Remembering For The Future

Over the course of this semester we have had lectures from people from all over the industry some of which I found unhelpful and some that were very informative. And one (Mark Johnson's speech about the Livingston County Airport expansion) that while didn't really apply to me I found quite interesting. And while all of these people have opened my eyes to other aspects of the industry I still feel that I want to fly for Delta Airlines. However the way I was planning about getting there has changed.

My original plan of getting to my goal was probably the standard way of go work for a regional airline gaining a lot of hours (for very little pay) and eventually upgrading to the right seat in the majors. However after listening to some of our guest speakers I have been thinking about some other ways of gaining my hours.  However after listening to speakers like Aubrey, and Dewey I have found that by going the non-traditional route you can actually tend to learn a lot more and make more opportunities for yourself down the road.

Over the next several years I plan on doing some things that will help me to make my career really take-off (pun slightly intended). My first goal is to get my Airframe and Power plant Certification, with this I hope to work for a small maintenance facility at some point and be able to ferry planes to and from their owners this way I get flight time and get some experience with different aircraft systems. Second I intend to start gaining some hours as a flight instructor with Eagle Flight Center.

I intend to do some research into General Atomics and see if I would be a good fit while I may not be used to the dangers they are involved in I feel that I wouldn't mind traveling for them and I feel that it would open many doors. My other option is a little closer to home and fly for a local company Corporate Eagle I have talked about them earlier and now I have a contact that is currently flying for them. We never know the future but this class has opened my mind and hopefully will help me out. We shall see.

The Little Airliner That Could

There are currently two new European airline companies that subscribe to a new theory called Ultra Low Cost Carriers (ULCC’s). These new companies the French La Compagnie and the Iceland-based, WOW (seriously that is the name of the company); both have developed new ways of cutting costs of international travel. The French company La Compagnie has a fleet of Boeing 757 ‘s that have been modified instead of having about 150 seats including business and coach seating they have removed the coach section and replaced it with a total of 75 business class seats. This means that the people on board will enjoy more room and better seats. These planes leave from Newark airport and travel to Paris Charles DeGaul airport and cost about $1000 round trip compared to Delta's $,5000- $20,000 depending on your seat and how many stops.

The other company WOW (awesome name) has another way of saving money. With flights leaving from Baltimore and Boston to Reykjavík you would think that it would be fairly expensive, but no, a round trip ticket can cost as low as $400 (I think that’s why its named WOW as soon as you see the price that’s what you say) however this cost does not include baggage, drink, food, or even boarding pass printing fees. They are using narrow body Airbus A320’s for their flights because they are smaller planes they hold less passengers and therefore can allow you to have a little (very little) more room while flying. And due to the low fares it is almost guaranteed that the flight will be full.

One company that is becoming a ULCC is frontier Airlines which is offering lower prices than their chief rival Spirit Air. Frontier Airlines headquartered in Denver Colorado the company Frontier Airlines has a fleet of 55 active aircraft, with 93 aircraft ordered, and 78 destinations with 14 more routes becoming available soon out of Dulles Airport in Washington D.C. Currently Frontier only fly’s Airbus aircraft including the 319, 320, and 321, however they used to fly 737’s and Embraer ERJ 145’s. however these aircraft have since been retired.

Another company out there founded in 2003 and began flying in 2004 is the Budapest based company Wizz Air (another awesome name). This company fly’s all around the European skies and has a large amount of flights out of London. They currently only fly A320’s like WOW and have a fleet size of 74 aircraft. If you want to know more about this company visit their web site http://wizzair.com/en-GB/Search

Personally I think both of the companies discussed in my first two paragraphs are very interesting and neither really has an advantage over the other. WOW is cheap but who wants to go to Reykjavík while La Compagnie is a little more expensive the seating is more attractive and it does have the advantage of traveling to Paris which is a much nicer location, however it only flies there and Newark nowhere else.

Overall I feel that these models will bring a lot of business into the industry, it will also create a lot of competition. However these low prices might force a lot of companies out of business, not to mention what will happen to things such as maintenance because fixing an aircraft is not cheap to own and maintain.

To Boldy Go Where Few Men Have Gone Before

Recently the Virgin Galactic Space Ship Two was destroyed shortly after it separated from its launch vehicle. So far the investigation has determined that the cause of the accident is that the braking system was initiated early causing the aircraft to lose control. Currently it is believed that this is due to the co-pilot releasing the safety on the braking early.

The resulting breakup of the aircraft killed the co-pilot and injured the pilot who was able to eject and safely parachute to the surface. While the current thinking is that the feathering system caused the crash the NTSB has yet to rule anything out including pilot error which is being heavily looked at.

This is one of the latest failures to the civilian space tourism business. Space travel has always been a favorite subject for many people and being a trekkie myself I of course want to go and explore space. In the early 2000’s flights were offered to some participants to the international space station aboard Russian Soyuz capsules for a very affordable 20-40 million dollars (because I just so happen to have that kind of cash lying around).

However around 2010 these flights stopped due to an increase in crew sizes at the ISS. However flights are planned to resume around 2015. One of the most highly publicized private flights is the virgin galactic flights. The Virgin company has been making many headlines with its different designs for orbital and sub orbital ships. And people have been purchasing tickets on the first flights for years.

The FAA for once has fairly little regulations on something to do with air travel. The FAA regulations specifically Title 14 CFR Chapter III — Commercial Space Transportation, deals with certain space flight requirements such as launch licensing, license to operate a reentry site, Reentry of a Reentry Vehicle Other than a Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV), and human space flight requirements.

I see space tourism going very far (eventually Star Trek far) however I believe that it will take a very VERY, VERY, long time to get there. For the first dozen or so years that space tourism really begins to take off (no pun intended) it will only cater to the very rich because of the how costly it will be to get off the ground. However the longer that it is around the cheaper I believe it will become, it could eventually become as cheap as the price of an airline ticket (this again is a very long time from now).

From what I have found the requirements are fairly low for pilots going into this field they include A bachelor degree is required and only 1,000 hours of PIC time in a jet aircraft plus the usual medical requirements for pilots to name a few of the requirements. For the moment as with all of aviation it really boils down to who you know and who they know in order to get into the industry. While some companies have been advertising positions available they aren’t exactly hiring off the street.

For more information on the crash of Virgin Galactic Space Ship Two check out this website,

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/nov/03/virgin-galactic-crash-investigation-rules-nothing-out

No Rest For The Wicked Fast Cargo

After the New York aviation accident involving Colgan Air flight 3407 the government was swamped by protests from the families of the victims, these protests were aimed at getting the rest and training requirements for pilots changed. Before the requirement changes pilots were getting hired by airliners with very little hours this has been changed so that pilots are required to have 1500 hours of flight time before getting their Airline Transport Pilots certification.

Another rule change is that the rest period for pilots doesn’t begin until they actually check in to their hotel where as before the rest period began once you left the aircraft which is unfair to pilots because it could take an hour or two in order to get to your hotel eat something and finally fall asleep. Therefor while the pilots may have been off duty for eight hours in reality they only got about four hours of actual sleep. Because of this pilots were showing up to work and were seen yawning while boarding aircraft. And in the case of Colgan they were so tired they had no idea what was going on. Another incident involving fatigue like this was the Lexington Kentucky accident the pilots were so fatigued that when they arrived for work they boarded the wrong aircraft and began to pre-flight it.

Cargo carriers are exempt from these new rules partially because they do not carry passengers and partially because if they were exempt, then a lot of new pilots would not be able to get entry level jobs. Currently the cargo companies follow the old style of rest and training rules where they take fairly low time pilots and train them. However the pilots are only given eight hours of rest when they are off shift, this time does not include time to the hotel/home or time to eat just time from getting off the plane to getting back on.

I feel that part of the reason that the cargo carriers are exempt is because it is considered an entry level position in our professional field. If the cargo carriers were to be a part of these new rules it would limit the number of pilots in the industry and it would also increase the time it would take for less experienced pilots to get the time they need in order to go work at the airlines and other passenger carriers.

However I do feel that the cargo carriers should have to follow the new rules (at least the rest requirements) as a measure of safety. Many aviation accidents have been linked to cargo carriers and the fact that the pilots were fatigued. While admittedly the new rules are made more for the safety of passengers aboard aircraft it is still unsafe for the people on the ground if an airplane was to crash on the ground. While I feel that the rest rules would be good for the pilots of cargo carriers I feel that the hour requirements should still be up the that particular airline so that many young pilots such as myself can get an entry level position as a pilot there so that we may gain time and experience.

If the cargo carriers were to be made a part of these new requirements I would have to look elsewhere for beginning employment opportunities. Right now one of the easiest ways to get flight time is to fly for a cargo company because they take young pilots like me in and train us so that we gain hours fast and get into the airlines in decent time. However if it were to become part of the new rules we as pilots would be required to spend more of our money gaining time so that we could even work at entry level jobs placing us even more in debt.

For more information about the duty requirements checkout this page which lays them out and compares the new and old rules.

http://aviation.about.com/od/Regulations/a/Faa-Final-Rule-Pilot-Duty-And-Rest-Requirements.htm

Where is the Norway in Norwegian Airlines?

Norwegian Air International is a rather weird company. It is based in Ireland (even though it doesn't have any flights there). The pilots are from several Asian cultures primarily from Thailand. And they currently have flights from New York, California, and Florida that depart for across the pond and land in Scandinavia, Africa, and Asia.

United States carriers and even the Department of Transportation are against the idea of opening up more routes within the United States in part because they don’t want NAI’s low prices to affect the aviation market but mostly they are against it because of safety. Because the NAI is registered in Ireland they are not subject to many of the same safety rules that are present in both the United States or even in Norway. Also the pilots that they are hiring are not subject to the same safety checks that American or other pilots have to go through such as annual flight reviews.

The DOT has even recently denied the NAI to open more routes in the United States.  The main causes were the fact that the NAI wanted to be exempt from U.S. air regulations and follow their own rules, they also felt that the unfair price difference would force some small air carriers out of business. They also felt that the way the NAI ran their airline and its unusual creation was considered unsafe. These feelings were even felt in Europe and many European companies agreed with the U.S. DOT stand against NAI. Personally I am glad that the DOT shut down this proposal, while I feel that many airline ticket prices are rather expensive I still feel glad that there is some fair competition out there. It is also nice because the American carriers can still be around and hire American pilots.

If the NAI is able to get more routes in the U.S. it could completely destabilize the industry. Due to their low prices other major airlines like Delta would be forced to lower their prices. If this happens Delta would not be able to support their large fleet and would eventually have to go into bankruptcy. This is what would happen to most of the major airlines. Some of the smaller air carriers such as Southwest might still be able to survive however they would need to change their policies fairly quickly in order to keep up with the competition.

For more info on NAI check out these links:

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/09/department-of-transportation-denies-norwegian-air-international-permit-110536.html

http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/flights/2014/09/02/dot-norwegian-air-alpa-foxx/14810499/

http://www.norwegian.com/us/

Skynet Takes to the Skies

Currently most UAVs are privately owned and are used for enjoyment like flying at your local airport, or putting on an RC plane show however some people use them to survey areas and make videos. So far UAVs aren't really regulated when it comes to small UAVs like RC aircraft however when it comes to departments like homeland security or the department of defense they are highly regulated when it comes to the UAVs they use to defend and watch our borders.

UAVs are already being integrated into NAS the FAA has been working on regulations for UAVs for many years now and it has only become more of an issue. In the southern states the department of homeland security has been using UAVs to watch the border for 23 hours a day. They are being used along the coast to watch our harbors and are even being used for search and rescue purposes.

However with recent midair collisions and near misses the public is not looking to favorably upon UAVs except with regards to the amazon prime air in which case people see a flying target and some free stuff. The public doesn't quite see what all is going on in the background when it comes to the application of UAVs and in fact most people haven’t heard of them outside of the military drones. What most people don’t realize is that even now people like police and firefighters are using small UAVs to look potential crime areas or even disaster areas.

Just recently Detroit Michigan had a mock disaster drill involving a semi-truck and a car collision, when the fire department arrived on scene they immediately launched a small drone to look for any potential hazards and to assess the damage. The drill was a success.

Another thing to look at is the possibility of making commercial flights more unmanned. While this would be nice for the airliners having no pilots on the plane which means more paying passengers and more cabin space since you won’t need a cockpit I feel that this will never happen partly because of how the public feels and partly because if something goes wrong you want a pilot on the plane to fix it and get the plane on the ground safely.

I feel that the military has used UAVs effectively it has allowed us to have improved surveillance our enemies without putting pilots in harm’s way. It is also a little safer because you don’t have a single pilot making all the decisions with each drone there are two controllers one for the pilot who flies the plane and one who controls the weapons. Also because the pilot isn't in direct danger they have longer to make decisions and implement the procedures.

There are a lot of jobs out there for UAV operators in fact there are whole websites devoted to finding UAV jobs like this one http://jobs.uavjobbank.com/a/jobs/list/ I was actually surprised with how many jobs were out there. Many of these positions were for the National Guard however some were for companies like Textron who is currently looking for UAV flight instructors.

Personally while I don’t have a problem with UAVs I am glad that I am an old fashioned pilot. To me flying a UAV is like playing Microsoft Flight Simulator just with waaaayyyy better graphics and real world applications and consequences. I hope that in the future UAVs will be better regulated so that we stop having these near misses in the skies and everything will be a little better.

Air Taxi vs. Air Limo

In the world of aviation there are really two main sides of the same industry there is the airliner side and the corporate side. The airliner side is the one that everybody knows about. Here you have your Delta’s, American Airlines, your United Airlines, etc… however there is the side not many know about. That is the corporate side of aviation. As a corporate pilot you will fly some of the fastest jets in the world on top of being the fastest they are also the most luxurious. As a pilot your work will be based on when your employer wants to fly and so your work schedule is always up in the air no pun intended. However as a corporate pilot you can also make more money than an airliner pilot if that is the most important thing to you. It can also be said that corporate air carriers are cheaper than airliners and for the amount of service you get this is true it is still much more than a ticket in coach.

I feel that corporate aviation departments can save a company money because they aren't as limited as companies like the airlines when it comes to things like routes, and schedules.  As an airliner you are bound by specific routes that your aircraft must fly as a corporate pilot you are a little more free to choose your routes and make them more direct which could save a company both time and money. Also as an airline you are bound by a schedule for flights the corporate airlines are more flexible since they don’t have set schedules therefore you don’t have to have a full set of employees, therefore you don’t need to continuously pay for employees.

If I were to begin a career in the corporate world I would obviously start small and I would want to work at Corporate Eagle. Corporate Eagle is based out of the Pontiac Michigan airport. Corporate Eagle is a small company but they have some very nice planes such as the King Air, the Hawker 800 XP, and a Falcon 2000. However currently they are not hiring I have heard that they want pilots with at least 1,200 hours of flight time however they are willing to negotiate if you graduated from a part 141 school.

For more information about Corporate Eagle please visit

http://www.corporateeagle.com/