Familiar faces?

[Chris777]

It clearly depends on the size of the airline, but could you guys give an indication of how often you fly with people you know and have flown with before and how often the guy sitting next to you is someone you've never met? From the point of view of someone who works for a small company, the concept of working with unknown colleagues in such an intense environment is quite odd.

And if you really are thrown in together, do you ever struggle to make conversation at 35,000 ft?!

[Tail-take-off]

The company I work for has about 400 pilots so not a large outfit by any stretch of the imagination. We do however had a moderately high turnover of staff & at the moment we are recruiting quite heavily.

So in answer to your first question I fly with people I know quite frequently.

As for your second I currently fly with people I have never met before about once a week at the moment.

Generally there is no problem finding things to talk about with anyone. However if on a 3 or 4 day trip with the same person there is often moments of silence.

I'm not sure which is worse the few individuals who don't talk at all or those who never shut up!

[Sky Wave]

I've been online for 5 months and flown about 180 sectors (2, 3 or 4 sector days) and in that time I've probably flown with about 10 captains more than once. I'm now starting to fly with some captains that I've flown with before.

As for conversation at 35000ft, since it's usually a couple of months between flying with the same person you've forgotten everything they told you about themselves so you can have the same conversations all over again.:}

It really doesn't cause any problems flying with complete strangers. Firstly everyone in the company is really friendly and easy to get on with and secondly we all use the same SOP's so each person knows what is expected of each other.

SW

[av8boy]

Generally there is no problem finding things to talk about with anyone. However if on a 3 or 4 day trip with the same person there is often moments of silence.

Which is good. Don't fret. Be secure enough to enjoy the silence (something I advocated even before Martin Gore wrote the song for Depeche Mode!)

Dave

[Hartington]

My brother in law flew for a "large British Airline" for many years. Initially Classic 747 then 757/767 and finally 747-400. Particularly when he flew the 5/6 I would ask if he was operating my flight, but no. Nearest we got was when we went to BCN for a weekend and he operated during our stay. We had agreed to meet for a drink but we were outside the Sagrada Familiale (spelling?) and I was setting up to take a photo and getting annoyed with the man walking towards me waving his arms only to realise it was the BIL!

Then, some years later, we saw him one weekend and he said he was starting ground school next week for the -400. Had done his final 5/6 detail. That Monday I went to Paris (ORY) and the captain let me ride in the jump all the way so on the way back I was about to turn right when I glanced in the cockpit door and there was the BIL. He'd been called up for "one more trip" and so I got to ride back on a very interesting approach to LHR involving an A340 with a med emergency cutting across our 27R approach to try and land 27L but the guy in front of him didn't go so he then cut back to 27R. We got in with no overshoot but it was a last minute clearance and overheated brakes!

So, even if you don't work for the airline, in the cockpit, you can end up with crew you know!

[Rainboe]

Chris777- I'm wondering about the variety and nature of the questions you have been posting in various forums here. Are you interested in aviation as a career, 'researching a proposed book', or do you just have a deep and unusual interest in the workings of the aircrew industrial life? At no point do you say why you are asking these questions. In case you are interested from a career point of view, I point you towards a moderators posting to a similar questioner:
You've started a lot of threads in different forums in the past few days asking various questions about becoming a professional pilot.
If you use the 'Search' facility, you'll find lots of information, including pilots describing how they achieved it. (The 'Advanced Search' option in the dropdown menu is best.)
The Guild of Air Pilots website has useful information for aspiring pilots: Careers & Scholarships
The Guild has also produced an excellent booklet you can download: 'So you want to be a Pilot'
If you'd like to read about becoming a helicopter pilot, this is a good place to start: Here
......
I notice you're 15, so you have plenty of time to read about the various routes to qualifying as a professional pilot, and you'll then be able to ask any specific questions if they haven't already been answered.

(http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=289973&highlight=Heliport) in case the links don't work.

[Chris777]

Hi Rainboe,

Well, I'm pretty happy with my own career path so I'm not posting for those reasons. Nor am I researching a book! No, the questions I have asked are simply those which I have wanted to have answers for, and when I stumbled across this website it seemed like the perfect place to find some answers. One thing I assure you of is that I'm not a journalist or someone with ulterior motives, but simply an inquisitive individual.

I know the questions are varied, but I hope you'll agree that it's more perceptve to enquire about RTOs and left-hand seat promotion than the usual "can I visit the flightdeck" stuff PAX normally ask.

I have some relations who work in aviation - two of them are airline pilots - but they don't like to talk shop when we meet, which is fair enough.

I hope the questions don't annoy you, in any case!
Chris

[Rainboe]

If you have a deep interest in these things, fine, but your questioning seemed to me to be verging on digging exceptionally deep. I have been getting concerned at the amount of snooping into matters that do not concern or impinge in any way the lives of people outside the industry. I was alarmed recently to see this posting from a 21 year old spotter:
I apologise in advance if this seems like a really thick question, but what are ZED tickets and ID90's and how do they work
Nobody outside the industry should have any such knowledge or interest in these things- it affects nobody outside employment by airlines. Indeed I knew nothing of them until after I joined an airline. I do not think it advisable to broadcast everything that goes on in aviation to people unaffected by them. Quite honestly some things are better not publicised.

As for your questioning, I thought you were more involved in aviation than you are so I gave a far deeper answer than I otherwise would have. It would help when you ask technical questions if you state what your depth of knowledge or experience is.

[Chris777]

Rainboe,

It seems that you've fallen prey to the paranoia culture in which we unfortunately seem to live.

My questions are hardly complicated and technical. What is so technical and instrusive about asking whether pilots know each other?

With reference to the 21 year old's posting, I have no idea what he's talking about. I assume it is "top secret", however.

I am disappointed that you would censor your answers depending on who you are talking to. Your attitude verges on the "I know more than the average person", and that is disappointing. I was under the impression that the Spectators' Balcony is supposed to be place where aviation enthusiasts can ask professionals about their job. I don't see any harm in that, but the number of sarcastic/condescending replies to passengers' questions reflects very poorly on your profession.

Chris

[Rainboe]

Well since terrorists have decided to use civil aviation as a battlefield, and an unusual number of people take various opportunities to pass themselves off as uniformed airline crew and airline/airport staff, I think a healthy regard for security is required. You can call that paranoia, but I do get a little disturbed by the personal nature of some of the queries about aviation concerning matters of none of their business, and comments made, by you and others, Sometimes I think the questioning goes a little too far.

[Chris777]

Rainboe,
I was waiting for the "t" word to be mentioned.
I could not agree more. Of course security must be taken seriously and not everyone needs to know everything. What offends me is that you have interpreted innocent questions to be something more sinister. It is such a shame that a curious passenger can not ask questions because everyone is scared they may have an ulterior motive. I assure you that they don't. Let's leave it at that.