“A Day in the Life (of an airline pilot)”

…a 10 minute🧵 on how the team gets your flight off the ground. I can’t cover all details, but let’s try:

14:30 – wake up. It’s a day rest after a red-eye, so I’ve managed 5-6 hours of sleep. It takes a bit to remember the city I’m in & I have to check the report time on my scheduling app – can’t trust memory here, it all blends together. I’ve got 2 hours before the shuttle time I set w/ the FO last night

30 minutes to check on email & such, which I do, as well as check on the flight using the same app passengers do; if delayed significantly, I delay our checkout & shuttle times as soon as possible

90 minutes from shuttle. I plan for showering & shaving (30 minutes), reviewing the flight plan & weather (20-30 minutes), dressing & getting downstairs ≈20 minutes before the shuttle – I try to set an example of “early is on-time, on-time is late & late is unacceptable”

The flight plan was created by my dispatcher. Dispatch is constantly looking at all variables & inputs, from weather to ATC delays, then planning the most efficient route (higher & “great circle” navigation is better, but winds, storms & ATC can negate that) while still giving us an on-time arrival. It’s complex!

The flight plan itself is a detailed, electronic package on my iPad; full weather briefings & forecasts, notices about issues at airports (NOTAMs), maintenance history of the airplane, turbulence forecasts, ozone warnings & multiple other data points, plus any highlights the dispatcher wants to point out…not to mention our actual route of flight, including speeds & altitudes. It’s ≈ 50 pages in all, for every flight

I generally don’t have any disagreements w/ the flight plan – dispatchers are good at this. I can ask for changes, like more fuel at the gate or a different route, but it’s rare. I sign it electronically (both Dispatch & Captain have to sign) & it’s filed

I then use a few other apps to check on current situations. Turbulence reports, the status of ATC, ground stops, weather radar, even a list of notable passengers

I import the flight plan into a “moving map” app; we use one by Jeppesen. It has all the charts & “approach plates” for basically the world. It’s frequently updated & saves a lot of time – we used to hand-carry big suitcases of books & update them by hand. Now all on the iPad, our gps position overlaid on the charts – a huge improvement

I write all the critical information down on a piece of paper called my “yoke note”. I have my own format that also serves as a script for my briefing to passengers, seen below w/airline & flight number blacked out. Acronyms abound in aviation; the left side shows ZFW (zero fuel weight), TOW (take off weight) & most important: SOB (souls on board)

The FO & I checkout & ride the shuttle to the airport. We tip the driver a few dollars – customary. I’ve chosen to arrive 15 minutes before mandatory report time, as I don’t like pushing it – there may be snags getting through security or something – but it allows me to buy coffee for us, too. I fly w/ new-hires mostly & while they’re on probation for the first year, it’s customary for the Captain to buy beers & such for them

Most of my layovers don’t allow for beer, though. You can’t have alcohol starting 12 hours before report & I don’t even get that usually. If I do, it’s because we arrived at like 05:00 & nothing is open. Especially in the summer, when we’re pushing crews hard…by union contract, though, I’m guaranteed a minimum of 9 hours behind a hotel door. I usually get 10 or so, & coffee will have to substitute for beer

It will get better when I’m more senior, but for now it just is!

Security has a special line for us, away from passengers. It requires registration & a background check; we scan in & bypass bag scans or metal detectors. Sometimes, you get randomly selected for all the normal stuff, though & have to head over to the normal TSA (but get to cut the line)

(Continued) Report time to the jet is 45 minutes before pushback. I’m usually early. We meet the gate agent; they brief us on any special passengers, like unaccompanied minors, wheelchairs, high-status passengers or law enforcement on board. They’ll be back before we close the airplane door to brief any updates, but now we head down the jet bridge

First order of business is settling into the cockpit. The 737 is cramped. I let the FO go first, and use this time to brief the Flight Attendants (FAs)

Our FAs came in on an earlier flight; we usually don’t stay together as a whole crew at my airline. We also don’t usually stay at the same hotels. In general, we’re probably meeting for the first time – they can be from any base in our system. Scheduling of crews for efficiency is INCREDIBLY complicated, as pilots & FAs have very different rules; FAs can be assigned to any airplane type, pilots only to one. We have different duty day & rest requirements, too. You could opt to do things simply, but it makes the operation inefficient which makes tickets more expensive

Regardless of airplane type, we standardize things as much as possible. That helps with these situations. The FAs need to know about flight time, weather, special passengers & any broken items in the cabin. We do introductions & get right to it. If it’s going to be turbulent on departure, I brief them to remain seated when we pass 10,000’ – indicated by the “double ding” you hear, which is a clue to get up & start duties – & I’ll call them later. When that brief is done, the FAs go back to their duties – inspecting the cabin & its safety systems, checking on catering, making sure cleaners did a good job, lavatory storage is empty & water tanks full. When they’re ready, they work w/gate agents to start boarding, maybe ≈35 minutes before pushback. They do so autonomously & don’t need my input unless they find something wrong

I get settled into the cockpit now. I store my bag behind my seat & “build my nest” – get my headset plugged in, my iPad on the mount (under the side window), adjust my seat & clip my yoke note onto the control yoke – there’s a special place for it right in the middle & it’s easy to reference when things get busy

The FO has started pre-flight checks. I have some to do, as well, but they have more. Checking all the systems are working & such. I won’t go into too much detail here, but we use “flows” – memorized patterns to cover every button & switch the same way, every time. It takes a while to learn them in training; we put up posters of the flight deck in our hotel rooms during that time & practice doing all the different flows, from pre-flight to parking. After a flow, the checklist ensures we got the major stuff that may be a danger

The FO & I split duties here. One of us must do an exterior inspection of the airplane (a “walk around”) while the other loads the computer & sets everything up for the flight. Some Captains have the FO do both, but I alternate – whoever will be actually flying “loads the box”, while the pilot working the radios does the walk around

Today I do the walk around. I use an app on my phone to find this airport’s access codes from the jetbridge to the ramp & head down. The walkaround is like flows, done the same way every time

I’m inspecting things; making sure pitot tubes aren’t blocked, tires & brakes aren’t worn, engine isn’t leaking oil or appears damaged, etc. along the way, I’m going to see the team busy at work, “turning” the jet…getting it from the flight it just came in from to the flight I’m taking it out on. Turn times are measured from parking brake set to parking brake release & vary by type of jet – a 787 takes longer to turn than a 737 – but they are aggressive. On the 737, we ideally do it in about 45 minutes, but realistically it takes an hour. The longer a jet sits at the gate, the more money the airline loses & the tickets get more expensive…profit margins are very small in this industry

(Continued)

Q: What happens in the cockpit in a crash? In the cabin?

Are you waiting for orders from the Captain? What do pilots do? Flight Attendants? Tower Controllers?

A: a shared philosophy & carefully constructed machine awakes, by command or independently.

A case study 🧵

1/24

https://twitter.com/flightmodeblog/status/1742121079458398505

A foundation of modern aviation safety philosophy is described by the Greek poet Archilochus:

“We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training”

Let’s start in the cockpit w/ a loud bang, lights & alarms as the two aircraft collide.

2/24

Since we’re likely to see a lot of air strike footage in the next few days, here’s a couple things to know:

You may see multiple hits on the same building, first with a small impact, later with a big impact.

If so, the IDF is “Roof Knocking”

1/

jpost.com/arab-israeli-c… “Roof Knocking” is used when civilians may occupy the same building as military combatants/infrastructure.

A low or no-yield munition is dropped first, as a warning to evacuate the building.

2/

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roof_knoc…

In 2018, I deployed to the Middle East for (probably) the last time.

My kids were 6 & 4.

To keep connected, I asked if I could take their favorite stuffed animals. They agreed.

I sent pictures of our adventures nearly everyday & we discussed in our calls:

1/9 I decided they’d get into frequent trouble.

Kids loved that the stuffies were mischievous, so I’d invent stories.

Like when Tigre took control without authorization & tried to head home…he missed my 6 year old, but eventually understood he had a duty & he’d be home soon.

2/9

We’re likely to get some stories about hot weather grounding flights soon…it’s a regular occurrence around this time of year.

So…why can’t the planes take off?

Let’s take a quick look…🧵

1/9

cnbc.com/2017/06/20/the… It’s all about air density, which we call “Density Altitude”.

As it gets hotter, the atmosphere expands, meaning air molecules are farther apart from each other.

“Less air for the engines & wings” is a decent way of thinking about it.

2/9

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Density_a…

#Chemtrails:

A global geo-engineering conspiracy, or conspiracy theory?

There are a LOT of otherwise reasonable people (up to 40%!) who believe it's the former.

In a way, that's understandable.

But...here's why it's the latter:
(Caution: replies section may get wild)

1/ @Gnomosapien @american4sense @Aerys1221 Sorry - 8 seconds

This story – of a pilot incapacitation – is making the rounds on covid twitter (from both sides).

As you may expect, it can be used to spin whatever you want to spin.

I’ve got a few hours to kill on Field Standby, so let’s investigate…

1/25

https://twitter.com/rawsalerts/status/1638658450925273090

The claims seem to center around three main ideas:

1) The situation was so dire a non-Southwest pilot was brought in

2) This either didn’t happen before covid, or is happening much more often after, and

3) The FAA knows something, but is hiding it.

Let’s begin…

2/25

RUNWAYS

Why are the lights different colors? What is that white cone thingy? How thick is the concrete? What are the stripes for?

Ready to learn something? Let’s answer, in three parts! First up:

PART 1: Design & Construction

1/27 The basics:

Whenever possible, runways are built heading into the historically prevailing wind; headwind increases lift at lower ground speeds, reducing takeoff & landing distance.

We can accept tailwind, but no more than ≈10 knots.

Terrain decides, though.

2/27

Watching Twitter Public Health ‘experts’ melt down over the last two days reminds me of a problem we used to have in aviation: unchecked authority & ego.

We worked VERY hard to get rid of it. Some may wish to take notes…a 🧵

1/13 It used to be that an Airline Captain was a God-like figure.

His decisions were final & not to be questioned…

…even when they were obviously wrong. The Captain was someone to be feared & respected.

2/13

6 MONTH UPDATE: What happened after Airline Mask Mandates ended?

ALL the data, from cases to flight cancellations. Looking at the USA, UK, AUS & CAN w/sources.

Keeping the thread as short as possible: still no evidence to #BringBackMasks Starting w/ USA airline data for context...

PASSENGERS:

TSA numbers nearly back to 2019 levels; on a few days, they exceed 2019 numbers.

403.7M passed through TSA since mandates ended. No apparent deterrence.

Source: tsa.gov/coronavirus/pa…

CO2 Sensors on Airplanes: A thread on why they are pointless.

We can start by asking a very simple question to illustrate the issue…

https://twitter.com/JimRosenthal4/status/1578025528124063744

Would the sensor read the same if:

1) Everyone is masked?
2) Nobody is masked?
3) Everyone has covid?
4) Nobody has covid?
5) Plane’s filters are on or off? (Trick question)
6) It was inside his mask?
7) It was 2019?

The answer to all is: Yes, it would get the same result.

Update: 5 months after removal of the airline mask mandate...how is it going?

339M passengers have now gone through TSA since the US' mask mandate was struck down on April 18th.

We are still not seeing any effect. A short thread w/the data...

1/12 First up: Cases.

Comparing the same time period from 2021 & 2022, there is no apparent effect, despite a 19% increase in passengers in 2022.

TSA traveler numbers for Apr 18 - Sep 18:
2021: 275M
2022: 339M

2/12

The pilot shortage is real & there are a lot of ideas about the cause.

The thread below is gaining enough attention that it may be worthwhile to dispel a few of the inaccuracies.

There are quite a few.

https://twitter.com/bgolus/status/1567256510300037121

Before we start, though, it’s important to note that pilots have been talking about the shortage for a long time. The first I heard of it was 2006.

Industry has known this was coming for well over a decade.

Pandemic slightly exacerbated it, but only by a year or two.

How it’s going in CA today: 3 tweets, 15 minutes while waiting to pick daughter up from dance

1) Yay! We’ll be spared. 2) Damnit. We aren’t spared.

Long covid theory incoming in 5…4…3…

https://twitter.com/cnnbrk/status/1566059709785948163

Never happened before. Never.

rollingstone.com/culture/cultur…

Let’s talk about this for a moment. Specifically, the claim that “air systems aren’t on during boarding/deplaning”.

That’s false.

https://twitter.com/j_g_allen/status/1544976856482553858

Air is provided be either the ground, Auxiliary Power Unit (APU - small turbine in the tail for electric & pneumatic) or the engines.