the great airline post
Now that the Pilot has officially finished airline training, I have so much to tell you guys! The airline life is unlike anything we’re used to, and we’re just starting to feel like we’re getting the hang of things.
WHEW.
It has been a whirlwind 6 months over here.
Basically as soon as the Pilot came back from his deployment, he was straight into airline preparation. We had hoped that he would be hired by an airline within the year, but were pleasantly surprised and excited when the interviews came rolling in. He was offered interviews from several of the major airlines, and after his second conditional job offer (from companies that we love), he canceled the remaining interviews as we started making pro and con lists.
Various factors went into our decision-making process: ease of commute, domicile (where you’re “stationed”), company culture, travel perks, ability to hold a line close to Tucson, etc. We’re also fortunate to have a lot of friends in the industry who can share their experiences. As soon as his pilot friends found out he had a conditional job offer (CJO) from one particular airline, they nearly-unanimously said, “If you got an offer from <there>, take it.” We’re not revealing the specific company because the pilot has be advised to keep a low social media presence, but we feel incredibly fortunate to be apart of its amazing family.
So, we went for it, and we’re so thankful we did. They treat their pilots well and he’s loving it so far. We have quite a few friends who fly for the company, and all of the pilots he’s met have been welcoming, generous with their knowledge, and genuinely kind, cool people. I feel like he’s in the right spot.
It seems that training is kind of bananas, no matter where you end up. After immense preparation, flying out for interviews, and accepting a CJO, you have to go through something called indoc. It’s two weeks to learn all about the company (history, insurance, benefits, flying policies, etc.) and also receive your aircraft assignment. After indoc, you’re into training, which for our airline, takes about two months. It’s lots of academics, “flights”, and check rides in the simulator. Once you finish your final sim, you need to complete a certain amount of hours in the aircraft with specially qualified captains before you’re considered out of training.
The Pilot has been flying for the past couple of weeks! It’s crazy to think about him flying such an enormous airplane. An entire A-10 could fit inside this model!
So while he’s been going through indoc and training (since June!), the girls and I have been doing our thing. I joke that he was really deployed for a year because we haven’t seen him a ton. The stretches were usually 10 days with 1-2 days home in between. It was intense but now that training is finished, everything is supposed to slow down a little. I honestly have no idea what his schedule will be like, and it adds a new layer of complexity into planning our lives.
Something the military life taught me: you can’t plan on them being around. If they are, it’s just a bonus! In the meantime, you can’t let it stop you from doing fun things. The girls are my little adventure buddies, and I’ve just been treating it like deployments and TDYs.
That’s what’s been going on over here. It’s exciting and a huge change. and I’d be lying if I said it was totally easy – it’s been challenging – but I’m excited to see where it takes us.
xo
Gina
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Such fantastic things for you and your family. Congratulations, and hang in there, its all up from here.
Wow! Thank you for sharing the latest update. Love following along with your family’s adventures for so many years. What an exciting new experience for everyone (and a great attitude you have)! How has the Pilot (and you and the girls!) been finding the transition out of the military life?
So great that training is over! My husband has been an airline pilot since we met 15 years ago, and by far the times that are hardest are when he’s training (The pilot thing and Liv being a month older than my first son are what initially drew me to your blog). Not only is he gone a lot, but also his head isn’t present when he’s home…so much time in the books! Hopefully things will settle into your new normal now <3
Congratulations and enjoy the new adventure!
Congratulations to the Pilot, and to you for holding it down solo for so long! I know I’ll feel extra safe if I ever end up on a flight with him 🙂
Congrats to the Pilot, you and your family.
Wow! How exciting! I had no idea how all of that worked! Congrats to him and you guys! I travel quite a bit – maybe he’ll be my pilot someday 🙂
Congratulations to your family! I love that gorgeous red dress – where is it from?
thank you! i got it over the summer from shopbop but can’t find a link to it 🙁 it’s jack by bb dakota
Wow! Congrats to the pilot! Such an exciting new phase for your family. Enjoy the ride! You’ve all worked so hard for it!
Congratulations to the pilot and wishing the best for you guys!
What an exciting new chapter! Congratulations
That’s so exciting for your guys – congrats!! Does his job come with travel perks for the whole family?? That would be awesome! I would also love to read a post about how everyone is transitioning out of the active duty military life 🙂
Congrats!
Congrats! My dad has been a pilot with FedEx for the last 25 years after he left the Air Force…so growing up I remember always hearing about his trainings, changing planes, being gone for a couple days to weeks at a time.
Congratulations!
Congratulations! So glad he was able to find such a great sounding position!
My husband was a flight attendant for five years and was gone about 15 days a month. It was hard to be apart so much, but we got to go some amazing places with his flight benefits. Hope that the base airport and schedule end up working out well for your family!
yay! many congratulations to you both!! he’s going to be amazing and i’m sure you all made the absolute right decision for the family. so proud from a virtual reader/friend 🙂
thank you so much – i really appreciate it!