Welcome to my Views From the Left Seat. I’m so happy you have decided to join me on this journey. As a 29+ year airline pilot, researcher, educator and opinion writer, I hope you enjoy my thoughts.
So, how did I get here? My story, while not uncommon, is, I hope, interesting. I grew up in small-town America, the first born of a man who is considered a “jack of all trades.” As such, he imparted in me the belief that there is nothing I cannot do.
I learned to weld and drive a backhoe before I could drive a car. And, even then, he made me learn to change the tires and maintain the vehicle before he ever turned over the keys. My father believes there is nothing a man can do that a woman cannot. He expected my sister and I be as mechanically versed as my brother, and we are!
Perhaps, that is why I chose the non-traditional career field of aviation. I knew I did not want to merely follow the herd and attend either University of Illinois or Illinois State. Everyone in our town did. Some actually graduated, most ladies merely opted for an MRS. So, when the flyer arrived for a flight school in Florida, my interest was piqued.
I deduced that there were three career fields that would always exist: health-care, government, and transportation, the latter of which seemed to be in my blood as dad also made me learn to drive his 18-wheeler. The thought of working for an airline as an agent or manager seemed interesting as I knew I wanted to see the world.
However, when I arrived at Embry-Riddle to tour the school with my mother, I was amazed that girls were getting into airplanes. I could not believe that they let women fly airplanes professionally, and immediately knew I had found my calling. Small-town was about to meet the world.
Fast forward through college and financial hardship. I eventually landed a job running airport security at Tulsa International Airport sub-letting an office from Continental Airlines’ operations. Every day the pilots came in to get their weather and flight releases my heart ached for the freedom of flight. Little did I know what the future held.
Chasing a bigger paycheck, I secured employment at NMP, Inc. working as a government contract administrator. NMP provided shipboard electrical panels for everything from GE’s Electric Boat submarines to China Shipbuildings freighters. The pay was great and my performance excelled so much that my boss offered me the opportunity to travel to Avondale Gulfport Marine, makers of the US Navy’s LCAC’s. Unfortunately, he made one mistake. He chartered a Mitsubishi MU-2, and knowing my love of flying, he let me ride in the front seat. That was all she wrote.
Two weeks after we returned, I had saved enough to finish my Commercial/Instrument and CFI. I promptly resigned, finished my ratings, and went to work instructing at Spartan School of Aeronautics. My boss was sad, but he knew where I belonged.
A typical pilot, I chased jobs moving nine times in two and a half years. I worked in Mena, AR, delivering airplanes for a paint shop; flew for the Arkansas Forestry Commission searching for forest fires; and then at Air St. Thomas in the Caribbean. Eventually, I landed at American Eagle-Executive Airlines based in SJU, MIA, and DFW. It was while based at DFW when I finally scored a B-727 Flight Engineer seat at Express One flying the USPS overnight mail.
My early career, while maybe I did not fully appreciate it at the time, presented the opportunity of a lifetime to learn from some of the most experienced pilots on the planet. Eastern had folded. Pan Am was gone. And, all those pilots not ready to retire went to work for the supplemental FAR 121 carriers, such as Express One and Ryan International.
It was a wild ride at a carrier whose very survival required a 98% on-time reliability and who received fines for every minute we were late. The pressure to carry MEL’s was horrendous. The need to be onetime ensured our livelihoods. The decisions I witnessed those captains make with regards to what was and what was not risk-worthy is an education to which very few were privy. I also learned that a career at the supplementals was not for me if I valued a long, safe, prosperous, violation-free career!
As soon as I could I bailed. America West sent me to B757 school which was awesome training. Actually, their entire pilot program was excellent. They were a small family with an outstanding operation (remember Sully?). However, living in the desert (PHX) was depressing for this midwesterner. Who in their right mind likes gravel front yards? I like to put my toes in Kentucky Bluegrass, but I digress. A winter in Phoenix depressed me so much so, I kept looking.
At that time, Gordon Bethune was working hard to save Continental Airlines. All I knew is that I used to rent an office from the “Meatball” airline, and those folks were not happy (think Lorenzo-time frame). But, they called for an interview so I went–anything to escape the desert.
I had no idea into what I was walking. The first thing I saw was clean airplanes that were on time. The employees were happy and sincerely cared about each other and their passengers. By the time my interview was over, I WANTED THAT JOB.
After a successful simulator ride, on April 28, 1998, I landed my dream job. Little did I know what I was in for….