After nearly 4.5 hours of flying, I finally reached the coveted 1500-hour checkpoint last November. Despite signing a conditional job offer at a regional soon after, I find myself still waiting on a class date months later with the potential of more months to come. Staying motivated and excited to fly and teach on a day–to-day basis has posed a challenge I did not foresee while working towards my ATP minimums.
In the time sense, I’ve looked for new ways to keep advancing my aviation career and credentials. The first decision I made was to keep flying—as my airline recruiter said when I got hired, “Don’t quit your day job,” as this is how I keep my flight chops proficient and stay prepared to get the call to report any day.
But more importantly, I needed to decide what I could do that would satisfy the huge goal that flying 1500 hours represented. That goal loomed so large in my sights for so long that no longer having it seemingly left a gap in my list of hopes and dreams. What is there that can fill the gap?
Some parts of filling the gap are easy. I am lucky to have opportunities to expand my portfolio of aircraft beyond those I have been flying day in and day out for the last year. Though I enjoy my light sports, being able to fly high performance, IMC-capable airplanes with students has brought a layer of diversity that I appreciate.
Yet at the same time, I need to find ways to keep my sights focused forward; not only do I want to remain grounded in my teaching and enjoy my day-to-day work, but I also need to keep in mind that the next level is coming. I am spending an increasing amount of time preparing for the three training months I know are coming somewhere down the line. Just as with the day-to-day flying, I want to stay proficient and prepared with the basic information I learned for my airline interview so I can be even more prepared entering class.
One of the more challenging parts of my situation is learning how to appreciate my current position. In aviation, it’s easy to stay focused on the next career step: when you’ll reach the next level of certification, when you’ll start your dream job, or when you’ll get the next opportunity for advancement. Learning to enjoy my present moment is a skill I can refine in order to appreciate each step I take in the process.
This isn’t to say I necessarily want to take a step back but rather that I want to find ways to thoroughly enjoy a situation I might not find myself in again. Once I move on from instructing full time, I’m not sure when I’ll have my next opportunity to enjoy general aviation in such a unique, diverse way. At the very least, this may be the last time I fly full time in this part of the country, where flying into such a wide variety of airports – from small, single-runway uncontrolled airports to busy Class B and Class C hubs on a regular basis.
While flying for an airline will bring its unique excitements and challenges, and while I have absolutely no plans to give up on general aviation, I may never again find myself in quite the same position I’m in now. That alone makes appreciating this extra time more valuable so I can recall how formative this time has been.
I’m looking forward to what the remainder of my time instructing will bring, and I’m excited for where my career takes me afterward. I am excited to pursue no goals and to find new ways to appreciate all the benefits my current position affords me.
