By John Wyman, EAA 462533, Chapter 266 Montreal
I suppose that as you age there comes a time when you reflect on the reasons why things turned out as they did? I guess wisdom and age go together. Some of the choices you made along the way probably weren’t optimal ones. They certainly weren’t in my case. I made many errors trying to get to the flight deck. I floundered around a lot at the start of my flying career. The flying business works in cycles. It is generally a seven-year cycle that determines the rate of pilot hiring and the overall health of the industry. If there are good times for five years running straight, then it is pretty much guaranteed for the next two that there will be a hiccup that derails everything. This could be a terrorist attack, SARS, a tech bubble, COVID anything. All we need to do is look at the past 25 years. Correction — make that back to when airlines started! They are always the first to go and the last to pick up. They come and go. A prime example of that now is what happened to Lynx Airlines. They were on the scene for only a few years — another initiative from some executives to penetrate the ULCC (Ultra Low-Cost Carrier) market in a country that has a very small population and many miles to cover to support that model. Once we get more than two to three of them vying for the same market in the country, everyone suffers. We like to think that the consumer is always the winner, but there are casualties. So, as a pilot, it is a bit of a crapshoot sometimes to “make it” and keep plugging away to find job security. Some pilots persevere and others fall by the wayside. I was one of the lucky ones.
I believe part of that “luck” was attributable to learning from my mistakes. I harnessed those into an expression on what it takes to make it to the flight deck and become a pilot. I simply called it The Three P’s and it’s not only limited to flying. It stands for passion, perseverance, and patience. It is applicable anywhere. Part of the inspiration to talk about it here is from a close friend of mine who brought it forward in his initial interview with the airline. When asked who or what words of advice had inspired him to become a pilot, he mentioned The Three P’s. He gave them the “speech” like I gave him. That was the ultimate compliment. He said it went over well. I like to think that it was one of the reasons why he got in. Today, he’s at the top of his game, working his way up the ranks. Let’s explore them.
Passion
I think passion is at the core of making the other two P’s work. If one isn’t passionate about their work, people will notice. It should be an obsession. It can’t be a casual interest. Trainers will easily look through the thin veil (if it’s lacking) and see that there isn’t much below the surface. In this business, without a passion for flying, no one’s doing anyone service. In order to learn how to fly and get somewhere, one must live and breathe it every day. I think this is especially prevalent with flying because it is such an unforgiving profession when things go south. Being at the top of one’s game is essential. Without mastering it passionately, whether training or on the line, one may squeeze through, but they won’t shine. Passion is easily recognized. It comes out in what is said and how it is said. That “drive” will naturally lead someone to stick with it and that’s where we get to the next “P.”
These annual checks are conducted in-house at the company from training personnel authorized by Transport Canada through the use of a SMS (Safety Management System) company-wide program. Pat is one of several pilots authorized by TC. We come from similar backgrounds, having both been in the Air Cadets and introduced to aviation early on by our fathers working in the industry as AMEs. Airplanes and flying are our common language; a passion that we like to share with others.
Perseverance
There are a lot of ups and downs (pun intended) in learning how to fly and then making a career out of it. Mistakes will be made. Employers will assess each employee’s performance on many factors. They want to see if they’re putting in the effort. One may, or may not, make the grade based on their performance. Getting checked on different types of aircraft takes a lot of studying and learning how to study well. I believe that is at the core of what university is all about — learning how to study. At least, that is what university graduates have told me. Airplane courses are kind of like condensed semesters. There are techniques to understand what is important to know and what’s nice to know. It’s important to know how to decipher the former over the latter.
Making it through the basic course on an aircraft is only the beginning. After that it’s the PPC (pilot proficiency check) ride and then the line indoctrination, where check pilot(s) assess every pilot’s ability to do the job in the real environment, on the line. It never really stops after that. Pilots are always training. They learn to take each step at a time instead of looking too far down the road and getting overwhelmed. It takes a lot of focus. It’s easy to get sidetracked. It’s easy to see the light at the end of the rainbow but really hard to get to it. I was once on a course where a colleague of mine threw in the chips and said, “Nope, I am not up for it,” and stopped looking for other flying work when he failed the course. He had reached an age where time had run out. I had messed up too but wasn’t deterred to the point of giving up. I still had enough time to get back in the game. I knew it was my fault. I knew I could have done better. It was time to suck it up and try again. It was tough. I took the time to step back and figure out where I went wrong. I tried again. In the meantime, I went back to turning wrenches and then waited for the phone to ring. One week it did; a year and several months later. You can bet I pounded the pavement looking for work (as a pilot) when I wasn’t crawling around and fixing airplanes. I stayed in the industry and kept my ears peeled. Thankfully, it worked the next time around — but it only did because I was persistent.
Patience
This was the hardest of all the P’s for me to master. Over the years, I have focused on slowing down and not expecting everything tomorrow (or, at least, I like to think that). I know, generally, that I am not patient. It’s a fault. I work hard to overcome it. So, when one starts out in the business, it’s important to recognize when they have a good thing going and stick with that job until it’s time to move to greener pastures. The time spent in one company before jumping ship to another is indicative of one’s reliability to the next employer. If someone moves around too much then they’re potentially doing themselves a big disservice. Employers today are asking pilots to sign training bonds (prorated ones) because so many pilots choose to move on to other airlines before their bonds have been paid. Some even ask for money up front for a job. This is less prevalent in today’s competitive pilot market as it was in my early years where airlines were looking to immediately recoup their training costs. Nonetheless, should one gamble with jumping ship early, they better be sure of making a go of it at their next employer, as, if they haven’t given their present one good service for training spent on them, then their name won’t be in good standing in the industry when the furloughs start. That means they can’t even think of going back to their old employer if they’ve left them high and dry. Leaving with their head held high and giving as much notice as possible pays off in the long run. Patience is a friend, impatience is the enemy: like trying to get ahead too quickly, not realizing that what you may have right now is actually a good gig.
As I said from the beginning, the Three P’s are really at the core to succeeding, anywhere. If you’ve got them, you can climb the highest mountain. It’s really up to each person to get back in the saddle when the horse throws them off and to not take “no” or “you can’t do that” for an answer. It’s up to us to keep trying. We must try hard to learn from our mistakes and keep climbing the ladder until we make it to the top!
John Wyman, EAA 462533, Chapter 266 Montreal, is a passionate aviator. When he isn’t in the saddle at the airline, he can be found out at the airfield doing any number of things. He likes to fly gliders, practice aerobatics, work on airplanes, and fix stuff.