Week 62: some context and a visit to easyJet HQ

As we have progressed through the basic phase of training, we have become increasingly more confident and proficient at operating a medium sized jet aircraft. However, thus far operations have been quite false as they've mostly involved a take off, pottering round the local area, routing back to the hold then flying an instrument approach. Things took on a more realistic feel this week though, as we began to look at routes which we could be flying in the not too distant future, so we've gained invaluable exposure to the 'operation' rather than just operating. I flew the first leg from Heathrow up to Prestwick starting on stand 511 at terminal 5, and Chris flew the return leg back to London. To give a flavour of the flight, tasks included:-

• Power-up: The aircraft was 'cold and dark' when we arrived, so we had to run through the process of safely supplying the systems with electrical power (initially external, progressing to the APU)
• ATIS: Automated terminal information service........the weather and what's not working at your point of departure, a computer voice reading the details on a VHF comms frequency.
• Clearance: What clearance are air traffic going to give us so we can plan the departure.
• Cockpit prep: ensuring that the required information is displayed, and systems are working correctly.
• Departure Briefing: Led by the pilot flying, an opportunity to discuss the departure, confirm plans, raise any concerns, and most importantly share the same thought processes.
• Start up: requesting from ATC to start engines, confirming with the ground crew it's safe to do so, and getting those engines spinning!
• Push back: Talking to the ground crew to have the aircraft safely pushed away from the stand and into the live taxiway
• Taxi: probably the most difficult part of the trip as there are so many spots to get lost!
• Departure: fly the take off and departure as planned, adjusting the plan as necessary as ATC dictate.
• Climb: Continuing climb into the en-route phase towards cruising level, which for my flight was 36,000ft (FL360)
• Arrival planning: Pilot flying will begin to think through the arrival, gather information on the destination such as the weather, set up the aircraft
• Briefing: Again pilot flying takes the lead but it's more of a conversation on the upcoming approach. When the aircraft is shifting at about 7 miles a minute, and the brief takes easily 10 minutes, it's easy to see how being concise is important or starting early!
• Descent: using the rule of thumb of 3 times the height in feet, from FL360 I needed about 108 miles to complete the descent and another 12 miles to slow down, so at the latest I needed to start down at 120 miles from Prestwick. Amazingly, if I hadn't started briefing at 200 miles to go, I would've been behind and the approach would've been a mad panic!
• Approach: Fly the approach to a hopeful successful landing. In our case the first approach was unsuccessful due to poor visibility, but the conditions improved enough for a second one to land.
• Landing/taxi: quite a bit easier at Prestwick!
• Parking/shutdown: get the aircraft onto the stand, shut the engines down, and get ready for the return leg!

So as you can see there was plenty going on before, during and after the flight, so the next time someone pokes fun saying the autopilot does everything, i'll happily be telling them that if the autopilot wasn't there they'd be taking the bus to Scotland!

In other news, this week EZMP03 had a visit to Luton to gain exposure to the easyJet operation, as well as building knowledge on a company that we will shortly be working for (and it is shortly, 15 weeks to be exact!). We started with a presentation from two current pilots, Captain Simon Kneller (Head of new pilot training) who is responsible for us up to the end of line training, and SFO Mark Farquhar, our new liaison pilot. What struck me from the presentation was how enthusiastic both were about the company, and even though the face of easyJet has somewhat changed in it's 19 year history, there was a real belief that everyone still remains as one team. 

It was then time to grab our ID's and head over to Hangar 89, the rather large and rather orange building at Luton that acts as easyJet's headquarters. Here we were given a tour of the crew room, the first point of contact each day for both cabin crew and the flight crew. This led nicely to lunch in the H89 canteen (I recommend the pulled pork baguette), and with bellies full we were off again, this time making tracks towards the main terminal. This meant the most exciting part of our visit was upon us, and we were off to the ramp to get up close and on board an easyJet Airbus A319.

Given we were like a pack of giddy school children, we were split into two groups for the aircraft tour. I was with the group outside the aircraft, and rather than just have us running about like headless chickens Mark took us around the aircraft as if he was doing a pre-flight walkaround, so we could gain an improved understanding of the aircraft. There were plenty of opportunities to take pictures, ask questions, and in general just stare in awe at how much larger the A319 is compared to anything else we have flown.

On board the childishness continued, as making announcements on the PA seemed a great idea, as did hanging out of the cockpit windows for photos. As much as this may seem immature, getting close to where we'll spend the rest of our careers is very excited, but the next time we're on an A319 the fear of base training will be taking away all the initial excitement! The day finished with a visit to easyJet ops back at H89, where we were talked through some of the stuff that keeps the airline running, but is rarely seen. This included flight planning and engineering, and I even met someone that used to be on the popular ITV programme 'Airline'.

As we had been put up in a hotel for the night, easyJet then took us out for dinner in town, so we had the opportunity to ask questions in a more relaxed environment over a few beers. This may not seem particularly significant, but given we are yet to make a single penny for the company and they've spent a few hundred pounds on our visit, it's nice to see that they value us enough to make an investment!

Day two was a slightly different set-up, as we were spoken to by two chaps from H89 concerning the business itself. The intention wasn't that we could subsequently do their jobs, but everyone found the presentations most informative and educational. This included looking at how ticket prices change, how difficult managing schedules can be, and how the company wants to grow. I left with a feeling that in 15 weeks i'm joining what is a very exciting and forward thinking company, but most importantly very stable. Also given the plan for expansion by 2019 there could be as many 316 in the fleet (about 100 increase), the scope for a short stint in the right hand seat before getting command is very promising. 

Anyway, enough rambling, apologies for all the nasty words. As usual any questions fire away, and here's some nice pics to look at!