When I was first hired as a pilot by Air Canada in 1989, I thought I had it made.

I had graduated as a bush pilot from a highly regarded aviation college in Chicoutimi – one of 800 applicants, with only 80 accepted into the program, and just 40 of us made it into the second year.

For three years after graduation, I worked long hours in small towns in Northern Quebec, paying my dues by instructing and eventually flying scheduled flights and medivacs on an 8-seat Navaho propeller aircraft. I loved it, even though my salary for the first year was less than $12,000 a year – so low that my family actually qualified for welfare.  

After all that hard work and perseverance, I was so thrilled to land a job at the biggest airline in Canada. I was 22 and I couldn’t believe it. I was the youngest person in my flight class.  

But after three short years, I was out of work. The industry had taken a massive downturn, and I was one of hundreds of pilots who were furloughed (laid off) and looking for work.

There were no pilot jobs. I worked as an auto mechanic for a while and I did some sailing. I managed to find a first officer position flying Dash-8s for Air Ontario for a time, but the industry continued to struggle and I was furloughed again. I was able to land a position as an instructor on a simulator for the Lockheed L-1011 for a few months.

It took three years for the industry to recover and I was finally recalled to the airline and I started flying Bombardier’s 50-seat Regional Jet.

Even though I was a few years older, I still had a baby face. When I was promoted to Captain, I even had a flight attendant who refused to believe that I was old enough for the job. The first officer on the flight was quite a bit older than me and he had some grey hair. So when I got onto the flight deck and sat in the left seat, the flight attendants thought we were pulling a prank. It was only when we started to push back from the gate that she finally said, ‘You’re really the captain!’

I first flew as a kid, travelling between Canada and Belgium to visit my grandparents. I remember being on a Boeing 747 and saying to my parents that when I grow up I want to be a pilot on a plane like this. And funnily enough, later in my career, I ended up flying the very same aircraft as a First Officer, which was to me a dream come true!

As a kid I was really curious and active. I always wanted to know how things worked – and this sometimes got me in trouble. I remember finding a screwdriver and taking the doors off the kitchen cabinets. I really wanted to know how it worked, but my parents were not impressed!

When I was a teenager, I knew I wanted to learn to fly but I had to convince my parents. My dad said it was a big investment, so before we spent a lot of money, we had better be sure I really liked it. That’s how I learned to fly…on gliders. It was less expensive than flying a plane.

I got hooked at the Champlain Gliding Club on the South Shore of Montreal, and I knew I was on the right path.
When you release the cable from the plane to let the glider fly on its own – it’s the purest form of flying. The only thing you can hear is the air behind the canopy. You develop a feeling for the air, moving from current to current. You get to know where the thermals -- vertical currents of air -- are just by feel. It’s very zen.

I now have more than 25 years of experience at a major airline, and I feel like I’m at the pinnacle of my career, doing what I love. It’s still about flying airplanes. But as the technology and aircraft are becoming more sophisticated, it’s also about managing people and systems, and you really need strong communication and leadership skills, and the ability to make good decisions.

My family is very proud of what I do. My wife and kids know that this isn’t an easy career to get into and stay in. They know that before every single flight, I study and prepare myself. And my schedule means that I miss a lot of family moments.

I often think of details from many of my flights. I still remember working as a charter pilot on small planes. I remember being responsible for taking a whole family back home to their small town, along with a priest and their deceased family member, to lay him to rest. Being a pilot and sharing these experiences with our passengers is really a privilege.
 

"I now have more than 25 years of experience at a major airline, and I feel like I’m at the pinnacle of my career, doing what I love."