A Day in the Life of an Airline Pilot

I flew today.  It was a one-day trip from Dallas to Dothan, Alabama to fly some Army soldiers from nearby Fort Rucker to Fort Sill in Lawton, Oklahoma.  After dropping them off, I flew back to Dallas and was finished for the day.

Brenda let me take her camera along on the trip as long as I promised to take care of it and to bring it right back.  Here are the photos that tell the story of my workday:

Driving to Dallas Love Field takes about 45 minutes.

  

The parking garage is almost always full and costs only $30 per month.

   

I check-in on the computer in the Pilot Lounge, say "Hello" to Jana Sue who helps me get more Non-Rev passes for Brenda and the boy to be able to travel, and then it's off to the airplane at one of the airport gates.

Once we arrive at the airplane, we check the systems to make sure everything is working properly, check the paperwork for weather reports, flight plans, and fuel plans.   That's also where we usually meet the Flight Attendants that we'll be flying with for the day.

Today the weather was partly cloudy and the arrival in Dothan was quite smooth.  Some days we aren't so lucky and have to maneuver around thunderstorms.  

This was the first time I had flown into Dothan since back in 1998 when I used to teach here at FlightSafety International.

We were honored to be transporting some US Army soldiers who are leaving for Iraq later this week on Wednesday.  We love them, and apparently some of them love us too.

The flights to Lawton and on to Dallas were uneventful, as they say.  That's just another way of saying the aircraft was reusable.  All this and still home before dinner!  Not a bad day!