Week 82: Line operations from the jumpseat

As described during my last post, this week I had my supernumerary flights planned to see line operations as viewed from the back seat of the flight deck. The point of these flights (in my opinion) is two-fold; firstly and as previously commented it's an opportunity to understand how easyJet run their operation, with standard operating procedures put to use in real scenarios. Secondly (and again this is my opinion), I believe for cadets being put on a supernumerary flight is designed to show them there is a vast amount more to being a First Officer than just pointing the aeroplane where you want it to go! 

My first flight was to Palma on the island of Mallorca, which for my first flight was an ideal length as there wasn't a mad rush to get everything done. For starters, the immediate difference between the simulator and the line is that i'd never met my crew, so would be shaking hands with them for the first time 60 minutes before departure. I have to say the two chaps I met were brilliant, immediately starting my learning process by going through the paper flight plan and helping me to understand the processes involved in deciding the fuel load and how to book an uplift with the fuel company. 

Given we had a relatively early departure, meeting the cabin crew happened on the way to the aircraft. This may seem baffling to some, but the theory of meeting them on the move is pretty sound. As we on the flight deck have to go through introductions and decide on some operational factors, the cabin crew have a similar early introduction to go through. If we were then to come together for a chat this would eat more time into the 60 minutes before departure, and on time departure first thing in the morning is of vital importance. If the first wave of flights leave on time, there is a good chance that particular aircraft will maintain its schedule all day, and just a few minutes delay on the first flight could have a knock on effect hours later. Instead with the 10 minute walk from the crew room to the aircraft, we all took the opportunity to have a brief chat, learn names (something i'm useless at), and informally form the team for the day.

The flight itself was an eye opener, as there were quite a few tasks that needed completing which we never did in the simulator, and also the use of technology especially out of Gatwick is much higher. Rather than needing to use the radio to fetch the weather and clearances, easyJet use a system which utilise's satellite's to transmit data directly to the flight deck, thus lowering some of the workload for the pilots. Also given the longer length of the flights, fuel checks take on a new level of importance. Up to now they have been something we have performed but with no reference to how long we have been airborne. Now there is a comparison made between the planned airborne time and actual time, and how much fuel the aircraft has used to avoid not noticing a fuel leak scenario. 

Turnarounds were also a fairly pressurised time, where the crew had a planned 25 minutes to shut the engines down and prep for the next departure. However up front we definitely have it easy, as the cabin crew need to clear the passengers, tidy up, prep the cabin for the next flight, and get the next set of passengers sat down before the planned off blocks time. Somehow in there they managed to find the time to come and ask us what meals we would like on the way back to Gatwick; in truth this isn't just out of niceness, but they need to plan when they can prep our lunch so it won't interfere with the cabin service.

Following our return flight I had an out and back to Amsterdam, a veritable monster in terms of size and complexity. Coupled with that the flight time from Gatwick is under an hour, so briefings need to be concise to avoid getting behind the aircraft. Normally arrivals from the west like us would be sent to runway 18R which is one of the newer runways at Amsterdam Schiphol; unfortunately this runway is also miles away from the airport, and taxiing to the gate can take upwards of 20 minutes! By complete luck we were sent to runway 18C, which when we vacated made us only a few hundred metres from our stand, so we parked early as schedules are designed to take into account the likely taxi after arrival. 

Later in the week I also sat in on a flight to Bordeaux, which initially was ideal as my first planned flight was to be to Toulouse so the flight times weren't too different. Unfortunately with my cancelled base training I have been removed from that flight, so the plan has changed. Now that the summer schedules are in force it is very difficult for the airline to find a free aeroplane and base training captain, hence me waiting around for a few weeks. Thankfully my roster has changed and I now find myself on a three day base training trip starting next Tuesday. There are 9 of us going, 6 of which i've never met, the two I have being Nik and Dan who I trained with at CTC aviation. I do wish it was a bit sooner as the longer I don't fly the rustier ill get, but we have a refresher sim booked for this week so when I disappear up to Doncaster I should be more than ready to complete my 12 circuits.

My final flight was with a crew doing the short hop to Amsterdam first thing in the morning, upon which the FO was actually a CTC cadet from a course a year ahead of me. Hoan (excuse me if I got the spelling wrong!) seemed to be settling into the line operation really well which gives me confidence that as much hard work as there may be, the hard work certainly pays off!

Given the wonderful weather we've had this week, I took the chance to pop down to the Balcombe Viaduct which is only about 15 minutes from my new home. It's a massive structure that was built in the 1840's, and has clearly stood the test of time because the main London-Brighton railway line still utilises it. I appreciate a brick railway bridge isn't everyone's cup of tea, but a wander in the sunshine was an excuse enough for me to see an engineering marvel. 

Week 81: So close, so very close!!

This week I came so very close to finally completing my base training, but irritatingly our continental friends in French air traffic control decided that a strike was a great way to follow the Easter weekend. For those of you that are unsure, base training is the first occasion a professional pilot flies a big jet and alongside a first solo leaves a lasting imprint on one's memory. The aircraft used is empty of passengers, and the training detail involves flying visual circuits to practice landing.

Unfortunately, forces were against me this week and completing base training was always going to be a challenge. Two students from my course that were supposed to fly the week before had their training detail cancelled because of high winds, and even though they spent three days flying between Cornwall, Northern Scotland and France, they didn't manage to complete their 12 circuits. To further 'improve' the situation, with the French air traffic strike easyJet made the tactical decision to cancel our second days training so that the aircraft was available in terms of contingency planning. This meant that there were now 7 cadets trying to complete 12 circuits in an aircraft we only had for 10 hours. No chance!

This is one of the realities of working for a large airline, the result being I just have to sit on my hands for a few days in the hope that crewing come up with a plan to get us flying. The reality is that our base training will be rescheduled at a convenient time for the company and not before; ultimately transporting passengers around Europe and earning money as a result is how my wages will be paid, and if customers aren't flying the company's not making money. Annoyingly there is a possibility the French will have a further three days of strikes starting on Thursday, so fingers crossed some sort of solution occurs. 

Luckily even though I haven't managed to fly my base training, as part of my introduction to easyJet's way of doing things I am rostered for 8 sectors of supernumerary flights, 4 of which I have tomorrow. These flights are designed to give me the opportunity to watch a crew perform a line flight without being part of the working crew, and I will spectate from the jump-seat which sits at the back of the flight deck. My first one goes to Palma in Mallorca, so I have a decent opportunity to ask questions, then later in the day i'm going over to Amsterdam which promises to be quite challenging given how busy the airport is.

For the moment i'm just waiting on some good news and a change to my schedule, so hopefully by next week things have developed a bit! 

Weeks 79 & 80: Adding a little more orange to my life!

It's been a busy couple of weeks for me, as I have finally joined easyJet and am now under their care. During my first week of induction I was based at the easyJet academy, Luton, where we were introduced to the company. During the first day we were visited by many people from various parts of the business, and given a pretty decent overview of what makes the company tick. As the week wore on we moved onto the more practical activities, including floating about a pool wearing a life jacket as part of our SEP training. 

The group we cadets found ourselves in was quite new in terms of the norm for easyJet, as a group of direct entry Captains were being inducted. When we moved onto security, this was of huge benefit as their experience made the whole session incredibly worthwhile as they were able to give a bit more context to the scenarios. That said, as cadets from an MPL programme there was an odd shift in terms of knowledge when it came to easyJet SOP's (Standard operating procedures), as we were significantly better versed as we had the luxury of 6 months working on them in Southampton.

As much as the crew on the flight deck aren't as customer facing as our colleagues in the cabin, we still need to understand their role as well as have some basic skills in terms of first aid. To this end we had an opportunity to learn CPR using the much loved mannequin, but we also got to use the new on board defibrillator which basically tells you what to do to keep things ticking along! Understanding the cabin crew role also extended to learning how to operate the aircraft doors correctly, something which I hadn't given enough respect to. Put simply if you cock up the order or make a mistake, when you open the door you could activate the slide, and anything that was blocking the door is soon getting shifted!!

The week finished with a day of crew resource management, delivered by two pilots based out of Gatwick. We also had a chance to visit hanger 89 again, and with that our induction week was over.

The weekend following induction Alice and I moved into our flat in Crawley, or at least moved enough stuff to live until we could hire a van for the rest! Unfortunately that didn't extend to a sofa, so we spent four days getting a numb bum sat on the floor. Thankfully when I got another break we moved properly, and our flat is now pretty cosy.

Induction continued this week, but this time at Burgess Hill which is just South of Gatwick. It's the main flight deck training facility, and houses many simulators for a variety of airlines. Frustrating our first two days there were spent in the classroom learning a bit more about line training, as well as how to negotiate a full flight plan. Given each flight plan is about 20 pages long and we could be doing 4 flights a day, thats plenty of paper to get through!

Finally yesterday we were back in the simulator in readiness for base training, but we still had training to get through. This included PRNAV, which put simply is a form of satellite based naviagation. We weren't really learning about the mechanics of the system, more how we will use it on a daily basis and what to do when the system fails. Todays sim session was however a lot more topical, as it was our pre-base sim. Sheldon and I were paired up, and we basically had 4 hours to fly round and round in the circuit at Gatwick to get used to the pattern we will fly tomorrow. Given we both completed our LST a month ago it was also a big opportunity to really blow away the cobwebs and get confident in the aeroplane again. Thankfully there were no major dramas and I feel ready for base training tomorrow, so hopefully there are no snags to stop us going ahead. As long as I continue to fly the way I have been taught and practiced, I should fair OK and will ideally be training in a week. So it's an early night for me, and an exciting day tomorrow. Time to fly the jet, and I finally wear these beauties with pride!!