My specific job and company in the aviation industry that I would like to end up at is Delta Airlines. My dream job is flying the Boeing 777. The 700-300ER is my favorite airplane even though at the current moment no American Airline has the 300's yet. I am open to moving but flying out of DTW would be perfect. Even though routes change all the time, flying the 777 from DTW to HKG (Hong Kong) and flying the ATL-JNB (Johannesburg) is my goal. According to FlightAware the DTW-HKG route ranges from 15-16 hours, and the ATL-JNB route is around the same time.
According to Ask Captain Captains on the Delta 777 make a base annual salary of $220,000 and on average the first officer depending on his seniority will make about half of that. Every airline has around the same pay, but all of it depends upon where you are on the seniority list. Delta who merged with Northwest in 2009 was the Worlds largest airline until the recent merger of United and Continental. Northwest used to be my favorite airline but since its recent merger, Delta is my favorite. The reason Delta is my favorite airline besides the fact that it has a DTW hub, is the variety in aircraft, Delta flies both Airbus and Boeing. I love the wide bodies of the A330,B767,B777 and the B744.
The concerns I have with Delta and specifically flying the B777, by the time I make my way up there which could be over 20 years is who even knows if the B777 will still be in production, with the aviation manufacturing business in a boom at the moment creating better fuel efficient airplanes no even knows for sure which aircraft will be in production. My other concern is just the industry itself, when it comes to Delta, just 10 years ago American Airlines was the largest Airline and now there bankrupt and could eventually merge with someone or just go totally under. The Airlines industry is so hard to predict, with new airlines on the move there will always be movement and mergers in the industry.
In the Colgan accident there was many ways in which a lack of professionalism was demonstrated. 1 being the pilots were not mentally ready for the job at hand. In the cockpit voice recorded you heard the pilots talking and joking around which you could tell they were not mentally in the cockpit. Another way a lack of professionalism was demonstrated was on the management side, they are scheduling these pilots to the point that they were not physically ready. Both pilots were flying on barely any sleep and were fatigued to the max. The pilots and management side did not understand fatigue and how dangerous it is. Some 50 lives could have been saved if pilots and management showed any lack of professionalism.
Two ways I plan to expand my level of professionalism once I am hired is to stay connected. If your getting into aviation its because you love it. In order to expand my level of professionalism is to stay in touch with the industry through blogs, news and Aviation articles, the industry is changing everyday and if you don't stay connected you will soon be out of touch when it comes to Aviation. Another way I am going to expand my level of professionalism at Delta is to enhance myself with every opportunity to be involved with the Airline. Voluntary involvement in Delta is a key to professionalism, ASAP (Aviation Safety Action Program) is a good voluntary program to expand my professionalism to improve our number one thing in aviation, Safety!
The 777's are pretty sweet aircraft. Not much longer till the 777-300's arrive into the US (American ordered 7 ER's, deliveries should start later this year if I remember correctly). True, maybe 20 years from now there may be few 777's left in operation. Though you could just fly the 797 instead ;) Or it's possible many of them would end up in cargo operations (like many of the older 747's have), so Fedex/UPS and other cargo operators may have pretty large 777 fleets in 10-20 years.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you in your diagnostic of the ever-changing industry, it is VERY fluid. I found this assignment slight challenging for within that factor alone. Yes the unknown aspect of the future is why it makes it confusing and endearing, but I think this industry in particular is on an entirely different level in comparison. Personally I am reluctant to work with the general public and their many complaints. With that being said I applaud your goals and wish you the best.
ReplyDeleteI like how your second expansion in your professionalism is towards getting involved in the opportunities that will be offered through Delta. With where I work now, I do alot of volunteering at least every 3-6 months and it does help you get more information about your company and expand you as a person to a more diverse background.
ReplyDeleteYou made a good point about staying up to date in the industry through blogs and articles. As you said, I think showing that interest is a key part of professionalism. Also, Delta's voluntary reporting program was another great example.
ReplyDeleteYou made a good point that you really don't know where Delta will stand in the future. I found that to be a challenging point as well when I was setting my career goals. You never know what airline is going to shoot to the top or fall to the bottom.
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