I just got my schedule for December. I have 31 days off. This means that my last day flying as an airline pilot will be November 30. I’m absolutely clueless about where to go next. Aside from applying for unemployment, I really don’t even know what the next step is. Last time I found myself unemployed, flying jobs were really easy to come by, as we were in the middle of a huge pilot shortage. It’s a very different story now, with tens of thousands of pilots out of work, many of whom are far better qualified for what few…
November 20, 2009 Dear Berck, Recently, we announced the loss of 26 CRJ and 10 Dash 8 aircraft from the United Airlines system. As a result of the loss of business, we must continue to reduce our staffing levels. Due to these circumstances, we find it necessary to furlough you effective December 7, 2009. A furlough is never an easy decision, and I assure you we have exhausted all of our available options. Thank you for all your hard work and support. It is our intention to make every effort to recall you from furlough as quickly as possible. Sincerely,…
It’s never a good sign when things go wrong the first leg of a 4-day trip. The flight started on time and there wasn’t a cloud in Denver, despite the afternoon thunderstorm forecast. This should have seemed ominous enough, but we plowed ahead. The inbound flight arrived a little late, as usual, and we just managed to get the door closed for an on-time departure with less than 15 seconds to spare. It was my leg, and I was bit annoyed that with a departure from Runway 34R we were unable to get a westbound turn, or a climb higher…
And worse, I’m not sure why. I’m not sure how much better I could have done at the interview.
I had a two hour break between flights in Denver on Wednesday. When I turned my phone on, it indicated that I had a voice mail, which meant that either Mesa wanted to change my schedule or one of my parents had called me. Anyone else would have sent a text message. In any case, I feared bad news. Imagine my surprise when the message unexpectedly started with, “Hi, this is Dee Marsh from Lynx Aviation. We’d like to extend an invitation for you to interview on Friday…” My immediate reaction was unfettered glee, but that was quickly tempered by…