The CHIEF Pilot

[DeuceOfAces]

I've got a little book report to do on chief pilots. Who are they, what do they do, and how do they get hired?
My best educated guess is they're the most senior pilot at the airline. Am I right?
Just wunderin'...

[Capt. Caucasian]

Originally Posted by DeuceOfAces

My best educated guess is they're the most senior pilot at the airline. Am I right?
Just wunderin'...

No where close. A Chief Pilot can be hired from any where within the seniority list or as an off the street new hire.

[Baronman]

Originally Posted by DeuceOfAces

I've got a little book report to do on chief pilots. Who are they, what do they do, and how do they get hired?
My best educated guess is they're the most senior pilot at the airline. Am I right?
Just wunderin'...

Incorrect assumption....

The Chief Pilot position is a management position which separates them from the pilot group/union. There can be chief pilots in a base for multiple domicile airlines, at XJT we have chief pilots in EWR, IAH, and CLE. I think also there can be chief pilots for different fleet types at some larger airlines.

How do they get hired? Well it usually begins with a vacancy. Then the company looks to fill the position and pilots will apply. The company may have internal minimums to apply for the position, ie 5 yrs, Captain Experience etc....

What do they do? Good question. They deal with day-to-day issues with the line pilots, pay issues, etc....Too many sick calls? Talk to the chief pilot....Something happen out on the line? Talk to the chief pilot....Every once in a while they'll go out and fly flights. In EWR I know our chief or asst chief goes to daily briefings with the Continental people.

Hope that helps.

[jynxyjoe]

Chief Pilot of line flying: at my company

Reports to Flight Operations Chief Pilot

Must be holder of an ATP and have a type for at least one aircraft in our fleet. At least one year ex. of PIC of a large airplane for 121 use.

Duties:
-Ensure the satisfactory performance of hte assigned staff members including
-Base of Flight Managers
-Base Admin. Personel
-Line pilots at assigned locations
-Has operational control of airline flight ops (a very big deal)
-Act as an on call manager
-Responsible for monitoring the safe operation of the whole airline
-assist in procedure development
-Make sure of proper dissemination of manuals, revisions, and bulletins.
-assist in procedural writing flight crew performance
-final authority on content, scope, and regs compliance of flight ops programs
-any other duties they throw on his desk

[ppragman]

Originally Posted by jynxyjoe

Chief Pilot of line flying: at my company

Reports to Flight Operations Chief Pilot

Must be holder of an ATP and have a type for at least one aircraft in our fleet. At least one year ex. of PIC of a large airplane for 121 use.

Duties:
-Ensure the satisfactory performance of hte assigned staff members including
-Base of Flight Managers
-Base Admin. Personel
-Line pilots at assigned locations
-Has operational control of airline flight ops (a very big deal)
-Act as an on call manager
-Responsible for monitoring the safe operation of the whole airline
-assist in procedure development
-Make sure of proper dissemination of manuals, revisions, and bulletins.
-assist in procedural writing flight crew performance
-final authority on content, scope, and regs compliance of flight ops programs
-any other duties they throw on his desk

Its a very big deal. How important that is gets kind of glossed over because the pilot can say, "eh, no go, we're scrubbing this one" but seriously, Operational Control is one of those things that results in them getting paid the big bucks, and their head on the chopping block when things go awry.

[kellwolf]

Originally Posted by DeuceOfAces

I've got a little book report to do on chief pilots. Who are they, what do they do, and how do they get hired?
My best educated guess is they're the most senior pilot at the airline. Am I right?
Just wunderin'...

The assistant chief pilot in DTW here is the most junior guy. The old assistant chief in MSP (back when we had one) was an FO for the longest time and is now a reserve CA.

[DeuceOfAces]

Ohhhh! So if I'm getting this correct, the chief pilot is the manager of line pilots and not a line pilot himself (or herself). Well then, what sorta qualifications would the airline look for when hiring a chief pilot internally? What would differentiate pilots on their chief pilot job application other than their Date of Hire or Total Time?

[jynxyjoe]

Originally Posted by DeuceOfAces

Ohhhh! So if I'm getting this correct, the chief pilot is the manager of line pilots and not a line pilot himself (or herself).

Yes to manager, but he is a pilot for the company. He will fly a couple times a month. Really busy times, I've heard, the CP may just take a sim flight for currency.

Originally Posted by DeuceOfAces

Well then, what sorta qualifications would the airline look for when hiring a chief pilot internally?

The qualifications are posted above at my company. Most people are smart enough not to take the job. Our CP is a loveable guy, I think, but he spent 25 years as a swabby and just loves abuse.

I say forget that.

Originally Posted by DeuceOfAces

What would differentiate pilots on their chief pilot job application other than their Date of Hire or Total Time?

Hu? You mean their qualifications to get hired? Use your imagination kid. Take a look at that duties list above, what would YOU want outa a chief pilot? Because the answer to that question is gonna depend on an airline.

At Colgan, we had a chief pilot that was the owners yes man and golfing buddy. He was as bad as management, untrustworthy as hell. There were guys that sucked up to him for their own personal gain, called him every day, he used them probably had as big a chuckle out of 'em as we all did. He died now, God rest his soul, hopefully playing "pitch and putt" up in the clouds.

Chief Pilot for Airnow was hired by the owner because he was about the only lifer that had a brain in his God damned head. He was deadly loyal to the pilots. If they called up and said, "we ain't ing going", then he called up the boss and let him know the plane would be late because the "God damn equipment is falling apart, why don't you get us some more mechanics you cheap SOB".

My Chief Pilot at the old 134.5 I worked at was the owners 2nd son. Mark would have found his dumb ass in jail, or knifed in a bar if it wasn't for his family keeping him outa trouble and working at the airport. He was a piece of work, refused openly to follow his own SOP's and when he kills somebody scud running a Hawker 800 in and out of the mountains of New England I'll have a shot of Jack and toast the guy I learned everything about not doing in an airplane. It's no wonder him and his brother don't talk, course Mike spent most of his time trying to run the company as well as his late father.

I use my current Chief Pilot to try and get some stuff done around MEM because our ramp and it's equipment is falling apart. I figure it might save some buddies of mine someday. We had a real bad day with icing in MEM a year back and it about killed somebody. I declared war on Aramark ramp management and have been trying to get the lot of them thrown on their butts ever since. He's a good dude, hell of a man, like I said, 25 years of service in the United States Navy, but he's still management and he'll be back on the line soon enough I expect.

You ever work an Ops position Deuces?

[fsiflyer]

Hello,
At my company I am responsible for the overall daily operation of the airplanes and flight crews. I answer for any and all hiccups that may happen during normal or even abnormal flight operations. For instance I am responsible to stay on top of the maintenance department and ensure all scheduled checks are performed. I answer that all the pilots are properly trained. I am even responsible to answer for fuel uplifts at an outstation. For instance if a captain took more fuel than planned, then why. The captains are responsible for the flight budget. Should they exceed that they report to me and I go up the food chain to do a tap dance. I am also the buffer for when things roll down hill. I shield the pilots from upper management and all they have to do is worry about flying. All these things are not a big deal but I have to daily answer to my boss as my pilots answer to me.

Since I fly for a Part 91 operation there was no requirement for amount of time as a PIC, etc before becoming a chief pilot. I am the second most senior captain but the one with the least amount of hours. I do hold an MBA in Finance and Accounting and for this reason I was asked if I wanted the chief pilot's position.

Jynxyjoe wrote below a list. It is very accurate for the responsibilities. I will comment on a few things below.

Originally Posted by jynxyjoe

Chief Pilot of line flying: at my company

Duties:
-Ensure the satisfactory performance of hte assigned staff members including
-Base of Flight Managers
-Base Admin. Personel
-Line pilots at assigned locations
-Has operational control of airline flight ops (a very big deal)
This is a very big deal indeed. At my company only three people can dispatch a plane. The DO, myself, and the VP of Flight Ops. One of our sigs has to be on the release for the airplane to move.

-Act as an on call manager
I get calls in the middle of the night for just about anything. Open phone policy with my pilots that they can call me anytime regarding a flight.

-Responsible for monitoring the safe operation of the whole airline
-assist in procedure development
RVSM, LOA's, MEL's, etc...I get to do all that

-Make sure of proper dissemination of manuals, revisions, and bulletins.
-assist in procedural writing flight crew performance
A hard part because I am friends with all my pilots but have had to let people go.

-final authority on content, scope, and regs compliance of flight ops programs
I answer to the FAA should they decide to check us out. I have had an inspection before. If you have your stuff together you do just fine.

-any other duties they throw on his desk

I am sure there are many more things that one has to answer for. It is a tedious job as it never ends. It keeps repeating over and over. For me it is very rewarding. I believe myself to be a leader and I like to run things in what I believe to be a good way. I try to keep morale very high as well as training standards. Overall I am very happy in my position and I was able to surround myself with pilots who I believe are of the highest caliber.

Hope this helps your report.

[DeuceOfAces]

Originally Posted by jynxyjoe

You ever work an Ops position Deuces?

Originally Posted by fsiflyer

Hello,
At my company I am responsible for the overall daily operation of the airplanes and flight crews. I answer for any and all hiccups that may happen during normal or even abnormal flight operations. For instance I am responsible to stay on top of the maintenance department and ensure all scheduled checks are performed. I answer that all the pilots are properly trained. I am even responsible to answer for fuel uplifts at an outstation. For instance if a captain took more fuel than planned, then why. The captains are responsible for the flight budget. Should they exceed that they report to me and I go up the food chain to do a tap dance. I am also the buffer for when things roll down hill. I shield the pilots from upper management and all they have to do is worry about flying. All these things are not a big deal but I have to daily answer to my boss as my pilots answer to me.

Since I fly for a Part 91 operation there was no requirement for amount of time as a PIC, etc before becoming a chief pilot. I am the second most senior captain but the one with the least amount of hours. I do hold an MBA in Finance and Accounting and for this reason I was asked if I wanted the chief pilot's position.

Jynxyjoe wrote below a list. It is very accurate for the responsibilities. I will comment on a few things below.



I am sure there are many more things that one has to answer for. It is a tedious job as it never ends. It keeps repeating over and over. For me it is very rewarding. I believe myself to be a leader and I like to run things in what I believe to be a good way. I try to keep morale very high as well as training standards. Overall I am very happy in my position and I was able to surround myself with pilots who I believe are of the highest caliber.

Hope this helps your report.

jynxy: Nope. I'm asking because I want to get a good grade on the report. Also, I actually found this topic interesting because I thought I might make it into a career goal but now I've changed my mind. Turns out the job isn't a piece of cake after all. And BTW, your info just helped me fill up 1 page in my report.

fsiflyer: That helped A LOT. BTW, you have an MBA? Was your undergrad in aviation? I ask because I'm thinking of possibly getting an MBA as a back-up after I get a "B.S. in Aeronautical Science". It really is a BS degree (hehehe) but since the cost of flight training is included in tuition I get access to scholarship and grants that I wouldn't otherwise. I hope the MBA and Aero Sci degree will help me jet a job at a charter company or a flight department one day. Working at flight support company (Air Routing International, Jeppesen, Universal Weather, etc) is looking really interesting too.

[DASH8AV8R]

The one's with the best under managements desk performance are given these positions.
Sorry but it had to be said.

[fsiflyer]

Originally Posted by DASH8AV8R

The one's with the best under managements desk performance are given these positions.
Sorry but it had to be said.

Of course at some places it is like this. For me it was truly a feeling that I could do something good and change the mentality that most CP's are Ar$'s. I try to always do my job fairly and I keep the pilots in mind all of the time. Trust me, there are ways to keep the pilots happy as well as keeping the bottom line. I take the time to achieve both. I am certain that any of the pilots working here would say that they are happy here and would not want to leave, even though it is hard work, long duty days, and dangerous airports sometimes flying Russian VVIP people around.

[EatSleepFly]

Maybe someone already mentioned it, but it's been my experience that the best chief pilots are the ones who haven't spent their whole career wanting to be a chief pilot.

There are also specific requirements in the FAR's (Part 119) to be a chief pilot for both 121 and 135. Here they are for 121 (and they're much the same for 135):

(b) To serve as Chief Pilot under §119.65(a) a person must hold an airline transport pilot certificate with appropriate ratings for at least one of the airplanes used in the certificate holder's operation and:
(1) In the case of a person becoming a Chief Pilot for the first time ever, have at least 3 years experience, within the past 6 years, as pilot in command of a large airplane operated under part 121 or part 135 of this chapter, if the certificate holder operates large airplanes. If the certificate holder uses only small airplanes in its operation, the experience may be obtained in either large or small airplanes.
(2) In the case of a person with previous experience as a Chief Pilot, have at least 3 years experience, as pilot in command of a large airplane operated under part 121 or part 135 of this chapter, if the certificate holder operates large airplanes. If the certificate holder uses only small airplanes in its operation, the experience may be obtained in either large or small airplanes.

[jynxyjoe]

Originally Posted by DASH8AV8R

The one's with the best under managements desk performance are given these positions.
Sorry but it had to be said.

It varies from company to company.

Some company's want a yes man and a pilot pusher, some want a leader and a pilot helper making the decisions.

DeuceOfAces: If you are interested in management type positions I'd get yourself a job at an bigger airport working Operations. You'll learn about delay codes, and ramp work, catering, security, gate/aircraft swaps, weather, all sorts of fun stuff. The nice thing is, you'll at least have a (good) working knowledge of how an airline runs. I was an Operations employee and later a manager, I also switched to aircraft dispatcher for a while and got my hands on a little operational control. Flying is more fun, and less headache- well less of the headaches that advil will not solve. Only headaches I get anymore is about my job disappearing or hangovers. Not the, "well I've got 3 weeks to figure out how to dispatch/weight and balance a Singapore A-340-500 over the polar ice caps and Continental won't even talk to me," headaches.

[jynxyjoe]

Originally Posted by EatSleepFly

Maybe someone already mentioned it, but it's been my experience that the best chief pilots are the ones who haven't spent their whole career wanting to be a chief pilot.

Absolutely.