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Q & A What pilots look for in airports, women By Rob Potochnik October 10, 2005 Airline pilot and Vyuz aviation expert Rob Potochnik answered some questions posed to him by Vyuz readers. What's the reputation for San Diego (the city and/or airport) among flight crews? Great city, great layover. Unfortunately, most airlines have cut the layover to almost nothing. Nowadays, crews arrive at 9 p.m. and leave at 7 a.m. Landing at Lindbergh Field is more tricky than most due to high buildings at the approach end, a short runway, and fog. If you mess up, people pay. So, who do you want flying your aircraft now--the cheapest pilot you can get or the most experienced? I might know one with two DUI’s, seven speeding tickets and three car crashes. He flies for one of those upstart airlines. Hope you make it when the chips are down. Who pays for the pilot uniforms, the pilot or the airline? With domestic airlines, the pilots pay for their uniforms, with the exception of emblems such as hats, epaulets, and wings. With most foreign airlines, however, the company pays for everything. A story about uniforms: Pilots have to retire at age 60, and a friend of mine was age fifty-nine and a half. The airline he flew for provides its pilots with a complete uniform—pants, hat, overcoat, shirt, emblems, the whole works—every three years. When they notified him that his three years were up, he told them to just send some shirts--nothing else was needed. The company got back to him and said it was all or nothing, so he received the whole works and only used the shirts. So much for airlines trying to save money. Do pilots have any complaints about SAN? If so, what are they? Yes, as stated above, short runway, fog and tall buildings. Will SAN ever be a major hub? Why or why not? Probably not, due to the short runway. If SAN opens the military base on Coronado Island or Miramar, or opens up a totally new runway, maybe. As it is now, nope! But, do you really want a longer runway? The longer the runway, the larger the planes,…and that translates into noise and increased traffic. Would airlines ever serve fish tacos as meals? YES! If you bring fish tacos for everyone they will pass them out. However, you have to sign a waiver saying they are safe to eat in accordance with US health standards. And you have to have lots of insurance if anyone gets sick. A friend of mine had a passenger get ill on his flight. The passenger’s first words were “It must be the food you gave me. I need a doctor when I arrive and I’m going to tell my lawyer.” This passenger was on the flight a mere hour and a half, not enough time to get sick from the meal. Guess how GREAT the service was for her the next six and a half hours? How can Lindbergh improve? Tear down the buildings at the approach end. Lengthen the runway, build additional terminals, cut a groove in the earth at Point Loma for departures, have models for baggage handlers and have free pickup and delivery service for all passengers. Besides that, I can’t think of a thing. If a San Diego woman wants to date a pilot, what should she do? My friend told me this. Warning: this is not me, but HIM. …She must have a college degree or equivalent business experience; be self motivated, confident, outgoing, like to travel and make plans at the last moment; be of strong mind and body, i.e., in shape but not a wacko; not be a slob, i.e., organized but not obsessive; be able to eat anything and NOT have a body image problem; be able to find her way around a foreign town without a map, i.e., not be shy. Many pilots are married to teachers. Why? you ask? Probably because they have good communications skills and pilots, due to their training, have “type A” habits. If you want to know more, e-mail me and I’ll ask more pilots. Any secrets for beating jet lag after you fly in to SD? To start with, there is no jet lag in San Diego. Unless you are on the very few flights that go overseas (if they still have any), a three hour time zone is hardly jet lag. Get over it, grow up and try sleeping instead of partying. My buddy flies to Europe and Asia, and often his time zone difference is 7 to 12 hours. This is jet lag, not a paltry three hours in which you sit in the back and have a chance to sleep. Aircraft with three pilot positions can fly for the FAA max of 14 hours without an additional pilot. Imagine flying a NON-Union airplane with a pilot on duty for 14 hours making a night landing with 1200 feet visibility in moderate rain and fog with a crosswind of 24 knots at a speed of 160 miles per hour. Oh, by the way, I hope he’s not one of those cheapest-pilots-they-can-find types. “Live strong, live long” is my motto. It should be yours, too! Rob Potochnik is a pilot for that airline that now serves a snack instead of a meal. If you have any questions about aviation or the airline industry, e-mail Rob at aviation@vyuz.com. He’ll try to provide honest answers to difficult questions, or at least pretend the questions were difficult. Suggested Vyuz reading... Why other airlines can't compete with Southwest | By Rob Potochnik
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