Late last year, I was thrilled to receive a job offer from my goal regional airline. After years of training and a thousand hours as a flight instructor, preparing to move to the next step was the culmination of hard work and seemingly endless study and preparation. But as many at the top end of the time-building process know, getting “in the door” isn’t the end of the process. My company, as with many, is still waiting to assign me to a class as they fill the backlog of applications they’ve been facing for some time.
Of course, while I would love to jump right into a transport-category jet and find my way into the flight levels, I know this is purely a fact of living in the aviation industry and part of having chosen this career for myself.
The question is, how to make my time worthwhile as I’m waiting for my call. Some solutions are fairly straightforward: I will continue flying and build time at my current job to stay proficient, both flying-wise and teaching-wise. This includes the occasional rental for instrument and night currency, as well as leisure flights with family and friends.
I have also found it necessary to set new goals for myself while I keep teaching. No longer having the hard 1500 number as a goal leaves a gaping hole in my motivation. I found it necessary to reach for something else to keep my fire lit. My current goals are two: to reach 2,000 total time (manageable given how long I may be waiting for airline training) and reaching the required cross-country time to hit unrestricted ATP minimums.
The latter goal will require a more focused effort, but it’s a good challenge to keep me on my toes and guide me to stay engaged with new scenarios, new airports, and unique situations that I might not always attain staying local at my home airport.
I also have additional ratings in the back of my mind, particularly seeking out new categories and classes on my certificates. As my current company works closely with gliders in addition to airplanes, a more long-term goal is to see about adding gliders to my instructor certificate after having added pilot privileges last fall.
Lately, I have heard a lot of people who are exasperated at being stuck in instructing jobs waiting on the airlines to call back. I understand the sentiment, as I’m in the same spot. But there’s only so much that exaspiration can get me. Now, the best way to move forward while I wait, is to make myself as experienced and marketable as possible. I am lucky to have a teaching job as it is, and I am grateful for the opportunities it’s affording me.
I’m equally lucky to have experienced mentors who can help me through the situation. Ultimately, I need to think about the long game—not only about making it to this first training class but into each situation beyond it. The better I’m set up now, the easier time I’ll have getting and holding down positions in the future.
While I’m still relatively new to the industry, I have learned how important maintaining motivation can be. The hiring wave came and went before I was even ATP eligible, and I was hired within six months of my 23rd birthday. I am lucky to have decades of career potential ahead of me, so this is my first true lesson in managing my time working in the industry no matter the conditions.
