Meeting a Professional Pilot


 This week I had the privilege of being able to hear from a guest speaker in my Intro to Aerospace class: an Endeavor Air pilot. Brendon graduated from MTSU in 2016 and now serves as a First Officer for Endeavor Air, a fully owned subsidiary of Delta Airlines. What I appreciated most from Brendon's presentation was the fact that he explained his journey from being at MTSU to being a new hire at a regional airline. Brendon talked about what classes were like for him here at MTSU and his path to graduation, which I thought was helpful. He also explained briefly what the new hire process is like at a regional. New hires will undergo 4 weeks of ground school and spend time in simulators. New hires will also be placed on reserve, either on short call in which the pilot must be within 2.5 hours of commuting to the airport or long call in which the pilot must be able to commute in 12 hours. He also said that he will be upgrading to Captain this February. Though, Brendon mentioned that he is hesitant to do so because his seniority will drop, placing him once again on reserve.
Brendon is one of about 350 Endeavor pilots stationed in New York City, though he commutes to New York from his home. If a pilot commutes to their domicile, as explained by Brendon, they must list 2 flights to take them to their domicile and are guaranteed a seat on the second flight of choice if the first is not optional. Brendon also said that he will be moving to New York City soon and will be rooming with 2 other MTSU alumni, which I thought was interesting. 
What stood out to me about Brendon's presentation was how he can increase his income by strategically picking flights with line check airmen. As he explained, line check airmen fly with new hires to ensure that they operate safely. Because of this, Brendon gets bought off from his chosen flight with a line check airman, which automatically gives him time off. He then chooses to work during his time off, which increases his pay by 150%. According to Brendon, because of this, he is able to make over $100,000! The fact that at 2 years out of school, a pilot at a regional can make this much money is encouraging and incredible to me.
This week I was also able to give my presentation in Intro to Aerospace. As the first to present my topic, I had little time to prepare the 15-minute presentation. Although, I feel the presentation went decently given my time constraint. Overall, this week went by well, and I enjoyed listening to an MTSU Alum and professional pilot. 






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