Career Pilot: Chasing the dream

After she received the call from SkyWest (see “Hired by a Regional,” May 2016 Flight Training), the reality set in for Sarah Rovner—and with it, maybe, a smidgen of buyer’s remorse. What about that $100,000 salary she had? The new home in the Houston suburbs? The dog?

Thankfully, there was time to prepare, because her training class would start in about three months. Rovner overdosed on general aviation as she earned the last 100 hours toward her airline transport pilot certificate. She ferried a Bellanca Super Viking to Alaska; took a bush flying course; and capped it all off with a long stay at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Then it was off to work.

When Rovner arrived in Salt Lake City, there were nearly 50 new trainees, but only three women. There was a handful of recent college grads, but more than half appeared to be in their 40s or older. The more senior guys were in the midst of a career change or retirement. One had sold his construction company. Another was a retired cop from New York. Virtually nobody had previous jet experience.

Week one, called Indoc, was all about company stuff. Trainees took the drug test and received company badges. They learned about operations specifications, company structure, senior leadership, how to bid, and more.

For the next three weeks, trainees drank from the fire hose. From 8 a.m. through 4 p.m. daily, the class was doused with hydraulics, electrics, packs, bleeds, landing gear, pressurization, avionics, flight management systems, and more. They played with what SkyWest calls the matrix trainer, which looks much like an all-glass flight training device but features digital displays and schematics of the systems.

Study groups convened for hours each evening and on weekends. With her previous systems training, Rovner assumed the leadership role for one study group that became so large it had to leave the hotel and meet at a SkyWest classroom. After four weeks in Utah, the company threw a pizza party for the survivors.

Then there was more time getting cozy with the 50-seat Bombardier CRJ 200. All new hires were given a seniority number based upon the last four digits of their Social Security number. Rovner was near the top. She chose to train at a FlightSafety facility in Atlanta, one of several FlightSafety locations around the United States with CRJ simulators.

SkyWest instructors and check airmen conducted training over 14 training days, with several breaks of three to five days. There were procedures to learn, such as normal and abnormal engine starts; faults; callouts; and checklists. Then there were flight maneuvers to master such as steep turns at 250 knots; stalls; single-engine approaches; and the tasks in the ATP Practical Test Standards. At first, the four-hour simulator sessions featured two new-hires who alternated between the front seats. Near the end of this training, two line-orientated flight training scenarios were conducted over two days, designed to replicate actual flights in real time.

The final event for a CL-600 type rating was the line-oriented check, where a line captain assumed the left seat. A company FAA examiner, known as an aircrew program designee, evaluated the trainee’s performance and issued the pilot certificate. Rovner earned the type rating as well as the ATP certificate.

Throughout the training were periodic validations. Some operators call these progressive checks. Instead of training culminating in one big checkride on the last day of training, those validations are administered at various points throughout. SkyWest has earned its Advanced Qualification Program status from the FAA, which allows for these progressive validations. Rovner earned the final signoff in late October and was off to differences training with the larger CRJ-700/900.

In November, Rovner made her first flight under the watchful eye of a company check airman in something way larger than the Baron that she had flown. Her initial trip was from Chicago O’Hare International Airport to McGhee Tyson Airport in Knoxville, Tennessee. She recalled grinning from ear to ear, enjoying a view from the front seat of a jet at 30,000 feet. For the first 25 hours of initial operating experience, she remained with a specially trained captain to observe, evaluate, and teach her the ropes a little more.

Not long afterward, she was flying in zesty turbulence, wind shear, and icing—and even flew a first-ever Category 2 approach to 100-foot ceilings.

In retrospect, Rovner has no regrets. The frustration of delays, rescheduling, living out of a suitcase, and long lines are far overshadowed by the joy of flight and the excitement of transporting appreciative folks. Rovner’s evenings no longer revolve around the TV. It’s more often hikes, sightseeing, sports eateries, or Buffalo wings with her fellow crewmembers.

She vividly recalls announcing her decision to her former colleagues to leave the comfort of a secure, well-paying position in information technology. They were at first incredulous. But days after, they came by her desk to say wistfully, “You know, I wish I would have taken the risk way back when and chased my dream.” As Rovner says, “It was a tough decision to give it all up and chase that dream. But, not to chase it would have been even more difficult.” Are you next to take the journey?