There has been a tremendous amount of change coming our way recently.
I’ve been preparing to fly the King Air C-90 for starters. That whetted my appetite for learning something new, but the flights in that airplane were spread out pretty far. Still – it was maximum cool to fly it. My work at PHI was peaking again, and I was preparing for that. One day at work I had a particularly frustrating moment, so I did a google search for flying jobs in Delaware.
That led to a link to Piedmont Airlines, and an opportunity to be flying out of Salisbury, Md. What the heck – I sent in my resume to see if that generated interest, and was stunned to hear back from their HR department inside 20 minutes. Now, really intrigued, I sent additional questions to keep the conversation going. The answers were prompt and resulted in my being contacted by one of their pilots.
Next thing I knew I accepted an opportunity for an interview at Philly airport – Terminal F for the following Monday. Learning what a part 121 interview was like would be a valuable addition to the education I needed to successfully retire, so I went in with very real interest, but no expectation that I’d actually be offered or even would consider a job. I even prepared myself to not fare so well during the interview based on my experience related to others.
Turns out that my interview went incredibly well. I had expected to be treated gruffly, given that I have zero part 121 experience, but what I experienced was enthusiasm for the job and a shared love of aviation. I enjoyed the interview, and came away incredibly excited that they wanted me at all. Holy cow – now I had just been offered a job with the very real prospect that I could be flying an airliner for Piedmont out of an airport not far from my beach place. Not the outcome I expected at all.
Bev and I did some real soul searching. I was concerned for the people who work for me at PHI, but getting older everyday. Demands there were increasing and pressuring me to fly less; my retirement was growing any longer; and here was this awesome opportunity staring me in the face. I’ve been flying consistently every year to build the right experience, and just didn’t realized I’d gotten there and was ready on all fronts to do it.
Now here I am today, sitting in a hotel in Charlotte, NC. I have retired from PHI, accepted a job with Piedmont Airlines. I have just experienced my first day of indoctrination as a new employee, and I’m more excited than ever. Tomorrow we tour the training facility and get to work!!
Flying the Dash-8 and whatever else comes after is going to be an experience I’ll be glad I didn’t miss.
Special Thank You to my very understanding wife Beverly, as well as to all my friends and supporters. Full speed ahead.
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