20 Questions About Flying Commercial Planes Answered By An Actual Pilot

Q: From Redditor u/[deleted]:

When was your oh sh*t I really am a commercial pilot moment?

A: From Redditor u/Sneaky__Fox85:

First real landing with passengers aboard. I'd never botched a landing in the sim yet in my brain I kept having to repeat, "This is real, don't f**k up. This is real, don't f**k up. This is real, don't f**k up." I landed a little harder than I wanted (due to simulator training not being 100% equal to real life), but other than that it was just fine. And I rapidly got better at landing once the training captain stopped laughing at me and gave me some pointers.

Q: From Redditor u/Beardedrugbymonster:

I'm deathly afraid of flying though I've done it a handful of times. Are there really backup engines for the backup engines??

I was getting ready to fly home once and this ex-airplane mechanic told me that a couple of days before my flight, to chill me the f**k out.

A: From Redditor u/Sneaky__Fox85:

No, there are two engines and that's about it (minus the few existing three- and four-engine planes still in service, 747, A340, etc). The plane is capable of flying with a single engine operating, and honestly in the simulator that's what we spend probably 70% of the time training on. This simulator time happens every nine months, so we do train for it.

There is a third power source called an APU (Auxiliary Power Unit) that provides electricity and air conditioning, which in actuality IS a small engine, but it's not a flying engine. It's more of a jet-powered generator than anything else.

The mechanic was just trying to calm your anxiety, so good for him. Seriously though, we can fly just fine on a single engine, and even if that one were to fail for some reason, in the US you're pretty much always within gliding distance of a viable airport. Don't stress, we got this.

Q: From Redditor u/evangael:

Do you know what all the buttons do? Have you pressed them all even once?

A: From Redditor u/Sneaky__Fox85:

A) Yes, and if I forget they're all labeled so... hooray cliff notes!
B) No, there are several that never get pressed. In fact, my company even has one button, the "High Power Schedule" button, that kicks the engines up to their maximum possible thrust rating that we refer to as the "Get Fired" button. Usually, the ones that don't get pressed are for emergency use only. Fortunately, there are very few real-life emergencies.

Q: From Redditor u/m1dlife-1derer:

What effect does it REALLY have if I don't put my device in airplane mode?

A: From Redditor u/Sneaky__Fox85:

It can cause interference with our radios, both audio and navigational. On rare occasions, we'll have a lot of static on the radio, and we'll stop and make the announcement to remind everyone their phone needs to be in airplane mode and that if that doesn't solve the problem we'll have to return to the gate for maintenance. Reeeeeaaally quick the interference goes away. Go figure.

You want your phone in airplane mode too. Once we climb above ~5000 feet your phone isn't gonna pick up any cell signal anyways, so it's just gonna spend the rest of the flight draining your battery searching for cell service.

Q: From Redditor u/gkaplan59:

How do you start a commercial plane? I mean, is there a key you turn or like a button you push?

A: From Redditor u/Sneaky__Fox85:

Push some buttons, and move some levers in the proper sequence. Microsoft Flight Sim is almost distressingly accurate and directly contributed to the guy stealing one of Horizon's Dash-8 planes a summer or two ago out of Seattle.

Q: From Redditor u/LoudTsu:

I understand they pay commercial pilots horribly and overwork you to a dangerous precedent. Any truth in that?

A: From Redditor u/Sneaky__Fox85:

This was 100% how things were as recently as 2013. A regional airline first officer could expect to make [$16,000-$20,000]/year and probably be on food stamps. This all changed though after Colgan Air 3407 crashed in Buffalo and killed everyone on board because the pilots were over-tired and not paid enough to have gotten a hotel the night prior.

Since then, in 2014 Congress and the FAA enacted duty limit rules covered under Federal Aviation Regulation 117. We now have a maximum duty shift and a minimum 10-hour rest cycle. At any point, if we feel unable to safely perform our duties, we call our companies, inform them, and they are legally obligated to relieve us under fatigue rules.

Also, Congress raised the minimum requirements. Previously only the captain needed to have his ATP (Airline Transport Pilot certificate) with 1,500+ flight hours, and the first officer could have just a commercial certificate and 250 hours. Now BOTH pilots must have 1,500+ hours and an ATP, which means the pool of available candidates shrank significantly. Nowadays even the first officer's pay is enough to live on, pay your mortgage and buy groceries, and NOT have to have food stamps.