Here is how I made the unlikely transition from a Grinnell College student to airline pilot. Along the way I'd like to pass on a few Big Secrets of an airline pilot career. First, though, a brief description of what an airline career is all about. Delta has more than 9,000 pilots. All cockpit crew members are airline pilots, but in each crew there is, in descending order of pay, a Captain, Co-pilot, and on older aircraft, a Flight Engineer.
Airlines operate on strict seniority based on date of hire.
What seniority does for you is to give you the choice of which position you want to fly, on which aircraft. We all want better pay, so we all want to move up to a better 'seat'. Within that position, you get to choose your monthly schedule, again based on seniority. With seniority you can bid a monthly schedule with those days off. As we move up the Seniority list and get some choice in which aircraft and position we can fly, our desire for a better paying position is tempered with our need for some control in our lives.