Day in the Life of a Charter Pilot

Disclaimer: Apologies in advance for the poorly written post, the bulk of it was narrated to my iPhone enroute from YYC to YEG

So after a marathon day, I figured I’d review the  glamorous day in the life of a charter airline pilot. 4:30 alarm clock for 5 AM check in at YYC. One hour pre-flight followed by 48 minutes in the air arriving in Fort Saskatchewan at 7 AM.

15 minutes post flight duties followed by a 10 minute taxi to the hotel and a half an hour munching down on a free breakfast while checking emails. Jacob picked me up for a ride to the house in Sherwood Park followed by a 40 minute commute to the BubbleUP office punching in at precisely 9:05 AM.

An hour prep for a client meeting at 10 followed by internal staff meeting at 11:30. More emails and conversations with the team while scarfing down a quick lunch and back on the road by 1:30 PM. Back to the house in Sherwood Park and then back to the hotel in Fort Saskatchewan by 230.

An hour of emails, 15 minutes of downtime and 15 minutes of scheduling flights and checking weather. Taxi came at 4 PM for the ride back to the airport by 4:15 with preflight duties and ready to go by 430. One hour flight back to Calgary followed by 15 minutes post flight duties.

Then load the crew car for the 2 1/2 hour journey back to Edmonton. Return the car to the Edmonton base picked up the truck and headed for home. Pulled into the driveway at 9:15 PM. And 10 minutes of unpacking, 15 minutes of email and crawling into bed, a full 17 hours after the alarm. With a grand total of 2.0 hours logged in the logbook, it’s just another day in the life of a charter airline pilot!