Finally, my career and hobby have merged...

[John_Cillis 2,406]

It's been a hectic three days for me.  I was on a business trip in Roanoke Virginia when I got a call asking if I'd be willing to consider an IT testing and dev contract with US Airways/American in Phoenix, where I've lived for 18 years.  So on Friday afternoon I started the long drive back to Arizona for an interview at the US Airways complex in Tempe, AZ.  I split most of the 2200 mile drive over three travel days and got to Tempe about five minutes before my scheduled interview.  I did not expect to hear anything so soon, but no sooner did I get home a few hours later than the phone rang with an offer.

 

It's funny--I've been simming for almost exactly 30 years--got a C64 for FSII and never looked back.  During the interview I shared the programming fun I used to have with the C64, since my new contract will require a fair amount of programming.  I used to write programs for the C64 in assembly language.  Programming tools have changed, I will be working with C# mostly.

 

It's not a perm contract--most work in my field now is on a contract basis, but it's nice to have my hobby come full circle and actually end up with an airline, especially one with such a huge hometown presence--the facility is sprawling and it's a good 1/4 mile from end to end (and separate from their HQ).

 

Anyway, thanks for letting me share...

 

John

[MikeAdamo 51]

Hi John,

 

Welcome to the club! Being a long time flight simmer and aviation buff, when I got hired on with WestJet Airlines here in Calgary I was smiling from ear to ear for months. You'll be like a kid in a candy store and if there's one piece of advice I can give you it would be to make friends with people who have access to ALL parts of the facility :lol:. I was with the IT team that supports Flight Operations so I had day to day dealings with all the flight dispatchers, load planners, maintenance controllers and technical dispatch so I was able to chew the fat with them and when I would notice their charts were out of date, I would ask if I could take them rather then them being recycled. It's been the greatest time!!

 

Enjoy every minute of it and congrats!

 

Mike

[Ted Striker 338]

Congratulations John! The best job is the one you enjoy doing. Makes it a lot easier to get up in the morning. Its always nice to read about something great happening to someone. With your enthusiasm you'll probably be there there as long as you want. Hope it works out well for you.

 

Ted

 

P.S. I Just remembered that the last time I fly out of Phoenix (a few years ago) the entire US Airways computer system in the terminal went down before I got my boarding pass and I missed my flight. They need you!

 

If it happens again I know who to PM on the Avsim forums now. :lol:

[crosswind 825]

Congrats John

[John F 2,401]

Good for you, John!!

 

John

[KSATRoadWarrior 91]

 

 

Anyway, thanks for letting me share...



John

 

CONGRATULATIONS JOHN, nice to hear some good news for a change and I will bet you will have a ball!!!

[Tom Allensworth 1,532]

Well done John! Congratulations! Another AVSIM son done well. :Big Grin:

[Matthew Kane 1,343]

Congrats John...Now anyone over the past 30 years that question your hobby this would be a good time to say there is always a benefit in everything that you do. One thing does lead to another.

 

Enjoy the new job mate

[mebull 27]

 

 

Anyway, thanks for letting me share...

 

I for one am glad you did share the news as are the others offering their congratulations, . . . plus one on that.

 

The best job a person can have is one they would do out of love for free as a hobby. Good luck and enjoy! :Applause:

 

Now if we could just find someone who is looking to hire a bunch of work at home, fly at home, FS pilots there would be bliss all around. :Praying:

 

Regards,

Mel

[Vagabondo 23]

Just came across whilst surfing the forums. Congrats John, sounds like a great gig.

 

Funnily enough, I'm an ex IT consultant but changed career to being a pilot. Even though flying is the dream come true, now that I am away from the politics of the IT business I kinda miss the creativity of systems development and I'm still goofing with Java and Perl these days.

[Jim Robinson 122]

Congrats John, and thanks for sharing the story! :smile:

 

Jim

[Jimmy RFR 406]

Congrats!  I often think that I'd love a spot working for an airline doing almost anything!

[John_Cillis 2,406]

Just an update--I started my new contact a couple weeks' ago.  It took a bit of time to go thru all the background checks since I have to work with sensitive data.  I'm working on what I hoped for, on the changes to crew scheduling that need to take place for the merger.  I never participated in virtual airlines in our hobby but now my job gets me to see how the pilots and flight attendants get matched to their flights and how all that is juggled based on seniority, time off, etc.   My role is that of testing the code and I've gained a whole new insight into Visual Studio, since most of my prior programming experience (i.e. Landclass Assistant for MSFS) was in VB 6.

 

My colleagues are great to work with, and our cube farm is adorned with posters of US Airways aircraft and destinations as well as some vintage posters of earlier aircraft. 

 

Again it is so exciting to have two hobbies--simming and my interest in coding, to have finally merged into what many of us dream about.  And the cool thing, I can go thru the employee line at the airport--no more long security lines....

 

JC

[Ted Striker 338]

I was wondering how that position was working out for you John. Glad to hear its going well and you are enjoying it.

 

I am also Interested in hearing how the pilots get the flight attendants that they have an interest in scheduled onto their flights and vice versa these days. :Big Grin:

 

Ted

[mwilk 1,104]

John,

          If the length of your contract is tied to the amount of time it takes to merge the pilot groups, you're going to be there a loooong time. Take it from a 35 year US Airways employee who is facing his fourth and last merger. I'm Fleet Service in DFW. Welcome to the family.