Cherished Readers,
Warm regards from my fascinating cockpit and high praises to our Almighty God for His abundant goodness and mercies in our lives every day! As 2015 slowly draws to an end, permit me to find out: Have you learnt anything about the Pilot profession from my Epistles? Are you now more relaxed when travelling by air? If your response is yes, then I thank God I’ve fulfilled my objectives. If it’s no, then I suspect you may have read these Epistles in bits and pieces, instead of following through all the series from April. I recommend you catch up with what you missed from my blog.
Several of you have informed me that after reading a particular Epistle, they have blurted out to themselves: “Oh, how I wish I knew this information much earlier!” That is what I mean by my subtitle this week. About a decade ago, an agitated parent informed me in a phone conversation that he sponsored his nephew to the USA to train to become a Commercial Pilot in a Flying Club. Upon graduation, the nephew applied to be recruited into an Airline only to be informed, to his utter dismay, that the Commercial Pilot license he gained from the Flying Club was not globally recognized! This parent was enraged, thinking the airline had deliberately rejected his nephew due to racial prejudice and called me to support him by confronting the Airline management to drum some sense into their heads!I had to turn down the juicy consulting fee he was ready to pay me and rather drum some insights into his own ignorant head! Let me share with you what I told him…..There are various options to choose from to pursue the Pilot profession; through the Airforce’s recruitment and training programme, an Airline’s screening and selection programme, a Flying Club or through an Aviation University abroad to pursue a Degree and train for the Commercial Pilot’s License.
However, those who choose to obtain their Commercial Pilot’s License in a Flying Club are those who intend to work for companies which own aircrafts for charters, cargo or medical purposes or those who intend to purchase their own aircrafts to fly for business purposes.Flying Clubs in the USA for instance, train under Part 61 of their Federal Aviation Regulations. This type of training allows the trainee to progress at any pace. For example, if the trainee is required to attend a lesson in Ground School today and the next lesson in a fortnight, he/she can reschedule the lesson to a more convenient time that suits him/her. This makes the training schedule for Flying Clubs very flexible.On the contrary, commercial Airlines in the USA prefer their Pilot Cadets or any Private Cadet to pursue their Commercial Pilot License with a Part 141 Flying School.
Many Civil Aviation Authorities have a section in their respective regulations that prescribe the training syllabus and procedures to groom Cadet Pilots for Airlines.Part 141 schools in the USA have a calendar stipulating when each stage in the training should be completed and what action to take if the trainee is not up to speed at some stages of the training. It also stipulates how Ground School and Flight exams should be conducted and conditions for remedials. Consequently, Flying Schools which train Cadet Pilots for Airlines have a very regimental programme from entry to graduation.
The schools require trainees to wear Pilot uniforms and hold Pilot flight bags and they subject their Ground School and Flight Instructors to a highly standardized and top notch programme to ensure quality instruction. As a result, most of their graduates with Commercial Pilot Licenses go through Certified Flight Instructor courses and often apply to their alma mater to teach. However, it is only after passing an intensive interview and flight skills test that these graduates can be selected for the Instructor Standardization Programme.Airlines all over the world have a list of approved Flying Schools they would wish all Pilot Cadets train with. The Chief Pilot of an Airline has the right to reject any Pilot who trained at a particular Flying Club or any non-Airline regulated training school across the world.
After I had explained all these to the agitated parent, he sighed slowly and remarked: “Oooh Captain, how I wish I knew this much earlier!” On the way forward, I advised him to enroll his nephew at another Airline approved Flight Training Center to undertake a Master Pilot programme for two weeks and re-apply to the Airline after successful completion. The parent thanked me profusely and took my advice. Today, his nephew is the Senior First Officer of an Airline and next-in-queue for command (ie Captainship).
I have a bit of time before landing this flight, so let me share with you another “I wish I knew” experience that a friend of mine had. Kwaku was deeply agitated because he had failed to show up for his own marriage ceremony to Rafatu at Navrongo. What on earth could have happened???! Well, Kwaku and Rafatu lived and worked in Accra and after their three years courtship, they agreed to tie the knot. Rafatu’s family preferred the marriage ceremony took place in their hometown Navrongo, so Rafatu travelled over to prepare for the ceremony.
However Kwaku, who had a busy work schedule, was released to take his leave only a day before the ceremony. On his way to buy his air ticket, he met a relative who vehemently discouraged him from travelling by air due to an incident that had earlier occurred with one of the Tamale bound domestic airlines as a result of bad weather conditions. On a strong recommendation by this relative, Kwaku cancelled his air travel and decided to go to Tamale by road!
To cut a long story short, several unforeseen incidents happened on his 13 hours bus trip to Tamale and eventually he got to Navrongo extremely late, long after the scheduled time for the marriage ceremony. His tearful bride didn’t want to hear any explanations from him and her family were grossly disappointed. “If only I had known that regardless of weather conditions, air travel is the safest and fastest alternative to use for such important occasions!” Kwaku reflected bitterly. I bet you want to know how the story ended, don’t you???!!! So sorry, unfortunately, it’s time for me to land this aircraft!
Meanwhile Lord, thanks for a safe and smooth flight to our destination! Adieu!!