steps of check-in, crew meetings, and flight prep. If the schedule requires it (you have some time to kill between flights) you may grab a quick bite in the airport before your next flight.  

Clocking Out

After your duty day (the pilot’s workday) you’ll take another hotel vehicle to check in and wind down. Whether you get right to sleep or have some time to explore the new city is up to you and the regulations on required rest time, but either way, you’re laying your head down in an entirely different place, thousands of miles (or just a short hop) away!

Sound like the dream? We can help with that. AeroGuard Fight Training Center trains the best pilots in the industry and our partnership with SkyWest means your path to takeoff has never been clearer! Start your career today!