Communication
Jonny
Training Captain - B767/757
Airline Pilot Experience:
Most Recent Aircraft Type:
Training Route:
Aviation Specific Degree:
Languages:
Location:
Captain, LTC, TRI/E, CRMI/T
Boeing, Biz Jet
Integrated ATPL
No
English
UK
Additional Experience/Qualifications:
MHFA
Passions, Interests and Experience:
Mentoring, Aviation Training, CRM/TEM
Why did you want to become a pilot?
If I’m honest I’ve no idea where it came from except to say that I started looking to the skies from a very early age and I haven’t stopped since.
How did you fund your training?
Self-funding
Was training a breeze or did you find it a challenge?
A breeze? Are you kidding? It was a challenge but what it taught me is that determination and perseverance are the key to success.
What was most challenging?
ATPL exams, c’mon nobody likes exams!!
What do you enjoy most about your job?
I have often been asked what I love most about my job? Hands down it’s the people. Aviation is such a unique industry and I feel so fortunate to have met and worked with some of the most incredible, brilliant, intelligent, caring, talented and simply funniest people that I could ever wish to meet. Over the last 25 years I have travelled to the most amazing places, I have seen the most spectacular sights and I have been privileged to have been the guest of Mother Nature in her skies across the globe.
What is most challenging about your job?
Being away from loved ones for long periods.
Which of the Pilot Competencies are of most interest to you and why?
All of them, they are all important!!
Additional info
As a Training Captain and a CRMT I have often spent time mentoring. I believe anyone who accepts a training role should also be a role model and mentor.
I started my flying training in 1995 at Cabair, Cranfield where with only 30 mins experience in a Cessna 152, I enrolled on an integrated course. Sixteen months later I emerged with my shiny but frozen ATPL and a great big smile on my face. After endless job searching I was offered my first commercial flying job and I found myself getting to grips with the BAe 146 for Debonair at Luton. Having had the best possible start I could wish for in aviation I found myself being made redundant when the company folded after a couple of years, a trend that I would become familiar with throughout my career. Following a fantastic year in Brussels flying the Avro RJ for Sabena our contracts weren’t renewed I managed to get a job flying the B757/767 for what was formerly know as Airtours. I proceeded to spend the next 17 or so years flying the B757/767 with various different charter and ACMI carriers both here in the UK and overseas, sadly none of which have remained in business. Like many my career has been littered with redundancies and I’ve spent a lot of time dealing with the challenges that being out of work brings.
My most recent role was in the corporate sector and it was quite simply a dream come true. For the last four and half years I was Lead and Line Training Captain on a VVIP B757 with TAG Aviation operating trips around the world to the most amazing locations and often to places that I can’t even pronounce! The team that I worked with were simply awesome and we have all since become the closest of friends. Unfortunately the contract came to an end this summer, and like so many who face an uncertain future due to the current crisis I find myself once again out of work.
Away from flying I do my best to keep fit with running, cycling, the gym and various other activities that are apparently good for me. I love long country walks and I really should get a dog!! I have always maintained a love of music with a particular penchant for soul, jazz and funk and I am a lifelong Tottenham supporter.
As someone who is passionate about mentoring it is a privilege to engage with Resilient Pilot and be able to help others navigate difficult and challenging times.