Last week I was awarded what amounts to an early retirement from American Airlines. I will get roughly 2/3 pay and all active employee benefits until I turn 65. About 1.5 years. Then I go into normal retirement. It is an un-ceremonious ending to a combined military and airline career that was unplanned, unexpected, and unmanaged.
I didn’t want to be a NFO, but was unexpectedly sold on it. Separating from active duty I didn’t want to pursue an airline pilot career. Unrelenting nagging by Mrs Wink and her inquiry about a job at a small airline where a friend was employed, got me that first paid flying job. Again, it was Mrs. Wink’s nagging disguised as encouragement that got me to pursue the big move from commuter airline to The Show. A pilot I went through the RAG with was working in AA’s San Diego Chief Pilot’s Office when my small airline was handled by AA there. I came in and Lenny handed me an application with his personal endorsement right on the app. At AA in those days, that made a huge difference. Turned down by Delta and USAir by then, AA came through thanks to Lenny. Thirty years later, Webmaster, who I endorsed for a job at AA a few years ago, played a roll in me getting this sweet permeant leave. My career at AA was bookended by Naval Aviators who had volunteered to step out of the cockpit on occasion and instead of golfing or surfing, took on work in management and union to help their fellow pilots. I am grateful to have benefited from both.
When in college I got glasses. All military pilot programs required 20/20 at that time. I didn’t want to consider anything else, in part because I had it in my mind the second class nature of USAF Navs in those days. I was happy to do most anything in aviation and didn’t actively pursue a professional pilot path. I got my pilot ratings mostly to improve competitiveness in other aviation related jobs. A buddy who was applying for Navy pilot through AVROC told me his recruiter was giving rides on a P-3 (yes they did that back in the day). My buddy loved P-3s and was eager to have me see one. After taking the ATSB I got a seat on the Sky Pig. I hate to admit it, but I was impressed. The way the crew worked together, the mission equipment in the back, their independence. They asked us where we wanted to go and away we went in their big multimillion dollar toy like dad had just thrown them the keys. Everyone cycled through all seats. I had the controls flying over Sedona, AZ. I was on the radar as we approached the Grand Canyon and could follow the Colorado River no problem. I was sold. I figured if this Sky Pig looked like fun, then being a NFO in TACAIR would be a blast. I was right.
The War Hoover was my first choice and I got it. From then on I got my first choice in everything I wanted out of the Navy. I got the coast I wanted, the squadron I wanted, shore duty I wanted. When I was close to getting out I called the reserve VS augment unit in San Diego. The FTS officer that answered the phone said they only took former RAG instructors. I wasn't. Before the conversation was over he recognized my voice. He was a RAG classmate. He said for me, no problem. If the RAG CO approved (we flew FRS planes), I was in. The FRS skipper at the time was a former CO of mine and I flew in his crew on deployment. He knew how good I was in the plane. Again, unexpected personal interventions.
After 5 years the Reserve flying gig went away . Defunded by accident, no shit. We drilled in September and got a call after I OCT telling us to bring a bag big enough to take out gear home. No final flights. No sundown. Squadron was still getting mail for a month or more and no one was home. Went to a TACRON. Made O-5. The Reserve Group Commander (O-6) was an AA pilot. I had flown with him before. Great guy. I flew a trip with him one day and he just turned to me and said “We have been talking (active duty TACRON COs and Group Commander) and we really want you to apply for the next COs job. It is yours if you want.” That is the way it was done in those days. And without a plan or a desire, I benefited from it. Or would have. I decided not to take it for family reasons. I was going to coast to an 18 year early out they were offering. Then another personal intervention. A former TACRON CO called and pleaded with me to apply to the Reserve staff of NAVEUR in London. He was applying to the COs job and he wanted me to be his OPS O again. I applied out of respect. I got the job. He didn’t. I got two years commuting to London to drill. After that I volunteered at Recruiting HQ in Phoenix for a few years just racking up points. I retired without fanfare. Just quit drilling. When I became eligible for retired pay, again, a buddy intervened and schooled me on the process. I had no idea you had to apply for what you had already earned.
I had a high school friend flying for a local commuter airline with nice new turbine equipment. Mrs. Wink asked him if he could get me a job flying. I had told her I wasn’t best qualified pilot hours wise, that it meant crappy pay and poor working conditions with no guarantee it would lead to The Show and would likely be a dead end. Her reply was “well at least you will have fun flying for a few more years”.
Curtis was on the hiring committee and brought me in for an interview. I walked into a completely dark room. Silence. Eventually someone said “45 seconds in the dark without a word, fucking idiot.” With the lights on they called Mrs Wink and asked her to admit she had dressed me like a lawyer. Wanted her to promise to let me go out drinking on layovers. That was my interview. I was clearly the least experienced guy hired. Because of personal intervention, I was on my way. Couple years later, Lenny got me hired at AA.
Now like my Navy retirement, my AA career is ending without ceremony or fanfare. Like my reserve flying gig going away, making rank, like the offer of a COs job, checking out as a Captain, it just happened. No last flight with the wife, bottle of champagne and first class seat for her. My kids never even flew with me at the airline. I have been off work on a medical for two years now. Just got my First Class back and before they could send me to training to requal the Permanent Leave bid opened up. Webmaster let me know as soon as he heard.
A lot of you guys have been set back by the COVID economy. Some of you will be furloughed; some may be going back to active duty or pulling papers. I hope you all make it back to where you want to be. I am praying enough guys take leaves at AA and the company manages manning so that no one has to be furloughed. If you are staying on active duty, thank you. If you are in The Show or going to an airline, remember why you did so. Don’t turn it into a job. Commuting ( I had a short commute for 30 years ), being junior, on reserve, always in training, makes for too much work. Don’t over think stuff. Do it by the book and you don’t have to worry about explaining yourself. No matter how dumb it seems, just do it their way. It is like painting by the numbers. Don’t let allowances for technique lead you off the operating manual page. If something isn’t covered by the book, just do the safest thing you can dream up. No one gets fired or kills anyone by landing at a divert with an extra 1.5 hrs in the bag. You aren’t getting a bonus for landing with the min and a storm on your missed approach path. You are not paid for smooth landings, quiet approaches, or turbulence free altitudes. You are paid to move meat bags from point A to point B as safely as you can. There still is plenty of fun doing so without risking trouble for yourself . Captains, train your FOs, don’t stifle them with your personal expectations or favorite techniques and conversely, don’t ignore their development. FOs, be chameleons, not competitors. Captains, remember, you win EVERY argument. No need to be an ass or raise your voice. You decide or do, and move on. And since you will win every debate and decision, you have enough Ws to be generous. As long as it is acceptable/safe, it doesn’t have to be your way. Let someone else win on occasion.
From the day I took the ASTB to getting my NFO wings, through an enlightening and rewarding reserve career, from the Shorts 360 to the 727 and DC-10, MD80 and 737-800, flight engineer to Captain, O-1 to O-5, I could have been Forrest Gump. I planned nothing. A very good 40+ years in military and civil aviation in spite of myself. To the crew of that P-3, the Naval Aviators that returned me to midrats on dark nights, great Captains that mentored me, and First Officers that made me look better than I was, THANK YOU! And to all of you that get nagged by a spouse, it could just be encouragement, a push in the right direction.
I didn’t want to be a NFO, but was unexpectedly sold on it. Separating from active duty I didn’t want to pursue an airline pilot career. Unrelenting nagging by Mrs Wink and her inquiry about a job at a small airline where a friend was employed, got me that first paid flying job. Again, it was Mrs. Wink’s nagging disguised as encouragement that got me to pursue the big move from commuter airline to The Show. A pilot I went through the RAG with was working in AA’s San Diego Chief Pilot’s Office when my small airline was handled by AA there. I came in and Lenny handed me an application with his personal endorsement right on the app. At AA in those days, that made a huge difference. Turned down by Delta and USAir by then, AA came through thanks to Lenny. Thirty years later, Webmaster, who I endorsed for a job at AA a few years ago, played a roll in me getting this sweet permeant leave. My career at AA was bookended by Naval Aviators who had volunteered to step out of the cockpit on occasion and instead of golfing or surfing, took on work in management and union to help their fellow pilots. I am grateful to have benefited from both.
When in college I got glasses. All military pilot programs required 20/20 at that time. I didn’t want to consider anything else, in part because I had it in my mind the second class nature of USAF Navs in those days. I was happy to do most anything in aviation and didn’t actively pursue a professional pilot path. I got my pilot ratings mostly to improve competitiveness in other aviation related jobs. A buddy who was applying for Navy pilot through AVROC told me his recruiter was giving rides on a P-3 (yes they did that back in the day). My buddy loved P-3s and was eager to have me see one. After taking the ATSB I got a seat on the Sky Pig. I hate to admit it, but I was impressed. The way the crew worked together, the mission equipment in the back, their independence. They asked us where we wanted to go and away we went in their big multimillion dollar toy like dad had just thrown them the keys. Everyone cycled through all seats. I had the controls flying over Sedona, AZ. I was on the radar as we approached the Grand Canyon and could follow the Colorado River no problem. I was sold. I figured if this Sky Pig looked like fun, then being a NFO in TACAIR would be a blast. I was right.
The War Hoover was my first choice and I got it. From then on I got my first choice in everything I wanted out of the Navy. I got the coast I wanted, the squadron I wanted, shore duty I wanted. When I was close to getting out I called the reserve VS augment unit in San Diego. The FTS officer that answered the phone said they only took former RAG instructors. I wasn't. Before the conversation was over he recognized my voice. He was a RAG classmate. He said for me, no problem. If the RAG CO approved (we flew FRS planes), I was in. The FRS skipper at the time was a former CO of mine and I flew in his crew on deployment. He knew how good I was in the plane. Again, unexpected personal interventions.
After 5 years the Reserve flying gig went away . Defunded by accident, no shit. We drilled in September and got a call after I OCT telling us to bring a bag big enough to take out gear home. No final flights. No sundown. Squadron was still getting mail for a month or more and no one was home. Went to a TACRON. Made O-5. The Reserve Group Commander (O-6) was an AA pilot. I had flown with him before. Great guy. I flew a trip with him one day and he just turned to me and said “We have been talking (active duty TACRON COs and Group Commander) and we really want you to apply for the next COs job. It is yours if you want.” That is the way it was done in those days. And without a plan or a desire, I benefited from it. Or would have. I decided not to take it for family reasons. I was going to coast to an 18 year early out they were offering. Then another personal intervention. A former TACRON CO called and pleaded with me to apply to the Reserve staff of NAVEUR in London. He was applying to the COs job and he wanted me to be his OPS O again. I applied out of respect. I got the job. He didn’t. I got two years commuting to London to drill. After that I volunteered at Recruiting HQ in Phoenix for a few years just racking up points. I retired without fanfare. Just quit drilling. When I became eligible for retired pay, again, a buddy intervened and schooled me on the process. I had no idea you had to apply for what you had already earned.
I had a high school friend flying for a local commuter airline with nice new turbine equipment. Mrs. Wink asked him if he could get me a job flying. I had told her I wasn’t best qualified pilot hours wise, that it meant crappy pay and poor working conditions with no guarantee it would lead to The Show and would likely be a dead end. Her reply was “well at least you will have fun flying for a few more years”.
Curtis was on the hiring committee and brought me in for an interview. I walked into a completely dark room. Silence. Eventually someone said “45 seconds in the dark without a word, fucking idiot.” With the lights on they called Mrs Wink and asked her to admit she had dressed me like a lawyer. Wanted her to promise to let me go out drinking on layovers. That was my interview. I was clearly the least experienced guy hired. Because of personal intervention, I was on my way. Couple years later, Lenny got me hired at AA.
Now like my Navy retirement, my AA career is ending without ceremony or fanfare. Like my reserve flying gig going away, making rank, like the offer of a COs job, checking out as a Captain, it just happened. No last flight with the wife, bottle of champagne and first class seat for her. My kids never even flew with me at the airline. I have been off work on a medical for two years now. Just got my First Class back and before they could send me to training to requal the Permanent Leave bid opened up. Webmaster let me know as soon as he heard.
A lot of you guys have been set back by the COVID economy. Some of you will be furloughed; some may be going back to active duty or pulling papers. I hope you all make it back to where you want to be. I am praying enough guys take leaves at AA and the company manages manning so that no one has to be furloughed. If you are staying on active duty, thank you. If you are in The Show or going to an airline, remember why you did so. Don’t turn it into a job. Commuting ( I had a short commute for 30 years ), being junior, on reserve, always in training, makes for too much work. Don’t over think stuff. Do it by the book and you don’t have to worry about explaining yourself. No matter how dumb it seems, just do it their way. It is like painting by the numbers. Don’t let allowances for technique lead you off the operating manual page. If something isn’t covered by the book, just do the safest thing you can dream up. No one gets fired or kills anyone by landing at a divert with an extra 1.5 hrs in the bag. You aren’t getting a bonus for landing with the min and a storm on your missed approach path. You are not paid for smooth landings, quiet approaches, or turbulence free altitudes. You are paid to move meat bags from point A to point B as safely as you can. There still is plenty of fun doing so without risking trouble for yourself . Captains, train your FOs, don’t stifle them with your personal expectations or favorite techniques and conversely, don’t ignore their development. FOs, be chameleons, not competitors. Captains, remember, you win EVERY argument. No need to be an ass or raise your voice. You decide or do, and move on. And since you will win every debate and decision, you have enough Ws to be generous. As long as it is acceptable/safe, it doesn’t have to be your way. Let someone else win on occasion.
From the day I took the ASTB to getting my NFO wings, through an enlightening and rewarding reserve career, from the Shorts 360 to the 727 and DC-10, MD80 and 737-800, flight engineer to Captain, O-1 to O-5, I could have been Forrest Gump. I planned nothing. A very good 40+ years in military and civil aviation in spite of myself. To the crew of that P-3, the Naval Aviators that returned me to midrats on dark nights, great Captains that mentored me, and First Officers that made me look better than I was, THANK YOU! And to all of you that get nagged by a spouse, it could just be encouragement, a push in the right direction.
