Sandy Barks

@TSA This is absolutely ridiculous! @Congress won’t do their job, and continues to be paid! But they expect others to continue to do their jobs, without being paid. Every person in Congress that is not working 16 hours a day with no days off to get to a resolution should be fired!

Some TSA officers can’t afford gas to drive to work because they aren’t getting paid. Democrats must end their DHS shutdown immediately.

This chaos is a direct result of Democrats and their refusal to fund DHS. Stop holding our national security and everyday Americans hostage!

Enough is enough. The Democrat shutdown of DHS must end!

@noncrackersatal @BerniceKing Not all

@BerniceKing white folk hate your father to this day. They have always shown phony love in the public eye.

A cartoon about my father from the 1960s. At the time he was assassinated, a poll reflected that he was one of the most hated men in the United States. Today, his message has been distorted by many who would have hated him then, but evoke him now to deter justice and truth. #MLKDay #MLK #TheKingCenter #HistoryMatters #ReThinkKing

#PokemonSleep2nd My favorite helper even if she doesn't have the best stats

favorite screenshot I’ve taken in two years of Pokémon sleep #PokemonSleep2nd! #PokemonSleep

Share your two years of memories using the hashtag #PokemonSleep2nd! #PokemonSleep

@FedExPilots @AlliedPilots @FedEx I’m just a bystander. But I think it is ridiculous the way the FedEx company has treated their pilots. Wishing you all the best.

Our pilots are taking to the streets outside @FedEx Executive Offices to call for a contract that reflects their value. Four years is too long. It’s time for FedEx to invest in its people.

Since it’s trending, let’s talk about how you get to the right seat of a regional jet. Excluding the military, there are a couple paths. You could go to an Academy / College, like Embry-Riddle. These schools teach you from scratch. You’ll earn your private, instrument, commercial, instructor & eventually, your Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) certificates, plus all the endorsements like multi-engine & high-altitude, etc. Part of the ATP is an hours requirement; you must have 1,500 hours total. There are some exceptions (a “Restricted ATP” - 750 hours for an Academy grad), but it’s a hurdle. To build time, pilots at academies sometimes instruct new students at the academy, offsetting costs. You could theoretically go from zero hours to ATP in a year, but in reality it takes longer…the 1,500 hours would be about 4 hours a day, everyday, but the usual flight times are around 1 hour per lesson. That’s a lot of flying! It’s also pricey to go the Academy route…it can easily cost $100-$150k. One advantage of these schools are “flow” programs into regional airlines, who in turn flow to majors. So, you flow to a regional, agree to be there for a certain number of years, then flow to a major. There is a catch, though…a flow program doesn’t mean an automatic job, just an interview. Airlines routinely turn down candidates who interview (even getting an invite to interview is challenging). The other route is to do it on your own, using local instructors, then building time however you can. You might instruct at the local school, or fly pipeline patrol, cargo, survey work, etc…anything that pays you to log hours. The pay isn’t usually great, but you’re working toward a goal. Once you have all the requirements met, you apply to the regionals. They’ll review your records & application & if you’re lucky, you get an interview. It’s OK to have failed a checkride, maybe even two, but start getting numbers higher than that & you’ll get a lot of scrutiny. But, let’s say you got lucky, passed the interview & got the job. Great! Now comes airline training. This will (probably) be your first jet, so the airline has a process. You’ll get a basic indoctrination program…all the non-flying stuff. It lasts maybe a week or two. Then comes the airplane training. It’s going to be 5 days a week, 6-8 hours a day of simulators, systems classes, tests, briefings, checkrides & a lot of studying after. It’s a lot for a pilot that has never flown a crew jet before…even fighter pilots sometimes have a hard time learning the dynamics of a crew, and it’s a lot of new procedures to remember. At the end – about a month & a half from starting – you pass a final checkride & you’re ready for “the line” & your first time at the controls of an actual jet. (You also get your “type rating” on the new jet; that resets your ATP date – if you already had one – & you get a new license w/ the type on the back) Some people don’t make it this far. I wouldn’t say the failure rate is high, but it exists. You either pass the checkrides or don’t. If you fail, you get extra training & try again. Keep failing, or show some trait the airline finds undesirable (mine fired a guy for repeatedly checking his cell phone in the sim) & you’re out. That’s because, for your first year, you’re on probation. You can be fired for almost anything & the union can’t help. Anyway, on the line you’ll do an “Initial Operating Experience” (IOE) check. A special instructor Captain flies w/ you, teaching & making sure you’re safe. You have to do some amount of hours (maybe 40, I forget) before you’re signed off. Now, you’re in the right seat of a regional! Except not totally…the airline puts you under special restrictions. You can’t fly from certain airports or in certain weather. Once you build 100 hours or so, those restrictions are often lifted, but you’re still on probation. The Captain is there to mentor & keep you out of trouble…you’re still learning & it’s the Captain’s airplane.

@tbm3lt I’m sorry baby. I love you! I pray that God will push the pain out and push patience in. I pray that he erases any memories that are painful and fills your mind with only good and loving thoughts.

@PHXSkyHarbor @MayorGallego Please make bathroom stalls with doors that open outward. It’s tough climbing over your suitcase.

A future west terminal has long been part of Phoenix Sky Harbor’s Comprehensive Asset Management Plan. Yesterday, airport representatives shared more information on this with Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and members of the Phoenix City Council. Read more at bit.ly/3WvQZm8

@lesliejosephs Bob needs to look in the mirror. He needs to do better, too.

Southwest CEO Bob Jordan, sounding more frustrated than I've ever heard him, says Boeing needs to do better. The all-Boeing 737 airline is reevaluating 2024 financial estimates bc of long Boeing delays. $LUV cnbc.com/2024/03/12/sou…

@AlexandraSkores Bob needs a mirror.

Southwest CEO Bob Jordan is calling on Boeing to be "a better company." dallasnews.com/business/airli…

@tbm3lt Some struggle with a need to be needed. It’s hard to always put on a happy face. And fake. But also, finding happiness only through others, isn’t good.

@mike16480190 @SouthwestAir Great example of why there always needs to be at least 2 pilots in the cockpit at all times and you don’t want them lowering the standards.

@SouthwestAir Flew SW to Ft. Myers yesterday from Chicago Midway. We lost an engine and landed in Atlanta. My wife & I are flying with 4 kids and expecting the worst. But hats off to SW they handled the situation impressively. Back on another plane and in the air in under an hour.

Not sure what this was about, but we had this oddly dressed Passenger the other day saying he's scoping out alternative transportation methods for his boss?

@MCCCANM @DanScavino So much “fake” being said it out now.

@DanScavino I’m unaware of any commercial airliner that uses a walkie-talkie that is somehow linked to the PA system. I also don’t recognize the flight attendants uniform. He has no patches on his uniform, either & the overhead bins don’t look right. Highly suspicious

The very culture that made my husband want to go to work for this company, and why I was ok with it, may no longer be there; and may never come back. I hope they prove me wrong.

I’m actually surprised more haven’t left @SouthwestAir. Managements inability to live up to the $LUV culture, instead only cultivating their lust of money, could lead to years before a full recovery.

These people are amazing! The next time we move, we’re going downstairs to build our own moving team. 📸 Look at this post on Facebook facebook.com/share/v/BHvcm3…

It’ll take as long for Brad and Angelina to get a divorce as it does for the pilots to get a contract from @SouthwestAir