Last night I went to a going away party for one of my coworkers, he is transferring to our Boise operations to fly with them. All of the pilots were in a circle talking and it turns out that 3 of them have known each other since college. They have been flying together and getting in trouble for over 20 years and now the wolfpack is breaking up(geographically speaking). That got me thinking, how many other connections do we have in our department?
6 of us have graduated from the UNO aviation program, 3 from UNK, 2 from UND and a 1 from Embry-Riddle. We have been on college Flight Teams, gone to small towns in the Midwest for lunch so we could build our flight hours, and stayed up all night trying to get projects done in time. 4 of the guys flew together for a regional airline and don't get me started on how many mutual friends we have just in aviation alone. Every person that gets hired in our department is recommended from someone in the department, someone that has flown with them or went to school with them. Trust me, you don't want to hire a pilot that no one knows - how do you know how they handle the plane? A resume won't give you any clue.
It is a small industry, but an important one (ok I may be a little biased on that statement). We develop this bond of camaraderie and loyalty to each other because you have to trust the people you work with. There is also the danger factor: we knowingly choose a career that can be considered dangerous to some, but there is literally no where else we'd rather be. We don't get to make mistakes, mistakes cause accidents. Whether its the dispatcher, mechanic, or pilot - we have to be 100% every day. Who has time to hold grudges and make enemies with that kind of pressure? That's why we are this beautiful dysfunctional family - it doesn't make sense, but it doesn't have to.
