Looming Deadlines

Sometimes I forget how different Jordan and I's life really is. We are just so used to our situation that I just assume everybody else lives the way we do. Being home for up to 5 days a week is just so normal to me, and honestly, sometimes its nice to have a day at home alone! But I have a feeling that those home alone days are going to be a lot more busy and probably more stressful once our new little person arrives in a about a month! In the midst of us being so used to our daily routines being apart, the stressfulness that comes with our lifestyle is sometimes overshadowed, and other days it rears its ugly head. Thats how it has been this week.

Jordan is in a very stressful situation with work. The FAA has a new law going into effect August 1st that says every pilot operating in the airlines has to have their ATP license, which basically means they need 1,500 flying hours and have passed a test and a check-ride. Doesn't sound so challenging does it? Well, for us its a bit more complicated. Jordan started in the airlines with low hours, which is totally legal, and he was very qualified to be trained in the plane he is currently flying. His training was 2 months long, so I would think at the end of that, he is qualified. About 6 months in, he had to head off and do military training for a new position he took in the Air National Guard. What was suppose to be an awesome job turned out to be on the chopping blocks for the Air Force and his 9 months of training didn't benefit him at all. Actually, it hurt him, a lot. It means that he missed out on 9 months of hours flying in the airlines. Now that is biting us right in our bootys.

The unions in the airlines protect their pilots by restricting their hours to no more than 100 a month. It is a very necessary rule, and I don't want my husband flying more than that a month, but when you have low hours and a looming deadline to get x amount of hours, you feel very helpless. Long story short, we still need about 300 hours before August 1st. We know that is not going to happen. So we pray, and pray hard that the FAA decides that for pilots who have been flying with airline companies and have over 1,000 hours can be allowed an extension to get their hours. At this point though, they are saying nothing. We are in total limbo.

At this point, as of August 1st, Jordan's company so graciously, won't fire him, but will place him on un-paid leave. Now isn't that nice of them? Do they forget how expensive it is to get flying hours without being paid to fly? I'm sure they still think they are doing us a big favor. I guess it could be worse though. August 1st Jordan is automatically de-qualified to fly the plane he has flown for more than 1,000 hours. The vast majority of his flying experience is in the airlines flying a jet with passengers on it. August 1st comes along, he is now not good enough because he is a couple hundred hours short of 1,500. This means that some other muck who has been flying around single engine prop planes around an airport and has no airline experience, no experience with passengers, no experience with multiple jet engines is more qualified to fly the plan Jordan knows like the back of his hand. Tell me how much that makes sense!

There are so many other factors playing into this situation right now that most days I just don't think about it negatively. In my head I just figure that the FAA will of course grant extensions to certain pilots who are so close to meeting the 1,500 hour rule. How could they not? It would be stupid for them to not do that. But the FAA is the government, and we all know that the government doesn't always do things that make sense. So now we just pray that things work out in our favor because Jordan has sacrificed so much for our family and has put so much hard work into this career that he truly loves. Oh yeah, and did I mention that we have a baby coming just before this deadline making things even that much more stressful? I'm just going to stay blissfully unaware of all the negative things that could (and probably will) happen, and pray for the small chance that things will work in our favor. Because, you can't dwell on the negative things, it will drive you crazy. Worrying is like a rocking chair, it'll keep you busy, but it won't get you anywhere.