Category

American Airlines

It's important for me to say right away that this website does not represent American Airlines, American Eagle, or the AMR Corporation in any way.

Now that we've got that out of the way, this category is about my observations and experiences as a first officer at American Eagle Airlines.

I was also an intern at American Airlines in the summer of 2006. I worked in Program Development, where I made Powerpoint presentations and Computer-Based-Training to supplement pilot training.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Snow Day

Today the Dallas-Fort Worth area got pwned by a huge snowstorm.  DFW airport really lacks the ability to handle this much snow and flying around in these types clouds for such a long time leads to too much exposure to icing.  As a result, every single Eagle flight into and out of Dallas Fort Worth cancelled today!  At least on the ATR side they did.  Pretty sure the jets did the same.  Unfortunately, I did not get to take part in the snow day because I had recurrent ground school at the training center.

Recurrent was good, and I got refreshed about a lot of things that get lost over time.  I have to go down to Houston on the 13-14 to do some recurrent flight training.  It’s not a checkride, but a chance to jump in the simulators and practice some engine outs, wind shear escapes, stall profiles, etc.  I think they’ll hit the stalls hard after the Colgan flight findings from Buffalo.  Not really looking forward to it, mostly just can’t wait until it’s over.  I’ll be in the simulator the morning of February 14, exactly 6 years after I earned my Private Pilot’s Certificate in New Castle, PA.  Hmm..

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Saturday, January 16, 2010

Fly Like an Eagle

Work has been pretty slow since the holidays.  It’s warmed up a little lately and since the airport stopped playing Christmas music, I can actually stand being there again.  It’s now my third year with American Eagle, and time is literally flying by.  A yearly checkride is coming up in the middle of February.  Otherwise I am very much on cruise control.  I still like what I’m doing, and it definitely beats having a real job.  Coming up in the next year will be the jet/prop question: Keep flying the prop for better schedules or switch to the jet for better pay?  Don’t quite know the answer to that one yet.  It depends how fast we grow this year, I guess.

Dallas ATR pilots continue to prove how valuable your pilots up there are.  Everyone makes a big deal about Sully’s OMG amazing landing (a year ago, believe that?), but could he do it with a jammed elevator?  Barely able to control motion in the up/down directions, my fellow pilots did an amazing job getting the airplane back down on he ground safely in Dallas.  I’m sure you didn’t hear anything about it for two reasons:
1. Delta’s crotch “bomber” happened the same day
2. More importantly - It was a regional flight and nobody died.

Ok, enough ranting.  Time for recent pictures.  Friends are upgraded to first class featuring a movie on today’s flight.

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Thursday, October 08, 2009

Good Morning, Shreveport

Waking up at 4:00am is never fun, especially when you are used to waking up late.  Sometimes though, it does provide for a spectacular morning.  I was headed for work, as there is no other reason for me to be up that early.  The weather this morning is low IFR, with visibility under a mile and low clouds.  Three passengers are here to go to Shreveport, and while doing the preflight walkaround I am thinking of all the risk we are about to take on for three people.  After losing an engine two months ago, I think about if the weather had been like this when it happened.  The weather is too low in Dallas for us to come back if something goes wrong, and Waco, 60nm south, is chosen as our emergency airport.  The visibility is also too low in Shreveport for us to land, so I’m wondering where the flight will end up.  It seems inane to send the plane out with nowhere to go*, but they load us up with about 6 hours of fuel and tell us to hope for the best. 

I’m at the controls as we throw forward the throttle, the airplane shakes with power as it speeds down into the blackness of early morning.  As the light ATR quickly accelerates to liftoff speed, we bring up the landing gear and are immediately swallowed by the orange clouds, lit up by the awakening city below.  Intruding on their sleep, the clouds are cranky and welcome us with violent bumps and turbulence.  With apologies, we quickly try to get out of their way, climbing to 7,000 feet, and with a sudden calmness the airplane surfaces from the clouds like a submarine, greeted by the first yellow and orange rays of sunlight the day will offer. 

I can’t help but admire the view; holding the cold yoke in one hand, power levers in the other, feeling a little bit of pride for reaching this secret location.  This morning’s sunrise is supposed to be hidden from view.  It makes it all the more special.  Soon though, work comes back into the equation.  We still have nowhere to go.  With Shreveport swamped in thick fog and low clouds, we begin holding over the Quittman VOR to wait and watch.  The good news is that conditions in Dallas have improved to the point where we can go back if/when we need to.  It’s actually a pretty nice way to spend the morning.  At 13,000 feet, flying in slow circles, I sip on my cranapple juice and watch the sun rise slowly over a sea of clouds.  For an hour we enjoy the view before heading back to DFW. 

Once we get back, the company wants us to wait an hour and then try again.  Why not just wait to begin with?  Who knows.  But an hour later, the weather is much better and we make it all the way to Shreveport, pick up 6 people and fly back to Dallas.  About $3000 for all that, so I’m hoping their tickets cost $333 each to at least break even.  Probably not, but I had fun.

*We were able to fly to either Killeen or Waco at all times during the flight.  We’d never actually take off without being able to divert to an alternate airport!

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Like any other day…

Everything is normal as we are cleared for takeoff on Dallas/Fort Worth International’s runway 18L. Torque at 90%, Temperature 745 degrees C, Props 100%... At 70 knots Liz takes the controls. The airplane roars, excited as always to take to the air. 80 knots..90..100.. at 112 knots I yell “V1, Rotate!”. When the airplane reaches the V1 speed, you’re going flying no matter what…

...then she called “Confirm Engine Failure!” and it dawned on me what was happening…

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Thursday, May 21, 2009

A Week in the Life

There are really only two reasons to do anything: Because you want to, or because you have to. For 6 years I made the choice to fly, mostly because I was training towards my career. However, in 2006 I earned my Certified Flight Instructor certificate and the role aviation played in my life changed significantly. No longer was I just a student with hopes and dreams in my eyes, but now I had become a member of the profession. Flying changed from something I did for fun to something I did to pay the bills and put food on the table. So what does it mean to be a professional pilot? Well as it turns out, it’s a lot more than just smooth landings. Although I have moved on from my first job as a flight instructor, I still share most of the same responsibilities as a first officer at Executive Airlines, doing business as American Eagle, under contract with American Airlines. For the week of April 20th 2009, I began documenting an average week as a professional pilot. Unbeknownst to me, this week would be anything but ordinary…

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