OPINION
Ask the pilot Our undercover captain reveals what it’s like to fly for a living
WHAT ARE THE BEST AIRPORTS TO TAKE OFF FROM OR LAND AT? Anywhere in the Caribbean, Mauritius or the Maldives. The views are amazing, being able to see the beautiful colours in the water, the reefs and fabulous white sandy beaches. The Caribbean is where we get to do some proper manual flying, in other words, be real pilots. With not many aircraft around, air traffic control allows us to position ourselves to land rather than them guiding us in. WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE AIRCRAFT TO FLY? I have flown various Boeing and Airbus aircraft. Personally, I enjoy Airbus. I prefer the logic of the various systems as well as them being user-friendly aircraft in helping the pilot to manage the workload. Also, if you enjoy computer games then the Airbus is ideal; you fly it using a joystick – the technical term used by Airbus is “sidestick” (with the exception of the A300) – whereas Boeing uses a control column (which looks a bit like a steering wheel).
abilities. Still, in the 25-plus years that I have been flying, no one has ever managed to scare me!
DO YOU HAVE ANY CONCORDE MEMORIES? I only flew Concorde as a passenger. The memories that come to mind are size and speed. The passenger cabin was very small with only 100 seats and, being quite tall, I was unable to stand up straight. The flight deck itself was also cramped, particularly as you had two pilots and a flight engineer. But WHO ARE THE WORST AND BEST it was a wonderful experience. It is one of PILOTS YOU HAVE FLOWN WITH? the few commercial aircraft where you were This is a difficult question to answer. First, pushed back into the seat on take-off with commercial pilots have to pass a rigorous a real sense of speed and power. assessment and training course to work My flight left Heathrow in the morning for an airline. In addition, pilots are tested and arrived in New York in time for every six months in the simulator to assess breakfast, taking only three hours their flying skills and 22 minutes – just enough management in both time for an aperitif, lunch Pilots don’t have normal and emergency accompanied by fine wines, situations. Also, every and a liqueur. Destinations scary moments; two years we have an were quite limited as it was just times when assessment on a normal generally not permitted to fly adrenaline starts passenger flight as well as supersonic over many land an annual technical exam. areas. to flow If we fail to meet the British Airways ended up standards in any of these serving New York twice daily then our licence is suspended and further and Barbados once a week. It training provided until the standard is also operated pleasure flights met. We also have “standard over the Bay of Biscay as well operating procedures”, as other destinations. It was sad which ensures that we all to see such an iconic aircraft retire operate in the same way so and to see the minimum journey we know what each other is time to New York increase to more than doing. All of this leaves little seven hours. space for bad pilots to exist. If you have a question you’d like to ask our However, it is fair to say that above that pilot, email talktous@businesstraveller.com minimum standard there is a variation in JUNE 2020
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ILLUSTRATION: BENJAMIN SOUTHAN
WHAT IS THE SCARIEST MOMENT YOU HAVE HAD FLYING? Pilots don’t have scary moments; just times when adrenaline starts to flow. Weather is the most common cause. Thunderstorms are intensely powerful and can cause an aircraft to crash. It is not lightning strikes that are a problem – I have had a few of those – but severe turbulence and hail battering the structure. On the flight deck we have a sophisticated weather radar system to identify thunderstorms and help us avoid them. In some parts of the world, such as Africa or India, thunderstorms can be massive,
rising up to 60,000 feet as well as covering a wide area, so avoiding them is quite a challenge. It can involve deviations from our track of up to 100 miles and can occupy us for some time. It is definitely an adrenalinepumping time. Strong gusty winds for landing are also a challenge, particularly when the wind is across the runway, known as a crosswind. In terms of things going wrong with the aircraft, this tends to be rather straightforward as it is something we are trained to deal with on a regular basis.
