Management pilot in USA
If you want such a position with say Delta out of Atlanta, you need to be on the seniority list. Under most cases you would need to get hired as a line pilot first.
From there it takes you networking and making your desire and interest known. Typically management pilots are found in the training department and flight operations; instructor pilots, assistant and chief pilots. With your studies in labor relations it would be unusual for you to work in a management capacity in the company’s labor department overseeing contracts and negotiations and then make an occasional foray into line flying.
Nobody is going to touch the controls on a revenue flight unless they are a fully qualifier line pilot first, there is no management short cut or special dispensation at an airline like Delta. **I don't work at Delta, the poster is from "Atlanta", so if my "facts" are wrong about Delta please correct me.**
Most line pilots, me included, would take a second puzzled look at somebody who walks in the door and says “Hey I’m here and I want to be a management pilot”. There are numerous good people working for management, and there are some real losers. Unfortunately it becomes an “us” verses them “situation”; it’s the nature of big business, human ego & ambition and the realities of limited resources.
Last edited by Northbeach; 15th Aug 2011 at 18:34.