Air Safety

Cutting Corners

After my sudden retrenchment from a Pacific island airline, I returned to Melbourne unemployed. Being in my middle fifties, I was offered no hope of a job with any of the airlines, commuters included.

The curt, unfriendly manager of a major commuter airline was frank in his refusal even to interview me. He told me he would not embarrass his young captains by having an old man in the copilot’s seat – and he doubted if I’d be able to lift the passengers’ suitcases anyway!

Desperate to find something, I touted my considerable experience around various GA operators. Again, no one seemed interested. Ex-airline pilots were apparently not a good bet. The perceived wisdom was that they would expect too much of aircraft serviceability, might not accept the commercial reality for the need to stretch the rules from time to time – and that flying light twins was too tough a job for them in any case.

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