by Chris Cooke
May 2007

While you are still in the taxi to the airport, your pilot is hard at work with preflight routines to ensure a safe trip.

Have you ever been stuck in traffic en route to the airport and just known you were going to miss the flight? We pilots suffer the same frustrations and endure additional stress from the pressure of knowing that if we’re late, hundreds may miss connections or not make it home on time.

And you’re not the only one who has to arrive at the airport early before departure. In fact, I am required to report to Flight Operations at least one hour prior to departure for domestic flights and 1.5 hours prior to international ones. The extra time for international flights is due to the complexity of the flight plan.

A manila flight envelope is usually waiting for pickup when we report to the Flight Operations desk. The envelope contains all documentation necessary for the safe operation of the flight, including the flight plan, a detailed weather brief (containing satellite photos), a maintenance history of the airplane and NOTAMs (Notices to Airmen).

The flight plan document is filed electronically with Air Traffic Control (ATC) and shows the expected routing for the flight and all its particulars, such as cruise altitude, airspeed, destination and the electronic capabilities of the aircraft.

A detailed weather brief of the departure airport, en route diverts, destination and alternate airports is included, along with satellite photos of the flight route. Imagine if a typhoon were building in the South Pacific along your route of flight. How would this affect us? A quick look at the satellite photo gives the pilot a bird’s-eye view of that area and allows us to make several important decisions.

The maintenance history covers all the repairs that have been made or written up over the previous 14 days. If a particular item was not repaired but is not considered a safety-of-flight item, it may have been deferred for fixing at a later time. These discrepancies (or “gripes”) give the pilot an idea of how the airplane will perform mechanically and what to look out for should the components in question fail again. It is rare for pilots at the major airlines to fly the same jet on every trip, so a detailed review of an airplane’s maintenance history gives us a comprehensive idea of what problems to expect.

A list of NOTAMs, which inform us about current and last-minute restrictions to navigation aids, runways and other flight information or limitations to flight, is included as well. They inform us as to changes in the status of runways, taxiways, ramps and so on.

During the preflight planning phase, we initially look at the total flight time and the amount of fuel expected to be left at landing. If the weather forecast is marginal, extra fuel is likely to be boarded for holding or a possible divert to an alternate field.

After all of these elements are reviewed, the captain and the dispatcher have a conversation and agree on any changes, then the flight plan is signed. This signed copy of the flight plan is now a legal document signifying that all FAA and company requirements have been met.

We collect our flight cases and travel bags, find where the aircraft is parked and proceed through the terminal. Upon reaching the gate, we check in with the gate personnel and inquire about anything that may affect or delay a departure. If everything looks fine, we head down the jetway and finally begin the most pleasurable part of the flying experience—actually flying the plane.

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CHRIS COOKE is a pilot with a major domestic carrier. He can be reached at
editor@executivetravelmag.com.