The origin of "Checked to Line?"
 

Even with modern airlines It is common to hear of pilots being "checked to line." In Ernest Gann's evocative book Flying Circus, he states that Didier Daurat, the original Operations Manager of the Latecore Company was known as "Patron" of the line. Then we have a rank called "Line Training" captain.

I presume the term is an abbreviation for airline? Any further thoughts on it's origin? Are ship's captains also "checked to line?"

I have always assumed that 'Line' refers to the roster, e.g. "What sort of a line have you got this month?" referring to bog standard route flying, so maybe 'route' should replace 'line'? A Line/Route Training Captain checks the pilot flying to his line/the route standard and, if OK, lets him continue, 'on (his) line'. Just my 2cents.

I believe a number of Normal checklists use this phrase when the PM is reading the check list and wants to hold before going any further down the list there are hold points if you will, that allow the crew to stop and then later move on. An example might be on a Before Takeoff check list where the crew stops short of turning the xpnder to TA/RA, and the lights and or strobes on. The PM might say "down to the" or "holding at the line" thus signyfing that there are item remaining on the checklist that need to be done before announcing the Before takeoff checklist is complete.

If all this is wrong......sorry.

Different subject altogether. You are forgiven!:ok:

Marks the transition from being on probation, flying under supervision of senior captains, to being in the general pilot pool. "Cleared to fly on the line", nothing to do with any paticular route.

As PaperTiger said, "cleared to the line" as a full operating crew member on type.

Just to clarify, in my previous post use of the the word 'route ' was not specific to any particular route, it refers to all company routes/lines.

Surely it is a naval term

Is not HMS Victory still a "ship of the line".
I thought the term Line Captain had a similar derivation.

In the days of Imperial Airways etc pilots didn't operate "routes" as such but a "line", a single long thin route with many refuelling and night-stops stretching out to South Africa or diverging off to India and the Far East. They were said to be working "on the line".
The expression continued into BOAC and on into the early days of BA, when the expression "routes" was eventually recognised as being a better description.
"Airline" comes from Shipping Line which conveys the same meaning of a single route, which most shipping lines operated in the past.

I suspect it's indeed a nautical term, but "ship of the line" and "shipping line" have what I assume are two entirely different meanings for the word "line." The Victory was a ship that was capable of joining the line of battle, while shipping "line" is quite different. I think.

Different, but connected.
When one of Britain's earliest steamship companies, the Royal Mail Steam Packet Co, was formed in the 1830s it was first proposed to call it the "Royal Mail Line of Steamships" to give the sense of a regular sailing of ships along the same track carrying mails (which subsidised the whole operation) to the Caribbean and eventually on to South America.
Unlike a line of battleships it couldn't be seen but it was a "line" of ships all the same.

Hence RMS (not SS) Titanic etc.

All of the nautical applications are correct, and live to this day. Clipper ships (of the nautical or aeronautical variety) still rule:ok: I wonder why so many aeronauts are still nautical types in their non aeronaut roles:confused:

The line referred to in Ship of the Line refers to the line of battle employed by sailing warships .Only ships of a certain size would be allowed into the line, usually of 74 guns or greater.