Stopping an aircraft this size is a major and challenging manoeuvre. I take control and disconnect the autopilot and auto throttle, its a little windy, we have around 15kts (20mph) of wind from the left, so the speed is a little unstable which requires constant thrust corrections. The Captain calls positive rate – this ensures we are safely climbing away from the ground before retracting the landing gear, I then call ‘gear up’ and he raises the landing gear. In the U.S., senior (experienced) captains, who fly the larger planes at major airlines, typically make more than USD $15,500 per month or $186,000 per year, according to FltOps.com. There are so many people and processes involved and you only need one process to fail or the smallest issue to arise and the flight will go late, this is compounded by capacity issues at Heathrow whereby it is quite usual to close the doors on time and ask for push and start only to be told we have a start up delay due to congestion. The rate is 2.5 degrees a second and my target pitch is 15 degrees. I then speak to Air Traffic Control stating our aircraft type, stand number, latest weather information identifier (this is a letter of the alphabet and the information is called an ATIS), QNH pressure setting, PDC (confirmation we have received a pre-departure clearance) and confirmation that we are ready. The third pilot is with the airline. Seeing the lack of opportunities and bad economic situations in Malaysia made me look to other countries for better ones. However, as it is such a large aircraft if it is a shortish runway we need to take particular care in ensuring we land in the touchdown zone and preferably on the markers. Our bunk area on the 747 is great, it can only be accessed from the flight deck and is very quiet and dark so really helps us get some rest. So we decide that I will operate the flight outbound as pilot flying. Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refuseing them will have impact how our site functions. A 59-year-old pilot who has been with the airline for 27 years said he is retiring early to help his younger Singaporean colleagues continue on in their jobs. We get the auto-callout from the flight deck speaker system of ‘1000’ telling us we are at 1000ft Radio altitude – actual height above the ground. We do manage to get on the vertical profile and lined up with the runway at 4 miles out fully configured with the landing gear and flaps. I head back up to the flight deck to start my rest and change into my pyjamas and manage to get my head down for 90 mins or so. Next, the cabin crew call with a customer in Business Class who is experiencing chest pains. … “Right now, the younger colleagues are coming up and they haven't seen the world. The company, however, said that it would be open to hiring them should the demand for air travel return to pre-Covid levels. There looks to be some weather we may need to fly through so we hold off on the seatbelt signs until we get higher. I do not speak for all my compatriots, but to me, life is certainly good. I plan the rest for each pilot, today we get 2 hours and 50 minutes each. “I think even if I have to downgrade to a smaller house, it's not a big problem,” he said. An A380 flight simulator is expected to be commissioned in FCTC in 2007. To give an example we would expect the flight time coming back from Vegas to be at least 90 minutes quicker. Hi there! I jokingly give it 6/10, but the Captain gave me 7/10 – clearly he wants me to buy the first round of drinks! So the day before departure I check the weather just to confirm it’s boiling hot and that I will be requiring an array of shorts and flip flops! “I’m lucky I don’t have to scramble to get started on another job or to get used to doing the deliveries,” he said. The following cookies are also needed - You can choose if you want to allow them: You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page. • It also houses a … I used to fantasize piloting the fighter jets when I was a kid. How many days off do long haul pilots get a month? Also, your upgrade from a First Officer to a Captain will take at least 15 years (as compared to 3-5 years in a Low-Cost Carrier like Jetstar Asia and Scoot). Typically out of London we may not get continuous climb so we may have to level off at an intermediate level or altitude. Another retrenched pilot, a Malaysian national in his mid-40s who has been flying with SIA for just over 20 years, is also heading home. As I’m packing my bags I try not to appear too happy to be going to Vegas for 6 days, the wife picks up on this and she finds it especially annoying if I whistle in a jolly way as I’m packing the sun tan lotion, so I have learnt to avoid whistling until I’m in the car on my own driving to work! “My monthly expenses add up to over S$19,000 a month and it’s not the right time to give up my stocks and bonds and sell my properties because I’ll get nothing. Today, the weather is very hot, forecast is 40 degrees, Las Vegas has some interesting non-precision approaches and is surrounded by high terrain as well as being 2,500ft above sea level. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Singapore Airlines (SIA) has let go about half of its cadet pilots and cabin crew trainees as it continues to downsize its workforce. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. “I think even if I have to downgrade to a smaller house, it's not a big problem,” he said. There is also a keypad by the door and the cabin crew can request entry through that, however, we can always accept or deny entry. Today, we also have thunderstorms and forecast severe turbulence en-route. Pilots can be re-employed beyond the age of 62 on a contract basis until the age of 65. At this point in my head I’m thinking about stopping the aircraft in an emergency and almost reciting my actions in my head. “Most importantly, we are making space for the younger pilots to continue because they have many more years to go and families that need their support.” — TODAY, Cheras LHDN branch to resume operations tomorrow, Glove maker Laglove ordered to close Kajang plant for Covid violations after HR minister sees workers’ living conditions, US stocks open lower on UK Covid-19 spike despite US stimulus. The amount of time the pilot actually spends “on duty” is between 100-200 a month, or 20-40 duty hours a week. The Captain will be sat at the controls for both flights during take off and landing, the 2 Senior First Officers will rotate, one will be rostered to be the operating pilot outbound and the other will be the ‘heavy pilot’. I pack my suitcase (this trip is 6 days long), check any notices that have been issued in my week off, ensure all my apps are up to date on my iPad and the iPad is fully charged along with my battery pack (Our mature jumbo jets do not have power available in the flight deck). In response to TODAY’s queries, the Air Line Pilots Association–Singapore (ALPA-S) said some pilots have had to take up secondary jobs to supplement their income, especially those with children. Long Haul pilots require more time off than short haul pilots so they usually get time off down route to be able to enjoy the beach or visit the city. The heavy pilot completes the external check of the aircraft as well as our cockpit security checks including our toilet and bunk rest area which are all enclosed in the flight deck. Our flight today operates from Terminal 3 so we have to catch a bus across to the aircraft. The chief interviewer is a pilot with SIA (a captain) and he would be the only guy to throw most of the questions at you. The result is that whilst it’s usually the case (with legacy carriers), it’s not always the case. The 50-year-old pilot who declined to be named has been with the airline for 27 years. Don't ever count your allowances because you never know there would be a day where suddenly there’s no more flights and you have to survive on your basic pay,” he said. SINGAPORE - Singapore Airlines (SIA) has let go of about half of its cadet pilots and cabin crew trainees as it continues to downsize its workforce.. ATC give us take off clearance, we set our elapsed time clocks to run, and I stand the thrust levers up, confirm engines are stable and then press the TOGA buttons on the top of the 4 thrust levers, the thrust levers then set the take off thrust automatically, considering the weight of the aircraft the acceleration still amazes me. These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features. 1. We check visually for traffic on approach and also check our navigation displays for TCAS (Traffic Collision Avoidance System) traffic. They will also give a recommendation on continuing or diverting the flight. We are departing from runway 27L and once we start to reach some of the holding points for the runway we can see there is at least 12 aircraft ahead of us. Due to annual leave, sickness or other reasons it could be that a pilot needs to do the flight to maintain his/her currency. The non-precision approaches are both in excess of a normal 3 degree glideslope, this all points to the threat of a runway excursion (running off the end of the runway) which can be created by a fast un-stable approach with a potentially long landing. We are lucky on the Jumbo as we have at least 6 spare cabin crew jump seats we can use for staff passengers, on some flights (depending on the length and time of flight) we get a club world seat allocated to the flight deck for rest if we choose not to use our bunk beds in the flight deck. We have been assigned briefing room number 1 today and the cabin crew (14 today) are all inside the room briefing. … Continue Reading → For pilot Terence Soon, 30, on the other hand, he said that the pay cuts have not really affected him or brought worry upon his family, despite having a five-month old daughter to care for. This is one of our pilots typical day at ‘the office’. “SIA has been supporting us by sourcing for and providing secondary job offerings on our internal platform for their employees,” the union representing pilots in Singapore said. Back in the seat we are now in Canada and whilst flying the aircraft, checking weather and notams for alternates and liaising with the cabin crew regarding turbulence reported ahead, the other SFO and I are planning the Arrival procedure, Approach and taxi in to Vegas. Half way across the Atlantic we switch to Canada air traffic controllers. We do a mini-brief update to see if any conditions or parameters have changed for take off and revise the crucial parts, we run the before take off checklist and receive a message from the cabin crew that they are secure for departure in the cabin. Pilot and First Officer have been sacked, the union is trying to get them back onto SIA staff maybe for ground duties but SIA does not seem willing. But SIA's regional arm, SilkAir, has been hiring women pilots … The captain has to work hard as today vectoring by ATC is quite poor and they keep us higher than we expected. Today we get the call from downstairs in the cabin from the cabin crew member in charge stating that there are customers missing at the boarding gate and the TRM has instructed the ramp team to start looking for their bags so that they can be offloaded. At around 100ft, everything looks ok, at 30ft I flare by raising the nose slightly, I squeeze the right rudder pedal to bring the aircraft in line with the runway and counter act the rolling motion by a small amount of left aileron down. “My basic pay was not sufficient to cover my monthly expenses and still save. Click to enable/disable Google Analytics tracking. The CSM will then call each left hand door for them to confirm they have each got 2 doors at each station in manual mode. We tip the driver for loading all of our cases, mine is always the heaviest, I overpack! Just as I’m on the bus I get a text message from a flight crew colleague on short haul (we always have a bit of long haul vs short haul banter – poor guys!!!) But life isn’t easy for this young pilot. During low workloads it is much better to ensure we all rest so we are all awake and alert for the approach and landing when the workload is higher. Plans for the joint venture were announced … Stepping into the unknown, especially at this age, with a lack of experience in other areas, is quite scary,” he said, adding that he will return to Malaysia in three weeks to avoid further racking up his expenses here. I receive the call of V1 (take off decision speed) which I acknowledge by taking my left hand off the thrust levers as we are now committed to taking off, V1 is the last chance a decision can be made to stop the aircraft without us going off the end of the runway. It really is true (like the saying) a good approach leads to a good landing. I am woken up to the ‘ding dong’ that means the end of my rest, like any alarm clock its not a popular noise. What is it like to be an airline pilot? A long haul flight from London Heathrow to Las Vegas on a Boeing 747-400. After the briefing and PA has been completed I give control to the Captain who will fly the approach for my landing. Then you fly. The 747 can land no problem on shortish runways in fact we could just about do around 1400 metres with max braking in normal conditions. Click on the different category headings to find out more. Next it is time to wake the Captain up, we order him a nice strong coffee to help him get back in the zone as quickly as possible, we brief the approach, arrival and taxi in, along with contingency’s and how we are actually going to fly the RNAV approach in terms of the modes we shall use on the mode control panel, discuss alternates and their weather and suitability, along with revising some memory action manoeuvres that are pertinent to this approach including TCAS RA (a mandatory command to manoeuvre to avoid another aircraft) in the landing configuration due to helicopter traffic and GPWS Pull up (a mandatory command to climb the aircraft with max thrust to avoid terrain) due to the surrounding terrain. We continue to monitor the aircraft systems, including the temperature in each zone of the aircraft, fuel checks and planning and contingency planning. The gear provides a lot of drag so as soon as it can be retracted the better as we can improve our climb performance. One pilot then sleeps for a short while in the pilot seat, while the other pilot takes control of the flight and communication. So far I managed to sleep from the moment I … Unfortunately it doesn’t happen every day. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Click to enable/disable _gid - Google Analytics Cookie. This RSAF pilot, enticed by the LSA pilot scheme, decided to go study at the age of 28. You can also change some of your preferences. He needed a break because operational pilot life was draining his life away. Our pilots know that we recruit and promote based on merit, so there’s no tolerance for discrimination—you know you’re working with the best qualified person for the job, not because they are a certain gender.” An onboard celebration with the Scoot crew. When factoring in bonuses and additional compensation, a Pilot at Singapore Airlines can expect to make an average total pay of … I’m transferring my eyes to outside to keep the aircraft straight and the wings level, whilst looking inside checking my PFD (Primary Flight Display) for the speed and also the EICAS (Engine Indications Crew Alerting System) for the engine parameters to ensure they are normal. Spends 4 years in university in exchange for a useless piece of a certificate. Medlink arrange a medical team to meet us on arrival. Effectively there are tracks for all aircraft planned to cross the Atlantic or we could be planned on a random route that our company has chosen. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. The briefing focuses on identifying threats and talking about how we can avoid, trap and mitigate them, it is another opportunity to go over any recall / memory items and revise which pilot does what, the briefing is important as an effective briefing involves everyone and sorts out any ambiguity. We run the shut down checklist and then I do a farewell PA to the customers. There is no time wasted with one pilot thinking ‘I wonder if he is going to do that, or ask for this’. Inevitably you may get chatting to some customers, I also quite like to grab some chocolate to keep the energy levels up (Ha! My work is finished and I can enjoy the Vegas casinos, hotels and pool parties (even if I am too old!)! We need 2 cookies to store this setting. As of May 2014, the average pilot income was $75,000. He spent his days as an … By Jay; … and we take some photos for them and answer any questions they may have, we always like to have a bit of banter with the passengers. There are several emergencies I can call stop for and the Captain can call stop for anything he/she likes but normally we would only stop for major emergencies like an engine failure, any fire on the aircraft, wind shear warning, take off config warning, blocked runway or some sort of control restriction. This means I will have to be in the staff car park by 1000 to catch the bus to the terminal, check in my bags and ensure I can take care of any admin housekeeping before proceeding to the briefing area. With the PA our company requires us to state several items as mandatory requirements including introducing the flight crew team and my companies policy on safety and security which includes the recommendation for customers to keep their seat belts fastened whilst seated even when the seat belt sign is off. The briefing is interactive with the heavy pilot also playing a part although the briefing is always led by pilot flying. 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