Cargo pilot life
 

Please don't scream at me if this subject has already been done to death. I did a search using the usual mediums but didn't come up with much information.
If so a link to the threads would be appreciated

I am curious about the average day if there is such a thing of a cargo pilot. I am a bit of a night owl and am not that keen on hoards of holidaymakers so thought it might be the ideal area of aviation for me.

Thanks in advance ladies and gentlemen

Same as per other pilots, but no cabin crews and 99% of times boarding almost completed when you arrive at the aircraft.

Ah: you do the dishes ;)

I loved flying cargo...nothing better than overnight sleeping in a FBO meeting room floor, waking up at 5 am, have a cup of coffee and cigarette,tie your shoes while taxiing cause you were bit in a rush..spent 10 minutes looking for milk by the popcorn machine(your dinner maker)..and then AHHHHH taking off in a clear morning and checking the long lines of car lights commuting to work:ok:

I flew turboprops single pilot/no autopilot(Be1900s/SA227),it was a blast most of the time..sometimes the weather was bit tricky as flights were in the US midwest at low levels..in that aspect 737 700 NG at 41000..nice:-)

So i think 747 cargo must be quite a blast!!! :E

great school for start ..youll enjoy the shiny uniform later,and when you made it youll look behind with a feeling of luck and happy moments..

The life of a cargo pilot around Europe is probably much the same as elsewhere. Most freight flying is done at night, either postal services or the express parcels businesses. There are advantages, not too much in the way of of ATC delays, though some airports have night time curfews. As most integrators want their flights to leave close to the curfew it can add to the already intense pressures to operate on time. There is also a strange desire to depart on time with very little pressure on whether you arrive on time. A 10minute delay will mean penalties even if you arrive early!
The lack of additional crewmembers is not really a problem, unless you only started flying to meet the mindless sweeties who think the captain is the route to a life of idle luxury! You may even have someone make you a cup of tea, but most of the F/Es and loadies I've met tend not to
be as kind on the eye as in pax flying!
The biggest downside is the hours or so in some crewroom together with up to 20-30 other crewmembers. The only topic of conversation then seems to be how crap the management is, the maintenance is, the hotels are ad nauseum. Another downside is that most freighters tend to be old passenger types converted to cargo. What then happens if you find yourself looking for work in a downturn such as now, you don't have a type that is currently used by anyone who may be hiring.
On the positive side again, if you night / day stop the hotels tend to be of good standard, (crappy hotels tend not to be able to cope with night time cleaning etc, and most operators understand the need for decent rest) The time off can be better than pax flying. You also tend to get some time to discover some of the destinations. Rome is good, Luton maybe not...
It is a completely different lifestyle, some cant cope with the nights, most eventually move on to flying pax. It can however be a most rewarding time if you have the right attitude and enjoy what it has to offer.

Use to fly cargo now flying SLF. thinking of going back to cargo .
as said previously if you don't mind the night shift no problems,.
and and and ........boxes never complain have fun !!!

Can't speak for shorthaul freight.... but longhaul freight is excellent. The 744F upper deck configured as crew rest with separate bunks, no locked flight deck door. Quite a few late night departures, but then there are with pax long haul, so no real difference. Many sectors have relief crew on board... hotels generally excellent, fairly long trips but plenty of time at home....oh and on arrival at the airport get collected in a Merc limo and not a crew bus!!

You know, that's too big a question!

It's like asking "what is life like?"

Everyone seems to concentrate on the short to medium haul regional night freight when asking and answering this question. That is by no means the accurate measure of the freight world := .

The freight side of aviation is world-wide, 24/7, and I have been lucky enough to spend almost all my adult life in the long haul wide-body world. :ok:

And, in that respect, it is no different from the pax world, except there are no flight attendants and no whining slf :ok:

There are nearly as many tailor-made, straight off the production line freighters as there are converted ex-pax birds.

Whether air-dropping relief supplies from an L-382 in Africa, or taking a nice shiny 744F to Singapore, it's all good :D .

How many crew members in a cargo flight as ex HK-Europe?




Thanks S44:)

eliptic,

Depends on the time of departure and the time of year.... 4 pilots, sometimes only 3

"And, in that respect, it is no different from the pax world, except there are no flight attendants and no whining slf "

As a loadie though, I have to put up with moaning flight crew;)

...and they wake me up, banging the catering trays etc....

Thanks guys, it sounds perfect for me, I come from a shipping background where I am woken up in the middle of the night smoke a cigarette( given those up now) grab a bad coffee and then work hard for a few hours before getting a crap wage and even worse accomodation, call me a sicko but I love that lifestyle.

Definitely decided that is the best use of my newly acquired flying qualfications, now I need the world to sort out their financial problems so I can get a job.

avoid farnair!!!... trust me

Care to divulge?

I was planning on taking any job that pays me but that is typical newbie desperation that I am trying to keep under control

:ok::ok:
It's the only thing we get to first!

Cargo flying
 

My flying was any time of day or night. It depended on aircraft arrival, fueling and loading-unloading. Duty days were long, but it was worth it. Longest flight was 12 hours. since there are no passengers, you can get up any time to go to the bathroom, stretch you legs, exercise and fix something to eat. And with Heavy crews go to sleep on the bunk. And then you have about 3-4 days in 5 star hotel in an interesting place.
Pay was not great but it was the best time in my life.
Then you get furloughed.

Everything that Maxfly1 said is true except the last 2 sentences. (for me)

if your a pilot for janes aviation you have the life of really. no work in over a year!

Cargo pilot
 

Its great, no painful pax. I work for a great bunch, beautiful planes, well looked after, aircraft and crew, not worked too hard. No cramming into a bus with 20 other crew. Usually a nice car to take us to and from the airport since there is only 2 or 3 of us. Although like in any airline there are still some old women who complain but then they complain about everything anyway.
I couldnt ask for more. Love it!

From 21-24, I spent the best years of my life on the 742-F. Moved to the 744 and regretted it ever since.

Salt-of-the-earth pilots. Constant laugh in the cockpit. No locked door. Playing keepy-uppy with a football on the top deck.

Cargo pilots on 74s playing games of Hide-and-seek on the main deck are unfounded rumours :}

Flying cargo can be very different from one airline to another.
I flew MD11 for alitalia from 2001 till january 09. The last 5 years we only fly the freighter and it's been the best experience i had in my 20 years of flying. On the minus side, there was a very uncertain roster with very frequent delays, change of schedule and cancellations and many days out of home, but, if you don't mind this and also flying at night (remember: sun down-gear up / sun up gear down) it's the best job of all.

As far as not having flight attendants, that's actually better.

I'll explain: You get to chase and b...g other airlines flight attendants, pi$$ing off their flight crews, and then go on your way. No awkward 12 hour flight back if something goes south (in bed)!!
:O

act700,

Oh so so true.

Hey wait a minute, you weren't based out in Dubai in 2004 were ya!

For 'short haul' cargo flying around UK/Europe, what is the days on/off situation and what are the actual hours worked on a typical night (if there is such)?

ta

I've spent the majority of my career (22 years) flying passengers, long haul & short haul, mainly in the charter industry. Had some great fun at times, and done some varied & interesting work but overall give me a freight pilot's job any day! I do miss the hosties if I'm honest... but that's just about all I miss!

Been flying freight now for over 7 years and seen a huge turnover of pilots in the company I work for, mostly from guys who just want to get a variety of experience under their belts. .

Unless you're one of those who really can't cope with night work, you should find freight flying less fatiguing than working in the passenger industry. You probably won't need to set an alarm clock ever again, and in my case I can count on one hand the number of times I've actually worked into discretion over 7 years. My flights hours average about 300 PA (far less than the hours I used to fly).

It's horses-for-courses; life is "one big-book", and you'll need to cram as many interesting chapters in that book as you can!

Make sure the medi-kit onboard is well stocked.:ouch:

Speaking of freighter crew, I arrived a 744F from a prominent european carrier and saw the 2/3 of the flight crew wearing polo T-shirts when they came down. Do any of you guys have a relaxed dress code when flying ? I mean, nobody's gonna see and complain. It makes sense to wear something comfortable for the flight when you are the only one's aboard.
And based on my experience, freighter flight crews are the most down to earth flight crews I've ever met. No airs, no stiff courtesies. Just my observation. This goes regardless of airline or nationality. It's like comparing truck drivers to limo drivers. Is it more "liberating" flying freighter than pax ?

T-shirts, 1st class BA PJs our guys fly in them all.

One should try to maintain some sartorial elegance at all times.
Even if one is simply hauling fruit and flowers around.
It's no excuse to adopt a sloppy attitude to appearance.

And one should buy a hammock to rig across the aircraft if one
is over-come by fatigue at any point.
Can't do that with a cabin full of SLF.

must be a pretty decent outfit you are with Sapco2, i can count on 2 hands the time we havent had to do a CDR in the last 3 years, but the fun outweighs anything else

Why in God's name do you want to BUY a hammock when you can have a cargo net for free and you are less likely to fall out of a cargo net.

Mind you, in my Belfast days we had a six-bunk bedroom downstairs so neither hammock nor net was needed.

A different slant.
 

The public`s perception of cargo pilots` abilities hasn`t recovered from Top Guns` Tom Cruise being threatened with having to fly " plastic dog turds out of Hong Kong ", as a substandard pilot who`d better shape up.
Well, apart from never having seen a !!!! courtesy of a plastic dog, it is still the case.
As an old boss put it " this a very gutsy job".

Not for everyone the hours, the broken sleep - hotel guests dragging suitcases away bumping doors just before normal office hours begin and partying once finished - but it can be very rewarding professionally operating over areas that are closed until morning.

The sort of planning and airmanship that the bulk of pax crews really don`t need to worry about, albeit perfectly competent with.

I think l`ve run out of apostrophes. :)

Dress code
 

From car thru ops thru security/immigration.. uniform, tie, polished shoes etc. as soon as on board, all off and dress according to temperature... shorts/t-shirt for example. Closed up & ready to go, sweatshirt, PJ bottoms, flip-flops.. Arrival... depends.. will usually offload as dressed (PJ bottoms etc), then monkey suit on to go through customs etc etc to the hotel

Once spent 30h loading a 74F in BCN due to various incompetencies (not all Iberia's fault), no way I'm going to even try and look pretty in such a situation.

Nah, go on, go on, go on.

Bet you would ! :)

Ok a Loadmaster piped in so shal I.
 

As a young man I Spent 5 years as a MX Rep on both PAX and Freight.

Boiling a batch of asparagus out of the 200k lbs we pulled out of Peru for a special crew meal.

Sleeping, eating, streching out, sliding a plastic spoon in the door pressure seal to have a cigarette to not offend the non smokers.

Waking up in a t-shirt and boxers and eating breakfast in the cockpit to the best view possible of a sunrise.

Alot of the pilots I worked with took the stuffy uniform off for an 8-10 hr flight and we became just a crew of guys that enjoyed the serenity of living the life of a bird that flys FREE of the constraints of land based expectations.

For me getting married put a kink in that chain, but the trade off was worth it.

For a young or un married man... Freight flying is great..

Having to do pax charters was horrible in comparison.

Having said that I have to thank the loadmasters and pilots who were there for me to hold a flashlight during the odd time I actually had to work.

Hope this added to the tribal knowledge of the ACMI freight WORLD.

I retired from a long career with airlines - 1969 through 2008...
PanAm until 1991 - 707/727/747 - Then contract pilot (747) worldwide.
xxx
My favorite contract has been flying cargo with Cargolux 1992 for 6 months.
Superb operation. Was on their older 747-271C airplanes. Based LUX.
All pilots I knew flying such type operations (747F) were by far quite happy.
Examples - JAL Cargo, NCA, KAL, SIA, CX, LH Cargo...
xxx
:ok:
Happy contrails

Freight
 

I did pax 135 commuter airline work in a turboprop. I nearly died of boredom. After the first six months, I didn't even need an approach plate. Then they folded and I wound up in a C402. I learned ALOT about single pilot IFR in a very short time. Now I do the same job in a jet across three countries.

If you dislike terminals as much as I do and can't see yourself dealing with passengers and you are a hands-on outdoors worker instead of a uniform-wearing pilot, freight is fun. But the night shift will age you prematurely, and the planes are old and sometimes underequipped. At least it stays interesting.

It really doesn't matter all that much after awhile what you are in. Quality
of life and your family matter more. Create a life as well as a career.
Simple, but not so obvious. And not so easy.:=

Nobody likes terminals, and the associated bulls**t, but, alas, that is what the bulk of crew have to put with and no choice.
Most have to wear uniforms.

Most have to compromise on quality of life.

The problems began when accountants offloaded onto bookeepers, `cos they were now too important to be bothered by minutia.
The old story about the cost of everything and the value of nothing is set to live long.

I am relatively low hour'd in the UK who is flexible and want to work for a small / medium size freight operators to get proper commercial experience needed and be realistic.

Had some advise of trying small operators flying heralds etc from experienced pilots, but many of those operators seem to have gone at least in the UK. So perhaps thinking the medium / larger players like TNT.

Who are the best operators around to try these days in EMEA and Asia or perhaps website that lists them :)

Don't think you'll find many jobs flying 'heralds' around

Do any Heralds still exist ???? :uhoh: Haven't heard that name in errr... a long long time. :confused: