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That’s the dream. But I think they have their hands full with the domestic operation at the moment and making that run well, to then be worried about widebody aircraft entering the mix.

Would’ve loved to give the F-14 a go. Speaking to a few of the ex USN pilots on the aircraft carrier museums in the US, they absolutely loved it. That and I really want to give landing on a carrier a go. Back to the commercial world, can’t go past a 747 or 767. As for the future, I’d love to...

Sources tell me they were bound for 18, but instead took the line for 18A which is for wide bodies AND only when bay 19 is vacant. Turns out, 19 was not vacant. And you can clearly see the wing from the coughpit.

No camera. But the same aerobridge can accommodate multiple aircraft types. For instance, when VA had the A330 parked on the end of T2 it used bay 44 lead in lines. The 737 uses bay 44A lead in lines. In PER (on the VA side) they’ve got 147/A/B lead in lines. So 3 different sets. They’re all...

It helps if you follow the correct line. The nose in guidance system only starts working from 30m out. As for the ground crew…no comment.

I use the flight plan, most times, it's pretty much all it's good for.

There’s 2 on each side but they’re out of shot. The first one sits just behind where the headset is sitting in the picture and the second is just next to the centre pedestal.

I’d say that’s accurate. This helped me with my type rating.

I don’t know if an FAA certificate is enough to get you through. You can only try and apply with the airline/s you want to work for. They will tell you. And no 30yrs of age is not too old to be a dispatcher. We have some younger and some older. Most have been employed through the company...

Yes. Flight dispatch is the official term and from what I’ve read is what the OP is after. It’s a 24/7 role that also will be our eyes on the ground for any changes. This is known as flight following. For instance, if after the flight plan has been filed there has been a change to the fuel...

Not quite. The flight dispatcher in this instance will build the flight plan for us, along with the weather and NOTAM (notice to airmen) packages. We will then go through it and order the fuel based on what we are given and any other resources.

Yesterday, Sydney airport closed to arrivals and departures due to a fire alarm that went off in the old tower. Aircraft holding were advised of “we have no idea on how long this will last. Please advise your latest diversion time and destination”.

You definitely get used to each port’s intricacies. It’s the constant pat down and having to remove parts of clothing that gets most people. For example in MEL the belt comes off but everything else can stay on. In PER if you go through with a pen they make you take it out and click it….yep...

737-8M is not the standard. 737-8 is. The ICAO and IATA codes are B38M and 7M8.

I would hope that they wouldn’t be told to not come into the flight deck! They used to be able to have a sector as part of their initial line training where they would sit in the jump seat to observe what goes on up the front, but that has also been long gone.

All of the above. During the day it’s not so bad. There’s plenty of chatter on the radio, frequency changes, etc. It’s harder on the red eye, but we can do controlled rest where one person naps for 20mins at a time. We tell the cabin crew we are about to do it and they will call after that...

If you wanted to go direct it would be UA or DL. Otherwise staff travel being mostly luck you could try, HA, AC, NZ, FJ, CX, etc.

The lounges are usually in a better spot than the crew rooms are. Before administration it was blasphemy to wear our full uniform in both the lounge and business class. After that, it was deemed ok to not have to put a jumper on (although I still do). The lounges are not to be used for our...

I guess the thing that surprised me the most when starting out was the fact that I got my first real lesson in English when I sat for my first CASA exam for the PPL.

If the cabin altitude reaches 10,000ft a warning horn sounds with a red light directly in front of the pilots. This was added after the Helios accident because the crew got confused as the it’s the same horn as the take off warning configuration. As a side note, the masks will only...