| An airport would be nonexistent without these people. Pilots are in charge of transporting people to and from where they want to go. They also have steps they must take before and after they fly.
Pilots can specialize in many areas:
Flight instructor- Of course, for all jobs that have to do with pilots you first must get a Commercial Pilot License. Like a driver’s license, it allows you to fly planes. When you become a flight instructor you must get another license to teach people how to fly.
Helicopter Pilot- This licenses you to fly helicopters.
Airline Pilot- This allows you to fly all the big planes and travel far and wide.
Interview
with a Pilot:
After working in the newspaper industry for a couple of years, Garrett Hartsuyker decided it was time for a change, so he became an airline pilot. He first started as a flight instructor and then worked his way up. He says one incident sticks in his mind. In fifth grade while he was daydreaming his teacher snapped at him.
“Garrett,” she said, “There is no job in the world where you can look out a window and sit on your bottom all day.” Garrett says he never would have guessed that one day she’d be proven wrong.
When he was a kid he loved to construct model airplanes and was fascinated at how they were put together.
In college, he received a Bachelor’s Degree in Science and Aviation Management, which has an emphasis on meteorology. Having such a specific major helped him before he started flying.
Garrett says one benefit of being a pilot is the traveling. “I’ve been to many far away places and what I love about it is being able to meet people of different backgrounds and learn about their culture.” He’s had famous people on his plane such as Hulk Hogan, John Goodman and Brad Pitt.
“Being a pilot,” Garrett says, “comes with excitement. I’ve seen strange weather phenomena and besides the usual thunderstorms I’ve seen tornadoes, The Green Flash, and The Auroua Borelis.
Garret enjoys flying for the benefits he receives. Because he’s a pilot, he has above average medical insurance and an excellent retirement plan. Pilots have special privileges that only apply to them.
“We are automatically allowed to go in the front of a long line if we have a flight to catch.”
Garret says another advantage of being a pilot especially in a slow economy is the age of retirement.
“Most pilots retire around age fifty,” he states, “but you don’t have to retire until you’re sixty five, which is a lot longer than most jobs.”
Although being a pilot is enjoyable, Garret says it’s not all about entertainment.
“Your sleep patterns are severely disrupted. You may have to leave your house as early as two in the morning to catch a flight. You sit for long periods of time with no physical activity and eat at weird hours. Also you miss your family because you don’t have a regular day job.”
Garret says that after 9/11 his job is not as fun as it used to be. “Pilots are not as respected as they once were, because flying has lost some of its mystique.” As a pilot you have to be watchful and on guard and have more responsibilities. Before 9/11 the industry wasn’t so strict. “Now, everything is treated as a threat. Pilots are authorized to carry hand guns.”
Air Martials, policeman commission by the government, ride on the plane for security. A major technological advance is the use of titanium doors. These doors are bullet proof, making it almost impossible for anyone to break through, even if they tried to blow up the door, such as during a terrorist threat.
What
You Can Do to Get Ready:
It’s at your advantage to go to college because having only a high school diploma does not make you stand out. Try joining an aviation club at school to familiarize with airplanes.
What
it Pays:
Pilots get paid well, an average pilot earning from eighty thousand to two hundred and fifty thousand a year. The downside is that pilots are usually only home for fifteen days a month because the rest of the days they are working. That seems a small price to pay in making sure your family is well off.
Other
Resources:
www.kids.gov/internal/pilot.shtml- Read an interview with a Thunderbird pilot.
plasticpilot.net- A relatively new blog on flying adventures.
Professional Pilot’s Career Guide- Author Robert Mark shows you how to start your career as a pilot and where to go from there.
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