[ChinookDriver]

Part 3:

They Can’t Take Away Your Pride

Whether a pilot retires at 60 or is furloughed at 30 there is a tendency to look back on your careers and reflect on what you’ve accomplished. Sometimes it is hard not to wonder if we have wasted that portion of our lives. We have nothing to show for our careers. We have made little or no difference in our companies.

That is how I felt. Whether your career is taken from you by furlough, retirement, or medical you have to remember how much you accomplished. At some point when you were a child you dreamed of being an airline pilot. You stopped and looked skyward at your favorite airplane (for me it was the DC9) and dreamed of what it would be like to fly her. (it was amazing!) Your success in that endeavor was no different than for a climber who reaches the pinnacle of a challenging mountain or a writer who completes a novel. You made a difference in the lives of the people who you safely carried. Regardless of whether you ever touch the controls of an airplane again, you have made a difference by the professionalism with which you did your job, your commitment to safety and passenger comfort, and the pride you had in the company that employed you.


Furloughed Again?


Being furloughed sucks. There is no question about it, but it is a part of our industry. There are those who it has happened to and those who it will happen to. The challenge for all of us is to be prepared and to have our own “missed approach procedure” in place to protect ourselves and continue to support our families. The first two times I was furloughed I was unprepared. During the first I moved back in with my parents and got a job as a grocery clerk while flight-instructing part time. During the second I lived out of the trunk of my car in a parking garage in Western Pennsylvania. During the third I was prepared. And if my current employer should no longer have need for my services I will be prepared again. And the next day, I’ll start looking for a new flying job. That’s what pilots do. Pilots fly.
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