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photo by steed media service
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work in progress
If you can learn to ride a bike; you
can learn to fly a plane. That premise
might sound like a gross oversimplifi-
cation to some, but for Delta pilot William
Davis, flying has been just that
easy.
Davis, who has been flying for 30
years says, “It’s like driving a car except
… we can go up and down. I got
my first pilot’s license when I was 19
years old. I have been with Delta for
about 20 years and I’ve flown three
types of airplanes. Each time I had to
go to a special school that lasted from
6 weeks to 10 weeks [to earn the certification to fly that particular aircraft].
When you get your driver’s license you
are pretty much authorized to drive
any type of vehicle. [The] difference
in flying is you have to get a license to
fly a specific type of airplane.”
Smaller airlines may hire high
school graduates, but larger and commercial
airlines require at least 2 years
of college and prefer to hire college
graduates. Many pilots get their wings
working for smaller, commuter airlines, where they obtain
valuable experience flying passengers on scheduled flights
into busy airports.
Pilot applicants must pass a strict physical examination
to ensure that they are in good health, and they are
required to have 20/20 vision with or without corrective
lenses. Training for airline pilots includes a week of company
indoctrination, 3–6 weeks of ground school, and 25
hours of initial operating experience, including a checkride
with an FAA aviation safety inspector.
Once trained, pilots are required to
attend recurrent training and simulator
checks, several times a year throughout
their careers. The Princeton Review
reports that there are currently 95,000
people in the profession working an
average of approximately 100 hours
per week. While the average starting
salary is $23,000 annually, that figure
jumps to $59,250 after five years and
to $200,000 for a pilot who has 10 to
15 years of flying experience.
“We do a summer camp called Ace
Camps for kids who are thinking about
participating in this great career field.
We are sponsored by the Organization
of Black Airline Pilots and Delta Airlines.
I truly enjoy my job. It’s great to
see a different place in the world every
day. When we take off in Atlanta at 8
o’clock in the morning and we turn
north or south to head to our destination,
and I see all those cars stuck on
the highway with their brake lights on, I
think to myself that I have a really nice
job,” jokes Davis.
–adrienne gadling and roz edward
For more information on aviation careers, visit www.faa.gov.
Visit Ace Camps site at www.acecamps.org.
