A No-Technical View of a Technical Profession

In a flight from DOH (Doha) to SFO (San Francisco). We takeoff, and fly over high terrain. For this route, we need to receive two Oceanic Clearances, one of them is Gander that we need to call Gander 15 minutes before (if I am not mistaken). We consider ETOPS, NAT rules, diversions, and overflying the North Pole (where we don't have VHF or Satellite coverage, only HF). We need to consider low fuel temperatures, and the Magnetic fields that incapacitates our Magnetic Compass, only the True heading compass works. These are a couple of the technical things that we need to think on 15-hour-flight to San Francisco.

Throughout the three years that I flew the Airbus A350, I flew ten times to SFO (20 sectors total). Carrying around 4,831 passengers - Could you imagine all the places we flew over? All the not-so-technical things behind the cockpit?

Leaving Qatar, flying over the Persians, Russia, the Polar Bears in the North Pole, icy Canada, getting to the West coast of the United States - I can’t even picture the amount of cultures and different traditions we could’ve met on the way.? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

What are the dreams we are carrying onboard? How many people are we reuniting with their loved ones? How many people are to have their lives changed? Have you ever thought how many different stories we could hear from all these people? The reasons behind their traveling, dreams, and goals. Moving to a new place? Visiting an old friend or a relative that cannot travel? Certainly they could be looking for new opportunities in life, or traveling for work. It could also be just for leisure - we will never know.

It is easy to get used to our routine as pilots. Focusing on the fuel, aircraft preparation, technical conditions, weather and so on. But we also need to keep in mind that all these people that we carry daily can show us how important our profession really is.

Certainly we don't know, but I am sure that we have changed many people's lives while we were just avoiding some clouds on the way to our destination.