Stories From The Sky: Working as a Pilot | Trinity Talks Podcast

Hello everyone and welcome to this week's episode

of Trinity Talks. My name is Kyla and I'm so

glad that you are joining us this week. Today

we are continuing to talk a little bit about

the intersections between faith and work. Where

do we... How does our faith influence the work

that we do, and how does the work that we do

influence our faith? And this week, I am excited

to sit down with Andrew, who is a pilot. So thank

you for joining me, Andrew. Happy to be here.

Thanks for having me. Yeah. Do you want to just

take a moment to introduce yourself a little

bit? Sure. Yeah. My name is Andrew, as you mentioned.

We come to Trinity with Rochelle, my wife, and

two children, Emerson and Eddie. We've been here

about three years and I work as a pilot so I'm

happy to be here to share any insight I can about

Faith in the pilot world and what my job looks

like. So yeah, thank you Yeah, so what prompted

you to want to be a pilot? I don't know if there's

maybe one thing but Pilot airplanes that's kind

of one of the main fixations as kids They have

the dinosaurs or the airplanes or whatever it

is for them. So mine was airplanes It also didn't

hurt that my father is a pilot or was a pilot.

He's retired now, but as a child, you know, you're

influenced by seeing dad come home in the uniform

and going on trips and things like that. And

at the time, pre -9 -11, your family could go

into the flight deck with you. So I remember

being, I don't know, I must have been maybe 14

or so. just being able to sit up in the flight

deck sitting behind my dad and the other pilot

and just doing this approach into like Los Angeles

at night and seeing all the lights and the cockpits

and everything. It was just mesmerizing and it

was something that not many people get to see

if you're not in the industry, but it was impactful

and I was like, I have to do this. It's just

too cool not to try and do this. So I started

pursuing that. Oh, that's really fun. Yeah. So

can you just explain a little bit about what

does your job entail? What does it look like

on a weekly basis or monthly basis? Right. So

I mean, the obvious answer is I fly airplanes

around. Yes. Yeah. The airplane I'm on is called

the 737. So it does mostly regional type flying.

Like I fly a lot in Canada and the US. I go down

to Mexico from time to time. The Caribbean if

I'm lucky, okay, a nice Caribbean layover. Yeah

At my company, there's different bases actually.

So if you're based in Montreal or Vancouver,

you could do some overseas flying the plane able

to go a bit longer My job though on a week to

week it could look anything from having most

of the week off because that's how the schedule

Sure laid out or I could be working a few days

of the week. I could be working four days in

a row no two weeks look the same. So it's a bit

variable. It's not a typical nine to five job.

Sometimes I'm doing a red eyes. So you're, you're

flying overnight and getting home in the morning

and then sending the kids off to school. So it's,

it's, yeah, you kind of get the idea of, of what

the job is. It's not regular, I would say. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Cool. What's your favorite part of

your job or a favorite memory from work? It's

hard to pick one memory. I'll start with the

part of the job. I mean, so we talked about some

of the scheduling anomalies or abnormalities

that come with the job. But there's also some

pros that come along with that as well, because

there might be a random Tuesday or Wednesday

where I'm just home during the week. So if Rochelle

is home, we can go for coffee. We can hang out.

It's healthy. aspect to be able to dig into to

spend time with your spouse or even getting groceries,

having meetings at church, things like that.

Not many people can kind of do that week unless

you work nights or something. The travel, being

able to travel and see different places, see

the world. It's just opening your... Your horizons

to see different countries and cultures and foods

and things like that. It's Yeah, that's definitely

One of the perks of the job favorite memory again

hard to pick one, but I've been able to take

people with me on layovers. So when I go to a

country or a city Often we just will stay there

for sometimes a day, sometimes two or more. OK.

So I've been able to take Rochelle with me to

Budapest. Oh, that's fun. Yeah. And I'd never

been there. It's a very, very interesting city.

Great food. And then she brought her dad and

her dad's friend along. So it was all four of

us. OK. We rented a car and drove around. We

drove to Slovakia to watch a hockey game of the

friend's son. And yeah, it was just neat to be

able to bring. loved ones along and they can

kind of see a little bit of what you do when

you're there, which to them looks like fun. They

don't see all the hard work to get there. They

see when you get there and you get to kind of

eat good food and sleep in a nice hotel. So yeah,

just them being able to take part in that is

a memory. And there's others as well. You know,

it's the same kind of idea. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Sort of similar to like what you were saying.

You know, your dad would like show you sort of

what he was doing. Obviously, you can't bring

your family up to the cockpit, you know, as you're

doing the approach anymore, probably. But but

but still that same like getting to sort of experience

it together. Yes. Yeah. That was not only did

I get to see the layers, but I got the kind of

behind the scenes look. And again, that was what

hooked me. Yeah, for sure. That's so cool. Are

there any ways that you think your faith impacts

the way that you do your job? I mean, there definitely

is. Even just thinking about an approach to work

and how you do things. Just preparing for this,

I was looking at like Colossians three twenty

three, I believe it is, and it's just talking

about. you know, whatever you do, do it with

excellence as to the Lord. Right. That's a paraphrase.

But it's this idea that. And I'm fortunate because

I like being a pilot, so the work sometimes comes

naturally, not always, but sometimes to to kind

of put the time in, put the study in, get in

the books, make sure you're you're doing everything

that you can to be the best that you can be at

it. And that. That rubs off on people in the

workplace. They could see that you're taking

it seriously and it's important to do that right

because safety Oriented industry, but just that

approach to it I Find is important and when I

do that, I'm not doing it for others sure I am

but secondarily maybe it's it's something that

I'm doing for the Lord Other ways it's more just

Any other workplace right you're working with

people you want to Just exemplify the fruits

of the spirit you want to treat people with kindness

and love you want to be merciful and gracious

Pilots are typically type a personalities sometimes

we come across as brash or very forward so in

dealing with people I try and Yeah, the language

you use sometimes in the in the flight deck it

could be it can turn a little bit. I don't want

to say vulgar. I'll say maybe secular, like loose

lips and things like that. So just kind of, you

know, putting forward your values when it comes

to speech and things like that. The other thing

that's interesting, too, is I was thinking about

this in a workplace and trying to, let's say,

even share your faith with someone or directly.

It is challenging in my role because typically

we'll show up at the flight planning room or

the aircraft, and you're meeting somebody often

for the first time. OK. Maybe if you've been

on the airplane for a while, you've met them

before. But it's often you're just getting to

know this person, and you have to kind of come

together as a team to complete this complex task.

So first of all, you have to find time to kind

of be maybe a bit more, let's say, the direct

approach. But you don't have a relationship with

this person. Right. Yeah, yeah. So you're kind

of doing small talk. So it is a bit more challenging,

you know, if you're talking about what you've

been up to or how your week's been, you can talk

about the things that are important to you, like

church or things like that. Sometimes that sparks

more interest, other times they just kind of

brush it by. But there have been some times too

where I've, and maybe even for the first time

when you meet somebody over the course of my

career, where you just get into the faith talk

and you start hashing it out. Most times that's

happened, it elicits like, surprise from the

other person. They're kind of surprised that

you're a Christian. I don't know if it's, if

you looked in the stats of the industry, if it

doesn't reflect maybe society as a whole, but

yeah, often they're taken aback that you're like,

oh, you go to church or you're spiritual or you

believe in God. Right. Sometimes it doesn't go

anywhere, but like there has been times where

it's almost become a bit of a back and forth

because the person is maybe not a Christian or

has different beliefs than you. Right. So yeah,

I forgot the question now. Maybe I'm right. No,

no, no, no, that's really interesting. Yeah.

To think about like, I guess one of the things

that I didn't think about is like other people

like me or others who work in a sort of, I don't

know, regular stable sort of job, like, like

in a building. I work with the same people all

the time. But yeah, if you have a new co -pilot

or a new flight crew every time you walk onto

an airplane, that gives you a lot of opportunity

to meet people. Yeah, a lot of opportunity, but

not a lot of groundwork's been laid yet. So you're

starting new every time almost. So sometimes

it takes a bit of a different approach if you're

interested in sharing your faith. Sure. Yeah.

Are there ways that your work causes challenges

in your life and maybe in your faith life or

just in general? I mean, this would be maybe

the con of the schedule that we were talking

about earlier. I mentioned some of the pros,

but the cons would be just planning life out

because our schedules. So, yeah, our schedules

come out. a couple weeks before the next month

starts. So if I want to plan further out, it's

a bit difficult. Being on the road, I'm on the

road for a few days. You know, Rochelle is a

single parent essentially, so that puts a strain

on her. For sure. Let's say being on the road,

being away from your family, you just have to

be a bit more, I guess, aware of what maybe some

of your temptations are, things like that. You

know, if you struggle with alcohol, maybe you

have an easy, no one's checking on you. You can

just go and drink more than you normally would.

If it's things like sexual temptations, you gotta

make sure that you're not putting yourselves

in situations where you don't wanna be in. You

might have to put limits on your phone access

or things like that. You might have to excuse

yourself from, a dinner earlier than you wanted

to if things aren't going where you want. Right.

Yeah, those would be the main ones. Like, there's

obviously smaller things like fatigue, right?

Sure. If you have red -eye, you get home, you're

tired, you got to sleep, things like that. Stress.

You know, every job has these things, but there

are some of the unique ones maybe to aviation

where you're, I would say, mostly related to

kind of being on your own in hotel rooms without

accountability, things like that. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah and so interesting to to then think about

you know what you were just saying about having

new co -workers all of the time right? There

is not even there's not even in in your workplace

there's not even that you don't get to build

that same relationship with someone where you

can yeah hold each other accountable or or yeah.

Yeah and and then oftentimes your colleagues

that you're working with have different values

anyways right they sure yeah the thing that you're

you know, avoiding they maybe run to at times

as a generality. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That can that

can make it challenging for sure. So then how

how do you think your faith like helps you work

through some of those challenges? I think it's.

Each person is going to have different challenges,

so the challenges, the challenges that I face

aren't going to be maybe with the next. Christian

pilot faces. But I think the word they used is

important is work at. So it's a process. It's

something that you sometimes maybe fail at earlier

on so that you can grow from later. It's trying

to be self -aware in understanding the... you

know, some of the temptations you face so that

you can, you know, work at overcoming them and

what do I need to do to kind of be, you know,

spiritually safe and on the road and things like

that. Mm hmm. Yeah, I think those are maybe some

of the ways to to help combat it. Yeah. Yeah,

no, for sure. Yeah. And are there ways we've

talked about how your faith shapes your work?

But are there ways that you think your work has

influenced your faith? Yeah, things that you've

learned or done as a pilot that have changed

your understanding of God? I mean, for sure.

Some of it ties into the aspect of the job itself

and traveling around and seeing different places.

That would be the most obvious one, because as

you're going around the world, you're seeing

different cities, different cultures, different

countries, different vistas and landscapes and

things like that. So part of it is almost like

an awe that you come to appreciate. You see how

much bigger God is when you see more of the world.

And not everyone has that advantage. But when

you do have it, it's important, I think, recognize

it. And things like flying across the country

at night and seeing super bright stars and things

like the Northern Lights. You're flying across

Canada in the middle of the night and you just

see a blanket of colors and see the Northern

Lights. It makes you take a step back and think

how amazing God is. I like snorkeling. There's

been some places I've gone where I'm able to

be at work snorkeling. I think I'm getting paid

for this. Like you go under the water and you

see a whole new world and colors and fish and

corals and things like that. I think it's so

cool that this was here and it's been here for

a long time and God had specific intentions for

that. Being in Europe and seeing different cultures

and the way people do things and how God's designed

people to be so diverse in that respect. It's

just, yeah, a lot of that has... sunk into me.

And there's been moments where like it's a hard

job. There's risk involved in it. There's been

a few times where, you know, maybe earlier in

my career where you get into some situations

you don't want to be in and you kind of say a

quick prayer. And to this point, God's been faithful

to maybe rescue me from things that I either

got myself into or I sometimes it's just, you

just find yourself in a difficult situation and

He's been able to, to, you know, see me through

those things. So. Yeah, I've been able to just

see those things throughout my career. Hopefully,

as it goes on, I can continue to not just take

it for granted, but to see how God is working

in the different ways. There's a group of Christian

Pilots that meet occasionally. And actually,

we're meeting tomorrow, so I'm looking forward

to it because it's been a while, maybe even since

before COVID. But seeing other believers in the

industry is a huge encouragement for me. Because

for one reason or another, you just you don't

run into Christian pilots all that often. Sure.

Part of it is you're not, you know, you work

with one one week and then you might be off for

another week. You're not like the turnover is

maybe a little bit small. So when you do, it's

it's yeah, it's meaningful. And it's kind of

you get a bit of that. sense of, you know, I'm

not alone. You don't have to cry out like Elijah,

like, I'm the last one here. Like, no one's left

but me. So it's, yeah, I love having those moments

where you are able to kind of find a brother

and sister in Christ and just share how their

experience has been. So it's good. There's a

guy that organizes a breakfast, so I'm happy

to kind of do that. And it's not even just my

company, other companies across Canada that...

that pilots show up for, so that's important

as well. Mm -hmm, yeah, I know, that's awesome.

Yeah, really good that you can find that sense

of community, right? And, yeah, encourage one

another. Yeah, yeah, for sure. That's been big

for me. And there's been some discouragements

with that, too. Sure. You see guys that you connect

with, you have the deep talks with, and then

maybe you see them a few laters and they've kind

of... it's not as important to them anymore.

Flash in the pan maybe. But yeah, there's definitely

a few maybe peers I would call them in my career

where I don't see them that often. But when I

do, it's always like, hey, how are you doing?

Are you still following in the faith? And you

get that glint that they are and you talk about

it. And you're like, OK, that's good to know

that we're in this together. there's more than

just me. Because again, when you're working one

-on -one all the time, it can sometimes feel

like that as opposed to a big workplace where

you get to know who people are and what they

believe and meld that way. Yeah, for sure. You

don't get to find your people in the same sort

of way. You're almost working with strangers

each time. Yeah. Yeah, that's really interesting.

Like, yeah, again, not something I would have

sort of thought of. But yeah, really, really

interesting to sort of think about. We even do

training throughout the year, because they recognize

this idea that two completely different people

have to come together and execute this complex

task. So how do we do that? Because there's different

ways to do that, like checklists and SOPs, standard

operating procedures and things like that. But

even when it comes to building the emotional

groundwork to be able to dig into deeper areas.

Yeah, it's it's a challenge of the role of the

job. Mm hmm. For sure. Yeah. Yeah. And I mean,

I think the other thing that I was thinking about

as you were talking was, you know, when your

schedule is such that like, yeah, we were talking

before you said you try to take Sundays off,

but you can't always do that. Right. And so that

I think that makes it hard sometimes to like

build habits. Yeah, for sure. And whether that's

daily habits of faith or those weekly going to

church and things like that. I can see why being

a pilot would take a toll on your faith in that

way. Yeah, and sometimes you're listening to

podcasts or books and they're trying to instill

habits in you and they're like, oh, every morning

I wake up at seven and I do this thing. I'm like,

oh, that's nice for you, but I can't always do

that, right? So the challenge is, well, how do

I And this has been an ongoing thing because

I do try and build some of these habits even

when I'm on the road, but it's like, when you're

out of your space, you're like, okay, well now

I'm gonna do my devotions in my Bible and praying

in this hotel room. But sometimes it's hard,

it's like, this isn't my space, it's not what

I'm expecting. Like the time isn't what I was

expecting. Now I'm at like one in the afternoon

because I was having to sleep after the flight.

So yeah, it is more challenging to try and build

those habits. And even like, There's stuff that

go on throughout the week here, like the beer

and banter. I don't know if JP is listening,

but he's always like, oh, you haven't been a

beer and banter in so long. Like, are you trying

to avoid me? I'm like, no, I'm not. I'm just

like, I have to work some days during the week.

I'm going to be off, you know, Sundays and Saturdays.

That means I'm usually busy during the week,

but I'm not trying to avoid you, JP. Yeah, yeah,

no, for sure. So. You talked about, you know,

how sometimes it's hard to find other Christians

in the airline industry. So our podcast doesn't

have a huge reach, but if there are other folks

listening who are Christians in the airline industry,

like what would you want to sort of say to them?

Well, I would say you're not alone, first of

all, because there's many of us, even stories

of my dad working with Christian guys and the

relationships that they had. And then also, yeah,

so. hang tight because you will come across them

and that'll be a time of encouragement for you

and then also just protect yourself when you're

on the road make sure you know what your what

your struggles are and put things in place to

Yeah, just guard your heart so that you don't

fall into those things, because it can be easy

without the accountability and being on the road

like that. So, I mean, there's more that could

be said, but I'll leave people with two things.

Yeah, that's really solid. Yeah. Well, thank

you so much, Andrew. This has been a really interesting

conversation and I think really helpful for us

to think about, yeah, what does our faith look

like in jobs that have a lot of ups and downs,

a lot of uncertainty maybe, but. But yeah, you're

doing it. Well, I think yeah, and I've been really

blessed. God's blessed me in my in my career

I mentioned those few times where You pray to

him and he rescues you from different scenarios.

And yeah, I'm just very thankful and want to

praise God for that. And if I ever do change

careers, which I'm not planning on, then you

can have me back. Okay. We'll talk again. Sounds

good. Yeah. Well, thank you for listening to

this week's episode of Trinity Talks. I hope

that you have also found some encouragement and

challenge in this conversation to carry forward

into your own work, life, whatever that looks

like for you. and we'll see you again next week.