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Welcome to an aviation podcast that caters to all aviation enthusiasts, ranging from pilots to airplane spotters. Our show covers a wide range of topics, including private pilot training, airline operations, and the latest aviation news. Our knowledgeable host, an experienced airline pilot with eight years of flying under his belt, is thrilled to share his own experiences and offer valuable advice to help you pursue your aviation dreams. We are here to support you on your journey, constantly wishing you Tailwinds & Sunshine!
From the Baltimore Studios in Colorado Springs, Colorado, this is the Tailwinds and Sunshine podcast. You know, I don't know if that's your intent and just kinda start the conversation from there, you know, because I found out that sometimes when you communicate that, the person was not even aware they were doing that, and they'll back off a little bit. Possible pilot aviation. I have a number for you. Adviser to 8 copy.
Manny:Dude, this triple 7 has been really fun to fly. It's honestly just a bigger Embraer 175. But the fact that they were sitting on that runway knowing there was a heavy coming their way, unacceptable.
Rachel:I'm from the central part, so I'm from a town. We have more cows than people where I come from. Very country.
Manny:The aches I have, I can go on. Number 1, when the jet bridge is pulled back and we're ready to push and you guys don't have your headsets on.
Patrick:The plan has to be perfect because you can't turn left. You can't turn right. The only way out of that, if the pilot gets into a bad spot or if there's something that's, like, happened at the airport that shuts down a runway, the only way out is up.
Manny:And now he was voted most likely to drop out of college and was told by his high school career counselor he should pursue a career as an interior designer. Yours truly, Manny Ramirez. How's it going, everyone? Welcome back to the show. Thank you so much for spending some time with me.
Manny:I have a really great episode today. I have a handful of questions that I'm going to answer from you, that you guys submitted, I'm sorry. And I also have, I'm gonna be talking about something that happened in the news, including some incidents that happened in the month of April. And I have some mitigation strategies for preventing runway incursions or just preventing anything stupid from happening when you're when you're out flying. So first of all, I want to apologize for not having an episode out on Monday.
Manny:I was supposed to put out an episode, the second part of the episode with my friend Micah and I've just been super busy. I haven't had the time to actually sit down and finish editing that episode. I just finished 3 days of 12 hour shifts, so I was at 3 12s and I spent 13 plus hours in the building, so I was really exhausted. In fact, I because I needed to get something out and I was in a hotel room. I didn't wanna disturb my neighbors, so I just went inside of my car.
Manny:It was like 32 degrees out. So the car was running and I recorded that episode using my phone, so the quality was not the greatest, so I apologize for that. But anyways, just to show you that I am dedicated to providing you some valuable content on the Tailwinds and Sunshine podcast, right? That's the kind of content you guys want to hear, so I'm sorry about that. And then this weekend, as soon as I was done with work, I went to the airport, flew to Vegas, got the house ready because my mom was coming into town and so I was running errands and doing chores and packing and getting all this stuff ready.
Manny:And then I tried to edit Monday's episode again and I just didn't have the energy. I was completely pooped out. And then on top of that, I started getting a tickle in my throat and I was like, Oh, man, I'm getting sick. And luckily, it didn't get past that tickle. I gargled some Listerine and it took care of itself and that was a non issue.
Manny:But then I came back yesterday to Colorado and I had to pick up my dry cleaning. I had to get my suitcase ready. I had to get my uniform ready to go, kind of be on the standby because I have a few, more days of reserve coming up and hopefully, that'll be the end of reserve for me for my entire career here at SkyWest because I hate sitting on reserve because I am a prisoner in my own home. I don't know if I'm gonna get called. We'll see.
Manny:Hopefully, it's another repo flight. Those are usually fun, but that's what it is. That it is what he is. So anyways, enough about me. So let's get the show on the road.
Manny:So what's on the news? The big one is the social media post. There was a video floating around in the Internet of a United crew that allowed an authorized an unauthorized person into the flight deck. That person was the Rockies hitting coach Hensley Mullins who was shown as sitting in the captain's seat while they were in crews. So the coach was not actually manipulating the control seat, was just sitting there and a female was actually recording that.
Manny:What I assumed to be a female, it sounded like a female. Again, I'm not assuming but that's what it sounded like to And I noticed that there was also the flight deck door was not secured. There was people going out of the flight deck and that was a big deal. So the FAA and United are investigating. The crew was suspended.
Manny:I really hope they get fired for that because that's just just utterly stupid. First of all, why let them into flight deck? And second, why are you videotaping this? The flight was a charter flight for the team. The Rockies were going up to Canada, I believe, and I think they were gonna play with the Blue Jays, the Toronto Blue Jays, but it was just a really bad call to do so and I hope they get reprimanded and I hope they lose their jobs because there's better pilots out there that can make better decisions that deserve those seats.
Manny:That's my opinion. I don't know why they did it. Honestly, I think they were just doing it for clout and they wanted to get on their good side and probably get like box seats or something for Rockies games or or playoff tickets. I don't know. I heard they're doing bad, so I don't know if they're actually gonna make it to the playoffs, but, whatever.
Manny:But that's a really bad choice. It was a charter flight but I think this is still against operational specifications between United and the FAA or maybe just straight up prohibited by the SOPM. Who knows? But it was not cool because obviously the FAA got involved. Alright, what else is on the news?
Manny:So April has been a really active month for runway incursions and close calls. I have 3 that I wanna highlight. 1 of them was in Las Vegas, One of them was at JFK and the other one was at Washington's DCA and I think it's Washington. But it's really unfortunate that these things keep happening because demand for travel is at an all time high even after COVID recovery, right? So this is going to be a really busy summer and these things cannot keep happening because we're literally a hair width away from actually making contact and having one of the most tragic aviation incidents in American history.
Manny:So I'm gonna go over those 3 really quick. So the first one at Las Vegas, we had a Frontier flight that landed on 26 left and was asked to cross 26 right. So the controller said keep it rolling past 26 right while there was another aircraft lining up waiting for a takeoff clearance on 26 left, they're parallel runways. But after the controller told the Frontier flight to keep it rolling, meaning crossing the runway, the active runway, the controller cleared the Spirit Airlines flight on 26 left for takeoff. The controller caught himself and immediately told oh, come on.
Manny:It's my watch going off here. But anyways, the controller cleared Spirit to take off on 26 left and immediately recognized what he did and told Frontier to hold short of 26 right. I think I got those confused runways. Anyways, the controller cleared Spirit to take off on runway 26 right, immediately recognized that he had someone crossing or about to cross 26 right so told Frontier to hold short of 26 right. The pilots of the Frontier flight then later crossed once Spirit took off.
Manny:They cross the runway, they contacted ground, and they asked them why they cleared them to cross when the controller had cleared someone to take off on 26 right. They had a little bit of an exchange. The ground controller said no, they weren't cleared, but the tapes don't lie. That controller cleared an aircraft to take off when he had already cleared an aircraft to cross that runway. So the controller caught it, but it's still an issue.
Manny:So that was a close one, but they were pretty far away. The second one, by the way, the Las Vegas one was on 8 April. The next one that I'm gonna highlight is the JFK that happened on 17 April and they were taken off to the east. They were using runway 4 left for takeoff and 4 right for arrivals. The ground controller cleared 4 different aircraft almost in at the same time to cross four left which was the active runway.
Manny:Keep in mind that was the ground controller that cleared those aircraft to cross an active runway when the other controller, the tower controller, cleared a Swiss Airlines heavy to take off from foreleft. The crew of the Swiss Airlines flight rejected the takeoff because they said there was an airplane on the runway. There was nothing came of it, right, so everyone cleared the runway, but still, another close call. And now the 3rd incident, the very next day on 18 April where they have intersecting runways, aircraft was cleared across a runway where another aircraft was on the takeoff roll. They came, and this one was really close, they came within 60 feet of each other.
Manny:So same thing happened 2 different frequencies. 1 controller cleared aircraft to cross, another controller cleared another aircraft to take off. I don't know what's happening. I don't know if there's a breakdown in communication or situational awareness, but this is like super high threat, highly unacceptable. Now typically, a ground controller cannot clear an aircraft to cross an active runway.
Manny:So when I go to Chicago and we land, we immediately we immediately make a left or a right turn, whatever, we go over to ground and as soon as we get in touch with ground, they tell us to monitor tower frequency and they told it, they tell us to hold short of that runway. So then we hold short of the runway, we change frequencies, and we wait for the tower controller that's in charge of the runway that we are about to cross to get our clearance to cross. Then once we cross, we can go back to another another ground frequency. So there's like 3 3 frequency changes when you arrive in Chicago. Sometimes.
Manny:Sometimes maybe less, sometimes maybe maybe more depending on on the traffic of that day. So a ground controller clearing an aircraft to cross an active runway is a no no. The only time it's acceptable is if the runway is inactive or it's closed. Example, San Francisco, currently 28 Left is closed. So we typically get clearance when we're taxing.
Manny:We get clearance from ground to taxi, I think it's like kilo alpha back taxi to a left to and whole short of echo, and we take the runway but it's because it's closed. That's the only time it's acceptable. And there's a lot of reasons why this is happening. One of them being is we have a shortage of staff. Everyone in the aviation industry is short staffed.
Manny:Pilots, air traffic controllers, rampers, you name it. As I mentioned before, demand for air travel is at its highest peak since COVID and it's only going to get busier, and staffing has not come on par with that demand. So air traffic controllers are working overtime, they're working 6 days a week, and they're tired. And fatigue will cause people to make these kinds of mistakes. So in the absence of proper staffing and experience, what are some mitigation strategies that you and I can use to lessen the threat or give us better situational awareness.
Manny:Usually, I ask this question to my students when they come in to the schoolhouse and I ask them that. It's like, well, in the in the absence of experience, how or what can you do to mitigate that threat? And typically is saying, they say, follow SOPM, follow your procedures, and I go further and say, well, not only that, but you have to slow down because when you're going fast, your situational awareness narrows. When you're new to the airplane, new to the operation, new to the airport, you may not see past your PFD if you get lucky. Right?
Manny:You require a lot of brainpower to run your flows, your checklists, your callouts, all that stuff takes a lot of brainpower. That's part of the, I think is the, Fitts and Posner model or theory. You can Google it. And that theory says that when when you're new at something, it requires more brain capacity to be able to do just the basics. Remember when you were first driving a car and you really had to concentrate on pressing in the accelerator and then pressing the brake and then setting your blinker and turning the car?
Manny:You couldn't do all those things at once, but once you got used to it, you can be on autopilot and you're you can be sleeping and drive a car. Same thing here, but now it's more complex because now you're dealing with radios, flows and checklists, and situational awareness of other aircraft around you. So when you're inexperienced, slow down. There's a phrase in the military we like to use, slow is smooth and smooth is fast. Take it easy.
Manny:And also start building a mental image of what is going on around the airport. Listen to the frequency you're on. Just start building that mental model of who's taxiing out, who's pushing from the gate, and then when you change over to tower frequency, do the same thing. Who's lining up and waiting for a runway? Who's on the runway?
Manny:Who's landing? Are they using intersecting runways? Are they using intersection departures? Start building that mental image of what's going on so you don't blindly follow instructions from ATC. Because with the incident at JFK, there was a big airplane on the runway, most likely with their lights on, which is our procedure for most airlines.
Manny:We're supposed to light ourselves up. Procedure for most airlines, we're supposed to light ourselves up, turn on every light on the airplane so we're visible when we take a runway. So I don't know if those pilots that were crossing that runway, did they look left? If they would have looked left and their lights were on, they would have been able to see that big airplane on the roll. They would have probably said nope, never mind.
Manny:That's our procedure as well. We're about to cross a runway. I look left. The FO looks right. We make sure the final is clear.
Manny:We make sure there's no one on the runway or when we're taxing on, we make sure there's no one coming off the high speed. That's just normal procedure. So I don't know what happened here at JFK. Another mitigation strategy is to verify those instructions when the ATC gives you a crossing clearance, make sure you verify. If you're like within 20 feet of crossing the runway, okay, just look left, look right, okay, we're good.
Manny:But if they give you a clearance to cross pretty early, which happens every once in a while, you know, as you go in the night, the airport's not busy, the tower controller might say, okay, exit the high speed on left when able taxi to the ramp via Alpha cross runway 13. Well, you're still not even off the runway, you know, and you've already been given an instruction to cross the runway, and you're still busy over here turning off the lights, going through your after landing sequence, and kinda gathering your your your thoughts as to what's coming up next. So if you heard, we're clear to cross, confirm with our controller once again if you're still good. I always do that. Hey, tower SkyWest 41100.
Manny:Are we still good to cross runway 13? Affirm and SkyWest 41100. Okay. Look left, look right, let's cross, but always verify that. If you're given a clear a clearance to line up and wait and you heard on frequency there is a plane on a 3 mile final, you know what?
Manny:It's better if we just wait holding short, let that airplane land, and then we can continue moving on. We have to start slowing ourselves down. Sometimes ATC has to play the role of customer service and also a safety advocate, right? They're doing their they're there for safety, for our safety, but sometimes they get pressured by the airlines to be more efficient, to push all these planes out because, like I said, the demand for travel is there, but if they really slow down, they're going to start causing delays. Same with TSA.
Manny:If those lines start getting longer because TSA is taking a little bit longer to scan your bags, the airlines are gonna come in and complain to them and say, what is going on over here? We need to get this moving. And I used to work with the TSA when I was a EOD technician in the army. We used used to go up to Denver and practice with TSA and we used to test them. And I talked to some of them and I was like, man, you guys have to scan a lot of bags.
Manny:And it's like, yeah, man. We can't spend more than 10 seconds looking at a bag before we have to move it forward. We have to be quick. So they are there for your safety but there's also economical pressures from the airlines. So now it's our responsibility as pilots to slow that process down.
Manny:We have the ultimate authority to say, not yet. I'm going to halt her to the runway. I'm going to confirm that instruction. I'm going to make sure that I am cleared across. I'm going to make sure this is what the controller wanted.
Manny:So if you guys have any other mitigation strategies in the lack of it, in the absence of experience, please let me know. There's also a good saying that, I picked, I forgot who told it to me or I read it somewhere, but there's a saying that goes that when you become a pilot, you're handed you are handed 2 bags, 1 full full with luck and the other one is devoid of experience and your goal is to fill that bag, that empty bag with experience before you run out of luck. So keep learning, keep growing, seek those mentorship opportunities from those that are senior to you so you can build that experience, so you can fill that bag with experience. Yeah, so once again, if you guys have any additional mitigation strategies, go ahead and send me a message either at my email, mannithecfigmail.com. You can message me directly on Instagram at climbvx.climbasinvictrex-ray or you can fill the form in the show notes as well.
Manny:It's up to you. Just reach out. I appreciate it, and if you haven't submitted a review, also go ahead and tap the star, submit a review. That makes a world of difference to me. Alright, so let's go to the questions.
Manny:I have a handful of questions I want to answer. The first one comes from Josh. He says, What are your thoughts on tipping? We're always in and out of vans and hotels and there's a lot of service staff that usually expect tips. I've done the math and I spend upwards of $800 on tips per year.
Manny:Usually, I do it out of habit and other times I think twice, but I feel I'm a tipper out of habit most of the times. What do you think? I'm going to piss off a lot of people with this. I'll tell you that right now. All of the people in the service industry are gonna hate me because, yes, they do live off their tips.
Manny:Most of the restaurants or businesses that have the opportunity for customers to tip, they pay them the bare minimum they can. Sometimes minimum wage, sometimes 13 dollars 15 dollars 11 dollars an hour, so they don't make enough of a living just of their hourly wage, so they require tips, And they're slaves to their tips because the employers don't want to pay them anymore because that is the culture here in America. We have fostered this culture of tipping that has gone completely rampant. It's out of control. And even you guys that are in the service industry, you know that with the whole iPad thing and you know, there's memes done about it, there's just tipping has gone bananas.
Manny:My theory on tipping is this, and keep in mind that I used to work in the service industry. I used to do Uber, Lyft, DoorDash. I used to do all that stuff when I before I became a flight instructor. It's a great gig because it has a lot of flexibility, but it's got its cons. So my theory is this, if you go above and beyond your duties or your job description, you deserve a tip.
Manny:If you're just doing your job, why should I pay you 20% I should pay you 20% because there's peer pressure. I'm pressured into giving you something. Otherwise, people will make me feel like an a hole. If you guys have not seen the movie Reservoir Dogs, go watch that movie because I forgot the character's name or the actor's name, but there was a scene where they were at a restaurant and one of the characters decided not to tip. He was like, I'm not gonna tip and they hassled that they hassled him because he wasn't gonna tip.
Manny:He's like, fine, I'll tip. You know, but as they he didn't want to tip, but watched that movie as a Quentin Tarantino film and I just remembered that from that specific scene from that movie about tipping. But there's so much peer pressure nowadays to tip that we almost all of us do it out of habit, just like you, Josh. We are habitual tippers. We just tip, right?
Manny:And sometimes, depending on how generous we feel at the restaurant, we'll either give 18%, 20%, or hell, we'll give more. Right? But that's not the philosophy that I want to follow. I already shared with you what I think. And let me give you examples of both.
Manny:So what is the person that does not deserve a tip is that one that is doing their job. The staff at a restaurant that just did their job, they took your order, they delivered your food, they poured your water, that's that's in their job description. Their employers should be paying for that, and I'm over here trying to change the whole culture of tipping in America. I'm literally not even the tip of the iceberg here. I'm like a needle in a haystack trying to make a culture change in America because everyone else in the world doesn't tip.
Manny:We're the only ones that tip or one of the few ones that tip, and it's getting super crazy. But if we stop tipping for people doing their jobs, they're going to stop taking those jobs and then the employers are going to be forced to pay them more. And I'm hearing some of you say already, well Manny, if if they have to pay for for a livable wage, they're just gonna raise the price of your food. I don't care. I'd rather pay 5 more dollars for my rasta pasta at the Rainforest Cafe than having to pay $20 to someone that was just doing their job.
Manny:And most of the time, they're aggressively mediocre. You've met these people. You get to the restaurant. You're inconveniencing them. They're supposed to be there to service you, but you they act like you're an inconvenience.
Manny:And that's most of our society nowadays. Even with people that work in the hospitality industry, there's a lot of them. They're just like they hate their lives. They're doing the bare minimum because they have this attitude of, hey, minimum wage, minimal effort, and anything you ask outside of just getting your food, it's a huge inconvenience but yet they want to be get they want to get paid top dollar. So now to focus on these van drivers, right?
Manny:So if I typically just tip a dollar, boom that's my typical tip for a van driver, but those are for those that get out of the van and take our bags out and put them on the curb. If I have to go in the back, open the door, get my own bag, I am not going to be tipping you. I don't care if you have a disability. I don't care if you aren't able to do so because you have a religious exemption. I don't know.
Manny:I don't care. You're not getting a tip because you are not going above and beyond your job description, which is to drive us to the airport. Now let me give you an example of what is above and beyond in my eyes. So recently, I had an overnight in Sacramento and we're outside waiting for the van driver to come out, and here comes a guy in like a maintenance outfit, right? Gray shirt with a hotel logo, tool belt around, had the radio on his belt, ball cap.
Manny:Definitely did not look like your average van driver. They're usually working in the lobby, and he gets in and says, Hey, let's go. He opened the open the back, the doors, put our bags in it, drove us to the airport, super nice guy, got out, put our bags on a curb. That guy got a tip and not the standard $1 tip I usually give. I gave him $5 because he took one for the team.
Manny:I'm pretty sure they were short staffed and they all kind of shared their responsibility and he got it this time. And I'm sure he doesn't like doing that or who knows, maybe he does. Maybe he gets off his duties, his normal duties, but he went above and beyond of what he's expected to do as a maintenance guy. Here's another example of a Bob and Beyond, so above and beyond. Recently, I had to get my battery changed.
Manny:My car was stalling out on the road, so I had to pull up to a, auto parts store and I went in and says, Hey, I need a battery for this car. Got it. So one of the employees, he typed it in, the model, the engine, and everything into the computer. Boom. This is the battery.
Manny:He went he went and got it, and I looked up the battery and I'm like, that looks pretty small. Like it looked pretty narrow or pretty like slim. So we took it out to my car, he got, he grabbed the tools, and and we, I opened the hood, he looks at the battery, and there's this intake hose that goes kind of like the the, front the front part of the battery that kind of blocks it from just taking it out. It's really easy. Literally, 2 screws.
Manny:All you have to take off is 2 screws, move the intake hose, bend it to the side, and then the battery comes out, but he saw this and he's like, oh man. It's like this is my that's only, my second time changing a battery. You know, I'm gonna have someone else do it for you. So I'm like, this doesn't look very hard, but then again, I'm not judging, right? There's some people that are not mechanically inclined, but come on, bro.
Manny:You work in an auto parts store. You should know this. This is easy. So anyways, here we go back with this battery that I knew was a little too small, and he asked one of the other employees, hey can you help this guy out? And he came out older guy, probably in his fifties, and he came out looked at the batteries like, yeah, this doesn't look right.
Manny:So he went back inside, looked up another model. He came out with the right size battery. He took me outside, and he proceeded to help me. He did everything himself. You know, I could do it myself.
Manny:I've done it before, but he helped me out. He didn't have to, but he did. We had a little chat, you know, about the battery, how long it lasted, and he's like, Oh, you know, we're joking around. So we had a good conversation. We had good rapport and he helped me out.
Manny:He got a tip. So the other guy that kind of just gave up did not get anything. So he missed out on a $10 tip. That's above and beyond. So it doesn't have to be, for me, it doesn't even have to be that great of a gesture.
Manny:It could be something as simple as opening the door for me when I'm picking up an Uber or just opening the trunk and getting out of the car and say hey, you want you want help with your bags? No, I'm good. I got it. Remember, I used to be an Uber driver. I took pride in what I did.
Manny:I made sure my car was washed before every shift. I make sure everything was impeccable. My car was maintained. I opened doors for people. I opened trunks.
Manny:I loaded bags. And I didn't do it for the, well, I'm not going to lie, of course, I was expecting a tip, but when I didn't get a tip, I wasn't pissed off. I didn't get mad at the customer or, you know, curse them out under my breath because they didn't give me a tip. That's just part of just part of the game, guys. So this whole tipping thing has gone way beyond what I wanted to talk about, but I'm really passionate about that because the tipping culture is just super crazy now and I'm trying to change the culture.
Manny:Oh, one last story. One last story about tipping. It just tells you how how much these service employees are expecting a tip nowadays. That now, not only do I have to pay for my food, but now I have to pay these employees like there's some kind of contract union to go to restaurants and do this job. So I was in New York and the service was horrible.
Manny:You know, they had an attitude and we sat down. The food wasn't all that great either and I was so pissed off at the service. I said, You know what? No tip. So I left a big fat 0 as a tip and we walked out and guess what happened?
Manny:I got chased down by the server asking me if there was a problem and there was like the tone of his voice that he knew that there was a problem. And I kind of wanted to save I wanted to save face and just I was trying to be nice about it, but he kept interrogating me as to what was wrong and then well I said, you know, that's the food. Well, the food is the kitchen. That's not our problem. And he kept asking and insisting about it and finally, I gave up and I just ripped into him and said, You know what, you suck, this and that, you know, the server was bad, you know, and he's like well you could have talked to me or you could have talked to the manager and I was like but it's not going to help.
Manny:I was still not going to leave a tip. To his credit, yes, I could have handled it better. I could have talked to the maitre d' or the the manager and say, Hey, this is the situation. They could have probably cut me some of the meal, but I didn't want to complain. I just left a big fat 0, which that's an indication in itself that your service was horrible.
Manny:Now, I also hear you guys saying, some of you service industry guys, you say, well, it's not about service, it's about, you know, financials. Usually, people are cheap. You know, if you're not, if you're poor, you shouldn't go out and dine. No, maybe you should do a better job and be better at your job. Have a better attitude when you're going to work.
Manny:Not all the time it's going to be about financials or whether I'm broke or I'm rich or whatever. It doesn't matter. But like I said, we've fostered this culture of now people in the service industry are expecting a tip because that's just what everyone does. Well, not me, although I'm probably still going to keep tipping, but I'm a little bit more aware of what's going on when I'm getting service or a product delivered. Oh and, oh man, there's another one.
Manny:Now these gig companies, DoorDash, Uber Eats and stuff, they're also holding our deliveries hostage because now they ask you, would you like to tip? Before you have your food delivered, they're asking for you to tip. So now what happens is that as an as a delivery driver, you get an order and it says, alright, this order is going to take about 15 minutes and you only get $3. Guess what's going to happen? Next, they're going to skip it.
Manny:I used to do that. Now, if someone tips, they put like a $5 $6 tip on top of that. Now, that 10 minute trip is going to be like what, $7 $8 and you're going to likely get your order delivered on time or faster. There's that incentive, right? But I shouldn't do that.
Manny:You're doing your job. Your job is to make the delivery on time. And then if I've had situations where you know what, I just bite the bullets at final. I'll throw in 3 dollars $4 as a tip, and then they deliver my stuff, it's cold, it's smooshed, or it's opened, and then I can't get my money back. So I don't tip until a service is rendered or a product delivered.
Manny:That's just my philosophy. Whoo man, that was tough. That was a good one, Josh, thank you so much for your question. I hope that answers, that burning question inside you as far tipping the van drivers. I say yes, but be a little bit more, discerning with when you're giving your tip.
Manny:Alright, next question is for Mark. It says, hey Manny, I'm currently a commercial pilot building time. I'm 18 years old and I'm looking at different opportunities available out there. One of them is a contour path to SkyWest. I'm not sure if I should get my CFI or just apply it to contour once I get my 500 hours.
Manny:Hope to meet you one day. Mark, thank you so much and, for your question. Oh, I always recommend people to get their CFI. It's a really great, character builder. I've met friends that they swore they were not going to be instructors and then when they became instructors, they absolutely loved it.
Manny:My friend David was one of those, You know, he was my student for commercial and instrument and I think another rating, but he swore he didn't want to be an instructor. And then when he became an instructor, he absolutely loved it because when you get to teach someone and you see that moment when they get it, you're just going to fall in love with a with a profession. You're going to be like, wow, this is really good. But once again, that's if you can afford it. If you can swing it, cool, but I really highly recommend you get your CFI.
Manny:And now, Kontoor offers a really great opportunity now because SkyWest purchased 25% stake in Kontoor and they're providing CRJ's for them so that we actually divested ourselves of some of the CRJ's so we can have them flying, making some money. So Contour has some of those, but what this opportunity is great, right? Because you can go as low as 500 hours to Contour. You can start flying, upgrade, and then come as a direct into captain at SkyWest. You can be in the CRJ, ERJ.
Manny:I mean you're going to probably flying either I think the 145 or the 200, but if you want to fly the mighty 175 like I do, I highly encourage you to. That's the future of regional aviation is the 175. That's the best plane you're ever going to fly. So yeah, I highly recommend you get your CFI and definitely look at that opportunity. Now, if you don't want to, it's I think with the environment nowadays because the legacy carriers and majors are slowing down their hiring, I think their minimums are going to rise again and also the competitiveness of your your resume, you're going to beef up, you need to you need to beef up your resume, right?
Manny:So start thinking about that CFI so you can have that experience. It's really good experience. Dual Gibbons really good experience, but it's really financially up to you if you're able to swing it. If you do, if you can, go for it, because especially if you're I don't know what I don't know where I I don't know where you're at time wise, but definitely get your CFI. It's a really good experience even if you do it for a year or maybe 6 months.
Manny:I don't know, but I did it for almost 2 years and it was a great experience, so definitely do it. Alright, Mark. Thank you so much for that question. I appreciate it. Next question is from Sean.
Manny:Sean, why hasn't SkyWest placed any orders for the new Embraer 175 E2? Flown on Porter and that airplane is sweet. Any plans on getting new planes for SkyWest? Sean, the E2 is out of scope for us. We can't fly it, so that's why we don't have it.
Manny:We did have at one point have 200 orders of that plane, but the idea was to purchase them and lease them out to companies that could, but we quickly realized that the 175 was not very popular outside of the United States. So everyone else was purchasing the 195e2 which is what Porter has, so we didn't purchase it because scope and we it didn't make sense for the company and they said never mind, we'll just cancel the orders. Another thing is that the engines that Embraer decided to put on this airplane are the Pratt and Whitney, turbo or the gear turbofan engines which are not very reliable. That has been shown across the industry with Frontier and Spirit and any airplane, Airbus airplane that had the Pratt and Whitney gear turbofans have been unreliable. You can look it up in the news.
Manny:It's been a whole mess, and we just kind of like, nope, we don't want to. Even if we could buy them within scope, we probably wouldn't buy it just because of the engines because those have a very low time on wing time. So what that means is that airlines look at how long an engine stays on a wing as far as maintenance goes and that's we measure reliability based on that. There's a really good example of that. I think it was either Qatar or Emirates.
Manny:They had a huge order for a 350s and they cancelled them because of the engines. They switched over to the 777x and they decided to take that because of the engines. The the GE engines we have have on our 175s, they're they have they're true. They're tried and true over decades. They're reliable.
Manny:They're tanks. They're not the most efficient engines, but they pay themselves in their efficiency. So an engine, just because it's efficient, doesn't mean it's gonna be it's going to be paid dividends because now in the case of the Pratt and Whitney engines, they just spend so much time on the ground. So anytime a plane is not flying, it's not making money. So that's how companies see it.
Manny:Also, the E-two, I agree. It's a really sweet airplane. It has, I think it has a new wing and also is a little bit higher off the ground because now the the airplane has, gear doors just like an Airbus, right? As opposed to just as opposed to the gear just tucking in under the the airplane, just like the 73, but this one has it's just a really sweet airplane. But yeah, that's the reason.
Manny:Oh, and as far as scope, if you don't know what scope is, so scope is a limitation that regional airlines have with their partners because of their unions, their unions say well you cannot allow regionals to fly more than x amount of airplanes and they cannot be more than this weight. So like wait, there's a weight restriction and the E2 is actually heavier by I think like 5 £1,000 or something like that. So it's it's out of scope for us. And for me, I'm like why didn't Embraer consult with SkyWest before making, you know, this a new airplane? Because if they knew, I mean they know, I shouldn't say they knew, but they know we are the largest E175 customer in the world.
Manny:I don't know why they didn't come to us and say, Hey, how can we make an airplane that's within scope so you can buy it? I don't know. But then I think maybe our decision was made when they knew that there was going to be, powered by the Pratt and Whitney engines. I don't know. But I think SkyWest also is very wise in their decision to kind of step back and look at the airplane and say no, we're going to cancel even if we could lease it out, we're not gonna buy we're not gonna buy it because SkyWest kind of has the same philosophy as Delta.
Manny:Delta does not like to buy new airplanes. They wait around for like the first one or second iteration of the airplane and have other airlines test out and work out the kinks before they purchase it and look at what happened with the Max. The Max 7, the Max 10, the window, the doors blowing out, the engine cowl problems, all this stuff that the other airlines are having issues, Delta is not affected because they're sitting back there having orders delivered after everyone tested the airplanes and I think SkyWest does that with the 175. I think they made the right choice and even if we could, I don't think they purchased it because of the engines. Alright, Josh, thank you so much for, I'm sorry, Sean.
Manny:Thank you so much for that question. Next question is from Rebecca. Rebecca says your last episode about checking your ego to succeed struck a code, chord with me. I was once a regional pilot like yourself and I went to work for 1 of the big cargo companies and I'm actually in the process of going back to my regional because the cargo long haul life was not for me, and to be honest, the company is not so great after all. While I do enjoy flying a huge plane, I no longer enjoy the type of life cargo has to offer.
Manny:I forced myself to jump ship because everyone was doing it, because not doing so meant there was something wrong with me, that I was somehow not qualified. I felt I had something to prove to my peers. I was at my regional for almost 3 years and I and now I wish I hadn't left. Well going from a regional to a large legacy or cargo company is typically a good move. With how the regionals are paying now, I wish I would have gotten it.
Manny:I've I wish I would have gave it more thought. My family and I were on board with a move, but my husband and I had a few tough months when I decided I wanted to go back and get my old job back. It was hard on us and we're still trying to work through it. I'm glad I'm not alone and I want to sincerely thank you for bringing it up because I know there are a lot of us thinking it, but you had the courage and candidness to bring it up. Bravo, wishing you all.
Manny:Rebecca, thank you so much for your for your question. Yeah, that's this is exactly what I'm talking about. The grass may not be greener at the other side all the time. You really have to think about those decisions you're making with your family to make sure you have their support. And I know it was tough, but I know your family has your support to, to get you back where you were before and, I'm sure you didn't envision yourself doing this, but sometimes that's the best choice for your family, right?
Manny:You kind of have to check your ego and make sure that the decisions you're making are not based on a dream you had about flying a certain aircraft and is more about the stability of your family. So, you know, you're not the first one. I've seen a handful of people coming back from the cargoes coming through the training department. We have what's called the self landings program at SkyWest, so if you leave in good terms you can come back and we'll hire you on. Let's see.
Manny:Last but not least, a question from Amanda. She says my son is active duty military and for his birthday, we gifted him an intro flight. He fell in love with it and now wants to get out and pursue aviation as a career. He's 24 years old working as a 42 Alpha in Fort Huachuca. What is the best route for him to take?
Manny:42 Alpha, that's Human Resources in Fort Huachuca. The best route. Oh man. Well, I think the GI Bill. Definitely the GI Bill.
Manny:He needs to go out and get a degree program through the VA and it's more than likely have to be aviation related, so the GI Bill pays for all of his training. And depending on the school, they might even pay for his private pilot. So when I went through training, I got out, used the GI Billing, used Liberty University, and it worked out great for me because they offered this program called the flight training affiliate program that I can do all my coursework online and do flight training out of any of their many flight training affiliates throughout the country, and it was really convenient for me. So when I started my training, I did my private pilot license here in Colorado in, Peterson Air Force Base or now it's called Peterson Space Force Base and there's a flying club there. I think it's a Rocky Mountain Flying Club.
Manny:That's where I got my private pilot's license. I paid for it for, I paid for that out of pocket, but as soon as I was done with that, I was processing out of everything you know including a stipend. I paid for everything you know including a stipend. So that was the best deal of my life. It was a life changing decision and I definitely think your son should look into looking at the GI Bill, looking at different schools.
Manny:I think if you can do it online, it saves you a little bit more money because if you go on campus somewhere, it's going to cost you a lot more money, right? So have them look into that and, look at Liberty University. That's what I did. Let me see. Other programs, I believe UND has a really good program, Purdue, Embry Riddle in Florida or or, Prescott, Arizona.
Manny:They all have great programs that offer GI Bill. However, just be known that these big name brand schools are going to be really expensive, especially Embry Riddle. So look for an online program that you can do from home and just do kind of like let's see if they can fly or or the cheapest school really because it doesn't matter where you go. As long as you get your degree. You do right.
Manny:You do well in your check rise. You should be solid. Well, Amanda, thank you so much for your question and for all of you that requested a postcard or a trading card, those are going to be on the way. That's it for me, guys. Thank you so much for spending this time with me, and until next time, remember, keep learning, keep growing because good enough to earn a living may not be good enough to survive.
Manny:Sup, nerds? Before I let you go, I have a task for you. I have a challenge. If you can go to the platform where you're listening to this podcast in and go ahead and leave a review, just tap that star. Whether it's a 5 star, I like that very much, or a 4 or a 3 or a 2 or a 1, It doesn't matter as as long as you leave a review and some criticism so I can improve this podcast because I want the Tailwinds and Sunshine podcast to be your podcast.
Manny:So go ahead and leave that review now. I also wanna give a huge shout out to my friends and coworkers for sharing the podcast with their friends and family. That means the world to me. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart. Also, if you wanna be part of the show, go ahead and hit me up.
Manny:It doesn't matter where you are in the world. We'll make that show happen. We'll make you a friend of the show. Until next time, wishing you Tailwinds and sunshine. See you.
Manny:The statements made on the show are my own opinion and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.