# Ask the Airline Pilot who just switched from Passengers to Cargo **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 14, 2005, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-airline-pilot-who-just-switched-from-passengers-to-cargo/312466 "2005-07-14T03:50:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![pilot141](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e0b2c6/32.png) [@pilot141](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pilot141)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-airline-pilot-who-just-switched-from-passengers-to-cargo/312466/41 "2005-07-15T12:44:25Z")
**caligynephobia** thanks for the congrats. My time at AA made training a lot easier for me, but I don’t think it really helped or hurt the interview process. All of my “war stories” during the interview were from the Air Force. When I interviewed I had 4,200 hours total time, with about 2,200 hours of PIC (1,700 hours of which was IP time). I had 750 hours of MD-80 SIC time from AA, as well as 550 hours of Flight Engineer time (which I didn’t include in my total time). Again, having the FE ticket helped in training, but it didn’t seem to affect the hiring process. **threemae** I know that a lot of people do the permanent PT thing at the hub. Some of the jobs have flight benefits and others don’t - I don’t know which is which, but I do know that you can tell by your FedEx ID. If your ID hangs vertical you can ride on the airplanes; if it hangs horizontal you cannot. If you want to ride along you have to take a safety course and renew it every 6 months. Most of the people riding in back are pilots getting to or from work, but I see a lot of other workers jumping around the system as well. You can bring a couple of bags with you on the airplane - anything more (like golf clubs) and you have to have it go through the cargo screening process. They’ll put your stuff in the belly of the airplane and pull it out for you when you land, but you won’t have access to it in-flight. The process of getting on the airplane is a little more involved than waving your ID, but it’s still pretty simple. You look up the flight you want, list yourself for it and then show up at the ramp. You’ll get screened like you would at any airport, and they’ll probably go through your bags. You’ll probably ride out to the airplane with the crew and just try to stay out of their way until you get airborne. The whole process is not just cheap - it’s completely free. The only problems come when the seats start filling up. People going to or from work have a higher priority than someone going on vacation, so you might get bumped. You’ll have at least 48 hours notice if you’re going to get bumped, though. Hope this helps! ---
**Author:** ![mojave66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@mojave66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mojave66)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2005, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-airline-pilot-who-just-switched-from-passengers-to-cargo/312466/42 "2005-07-16T07:29:57Z")
This is the first time I’ve actually asked a pilot _anything_, so forgive me for being kind of, ah, “new agey.” But I have to know-- you’re up there, it’s quiet, the clouds are below and you have a clear view of the heavens… how does that feel? Or all y’all pure business up there? Stupid question now: Ever been tempted to do a barrel roll? I’m assuming that flight to Mojave was to put the plane in storage. No passengers, no cargo… how tempting would that be to push the machine to its limits? ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2005, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-airline-pilot-who-just-switched-from-passengers-to-cargo/312466/43 "2005-07-16T19:58:37Z")
> [@pilot141](#): > > **tremorviolet** - do you know what equipment your friend flies? I flew the Super-80 (what AA calls an MD-80) while I was based in Dallas. If he’s a captain on the S-80 then I might have flown with him. Just saw him this morning and asked: he flies 767’s. So I guess you wouldn’t have flown with him. But it’s still just a few degrees of seperation… ---
**Author:** ![pilot141](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e0b2c6/32.png) [@pilot141](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pilot141)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2005, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-airline-pilot-who-just-switched-from-passengers-to-cargo/312466/44 "2005-07-16T20:08:55Z")
**mojave66** most of the time while flying we are “all business” but every once in a while I am awed by what I see. It’s usually an early morning flight with the sun just coming up and a solid overcast of clouds. Dark, gray and dreary…until we climb above the clouds and it’s suddenly bright, the tops of the clouds are tinted a beautiful orange from the low sun and you feel like you can see forever. If you don’t feel anything after seeing that you should check to see if you have a pulse! As for doing barrel rolls - of course I’m tempted. But not very much, and the temptation is easily dismissed. If I want to fly upside down I can do that on my own time! ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2005, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-airline-pilot-who-just-switched-from-passengers-to-cargo/312466/45 "2005-07-17T02:08:22Z")
> [@mojave66](#): > > Stupid question now: Ever been tempted to do a barrel roll? I’m assuming that flight to Mojave was to put the plane in storage. No passengers, no cargo… how tempting would that be to push the machine to its limits? [Obligatory Cecil link](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_262.html)🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Robert\_Briggs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Robert\_Briggs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert_Briggs)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-airline-pilot-who-just-switched-from-passengers-to-cargo/312466/46 "2014-03-16T20:49:58Z")
> [@pilot141](#): > > **Mach Tuck** I have never met that guy but he’s famous at FedEx. In the operations area there is a display that has copies of his certificates with all of his type ratings, including dates. The schedule he’s kept is nuts - he spends months at a time doing nothing but going through training on airplanes he will never fly again. Greetings Gentlemen! Following retirement from FedEx in September 2010, I ‘promised’ myself that I would both acknowledge the interest expressed and provide any correcting details to the various forums. It has been an honor to have received notice and questions about my career and ‘quest’ for achieving added knowledge and the pursuit and acquisition of various ratings. As of July 2013, the ‘display’ of pictures, historical documents and memorabilia that formerly occupied two walls of the FedEx crew room has been moved in entirety for display at the Aviation Department of Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, TN. FedEx elected to dismantle that portion of the Flight Operations Department’s spaces in favor of expanding their crew rest facilities and no space to display these memorabilia. I was given permission to re-claim these gifted items and transacted the transfer personally. We ALL are driven in some way, shape or form. What might seen ‘nuts’ to some may be a quest that makes sense to others. Where we spend our time, interest and money will vary as to what is important to each of us\*\*\* individually\*\*\*. Gaining an expanded aviation knowledge base was important to me, as demonstrated by spending considerable time in my vocational and avocational pursuits. Best to you all in your career pursuits! Cheers from Memphis, Bob Briggs ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-airline-pilot-who-just-switched-from-passengers-to-cargo/312466/47 "2014-03-16T20:57:34Z")
> [@Robert\_Briggs](#): > > Greetings Gentlemen! > > Following retirement from FedEx in September 2010, I ‘promised’ myself that I would both acknowledge the interest expressed and provide any correcting details to the various forums. It has been an honor to have received notice and questions about my career and ‘quest’ for achieving added knowledge and the pursuit and acquisition of various ratings. > > As of July 2013, the ‘display’ of pictures, historical documents and memorabilia that formerly occupied two walls of the FedEx crew room has been moved in entirety for display at the Aviation Department of Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, TN. FedEx elected to dismantle that portion of the Flight Operations Department’s spaces in favor of expanding their crew rest facilities and no space to display these memorabilia. I was given permission to re-claim these gifted items and transacted the transfer personally. > > We ALL are driven in some way, shape or form. What might seen ‘nuts’ to some may be a quest that makes sense to others. Where we spend our time, interest and money will vary as to what is important to each of us\*\*\* individually\*\*\*. Gaining an expanded aviation knowledge base was important to me, as demonstrated by spending considerable time in my vocational and avocational pursuits. > > Best to you all in your career pursuits! > > Cheers from Memphis, > Bob Briggs You do realise that you are responding to a thread that is almost a decade old, right? Here’s my question. Why are you putting seemingly random and unimportant words in quotation marks? ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-airline-pilot-who-just-switched-from-passengers-to-cargo/312466/48 "2014-03-17T01:05:42Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > You do realise that you are responding to a thread that is almost a decade old, right? That’s understandable given he is mentioned by name further up the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-airline-pilot-who-just-switched-from-passengers-to-cargo/312466/49 "2014-03-17T01:19:54Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > Here’s my question. Why are you putting seemingly random and unimportant words in quotation marks? Because when he’s new somewhere giving worthwhile input he likes to be snarked at by people of course. Because what we prefer around here is not people who add something but people who like to be snippy about largely irrelevant grammatical quirks. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-airline-pilot-who-just-switched-from-passengers-to-cargo/312466/50 "2014-03-17T01:23:24Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > Because when he’s new somewhere giving worthwhile input he likes to be snarked at by people of course. Because what we prefer around here is not people who add something but people who like to be snippy about largely irrelevant grammatical quirks. Well, OK. Let’s see what **Robert Briggs** has to say in response, whaddaya think? ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-airline-pilot-who-just-switched-from-passengers-to-cargo/312466/51 "2014-03-17T01:55:04Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > You do realise that you are responding to a thread that is almost a decade old, right? > Here’s my question. Why are you putting seemingly random and unimportant words in quotation marks? A new poster comes in to acknowledge an admittedly old reference to him in a cheerful and polite manner and immediately gets taken to task on slightly unusual and entirely insignificant punctuation. I consider **Robert Briggs’** contribution to this thread more pertinent and valuable than **chiropter’s** by a factor of approximately 8000. Welcome to the Dope, **Robert**. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-airline-pilot-who-just-switched-from-passengers-to-cargo/312466/52 "2014-03-17T02:22:07Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > Well, OK. Let’s see what **Robert Briggs** has to say in response, whaddaya think? To you? Why would he bother? ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-airline-pilot-who-just-switched-from-passengers-to-cargo/312466/53 "2014-03-17T04:55:24Z")
I am just a little plane pilot but was lucky enough to be in a very good place many times. 10,000+ PIC time Flown 60 different aircraft. Nothing to the number of actually different ones a line pilot does in his time flying. I have flown 54 different types like C-150, C-172, C-195, C-180, Aerostar, Piper Apache, Piper Aztec, Several flavors of C-130’s, Skyvan, and so on. IMO, if a pilot does not nor wants to learn more, he is on the way to being more dangerous every day. If you are flying with any attention, it is hard not to learn something every day. I wish I had been in a position to learn more aircraft than I did. I was extremely lucky to get the opportunities I did. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-airline-pilot-who-just-switched-from-passengers-to-cargo/312466/54 "2014-03-17T05:06:53Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > A new poster comes in to acknowledge an admittedly old reference to him in a cheerful and polite manner and immediately gets taken to task on slightly unusual and entirely insignificant punctuation. > > I consider **Robert Briggs’** contribution to this thread more pertinent and valuable than **chiropter’s** by a factor of approximately 8000. > > Welcome to the Dope, **Robert**. > mmm You DO realize the odds of him returning are infinitesimal, right? ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-airline-pilot-who-just-switched-from-passengers-to-cargo/312466/55 "2014-03-17T11:04:35Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > You DO realize the odds of him returning are infinitesimal, right? You ask that as if my response would have been different had I your gift of prophecy. mmm ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-airline-pilot-who-just-switched-from-passengers-to-cargo/312466/56 "2014-03-17T19:42:22Z")
What have you found to be the toughest and (potentially) most dangerous airports to land at? ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-airline-pilot-who-just-switched-from-passengers-to-cargo/312466/57 "2014-03-17T20:25:34Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I consider **Robert Briggs’** contribution to this thread more pertinent and valuable than **chiropter’s** by a factor of approximately 8000. > > Welcome to the Dope, **Robert**. I think he already took the flight out of here. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-airline-pilot-who-just-switched-from-passengers-to-cargo/312466/58 "2014-03-18T05:16:32Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > I think he already took the flight out of here. Give him time. Mostly at night, flying cargo is a hard grind until you get way up the seniority ladder. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-airline-pilot-who-just-switched-from-passengers-to-cargo/312466/59 "2014-03-18T15:31:01Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > You do realise that you are responding to a thread that is almost a decade old, right? > Here’s my question. Why are you putting seemingly random and unimportant words in quotation marks? Thank you for this post. Otherwise I would not have known I was supposed to read his post with derision and completely ignore anything pertinent he might have written. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-airline-pilot-who-just-switched-from-passengers-to-cargo/312466/60 "2014-03-18T16:06:18Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > You do realise that you are responding to a thread that is almost a decade old, right? > Here’s my question. Why are you putting seemingly random and unimportant words in quotation marks? > [@chiroptera](#): > > Well, OK. Let’s see what **Robert Briggs** has to say in response, whaddaya think? Reported both of these for completely uncalled for Jr Modding. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-airline-pilot-who-just-switched-from-passengers-to-cargo/312466.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-airline-pilot-who-just-switched-from-passengers-to-cargo/312466.md?page=4)