Legendary Captain

Chapter 308 The Strictest Smoking Ban

Xu Xian's application for the left-hand seat test on the official simulator went very smoothly. When Xu Xian was almost ready to complete the test, Fei Biao called him over for the lesson.

Before entering the captain transition process, a group of first officers who are about to be promoted to captain are usually organized for a collective training session. If the number of people is small at the beginning, those ahead of them will have to wait until there are enough people before the course begins.

The requirement of having enough participants varies depending on the company. Some companies require five participants to start a course, while others require ten. Recently, Xingyou Airlines has had no shortage of captains, so they've deliberately slowed down the process at every stage of the captain promotion process. Previously, the rule was that five participants were enough to start a course, but in the last six months, this has inexplicably increased to a minimum of ten participants, undoubtedly lengthening the waiting list at this stage.

This is just one example of the process of becoming a captain. The speed at which a pilot can become a captain is partly influenced by their own abilities and partly by changes in the demand for captains from airlines.

Recently, Star Cruises has not had a significant shortage of captains, so the process of becoming a captain now generally takes about 30% longer than it did a few years ago. This is even considering that Star Cruises has experienced a second phase of development in the last year or two, and the company has slightly relaxed its captain selection criteria. Back then, four or five years ago, the company was extremely competitive, and only two or three captains were promoted each year. While things aren't exactly great now either, they are still slightly better than before.

However, this is just the treatment given to ordinary people, and it has nothing to do with Xu Xian.

For ordinary pilots, Star Travel Airlines tries every means to slow down their promotion process, but for Xu Xian, it's like waiting for the stars and the moon to appear before him as a captain.

In the Flight Mark office, there is a dedicated staff member in charge of Xu Xian's promotion. Every Friday, she checks Xu Xian's landing count and experience time. As long as she finds that Xu Xian's landing count and experience time are sufficient for promotion, she will proactively contact Xu Xian to discuss the promotion.

Xu Xian was clearly qualified to become a Level 6 co-pilot, but he didn't know it until the flight crew contacted him.

Compared to Xu Xian himself, Xingyou Airlines seemed more concerned about Xu Xian's promotion. After all, if Xu Xian remained a co-pilot, the publicity effect would be somewhat lacking; once he became a captain, he would be able to handle things independently. However, they were unaware that Xu Xian had already planned to leave once his captain promotion was completed and properly executed.

Other pilots have to wait until the quota of ten people is filled before classes can start, but it's different for Xu Xian.

When Xu Xian was just thirty hours away from meeting the minimum requirements for captain promotion, Flight Standard reported this information to Lu Xinyu, the general manager of the flight department. Lu Xinyu's principle at the time was to cooperate with Xu Xian's promotion in every way.

So, even though there were no other qualified co-pilots at that time, the class schedule was arranged in the second week after Xu Xian had enough time, and as a result, only Xu Xian attended the class.

In other words, the flight department specially arranged a course for Xu Xian alone.

Furthermore, after Xu Xian's course concluded and a full rest period followed, the fleet recommendation inspection schedule was finalized. This fleet recommendation inspection involves a flight path check conducted by at least one inspector at the company's inspector level or higher. Only after passing this inspection can the airline's left-seat simulator inspection by the regulatory authority be scheduled.

For a regular co-pilot, it would take at least six months from the time they asked Fei Biao if they could start training until the Bureau conducted a left-side simulator check. Xu Xian, however, only took two weeks.

This isn't even the worst of it.

Generally speaking, the transfer process is carried out step by step, meaning that the next step will only be arranged after one check has been completed.

Just like after the fleet recommends the check and releases the aircraft, the pilot must pass the check before the aircraft standard will apply for the left-seat simulator check from the authorities. It won't be arranged for both at the same time.

One crucial reason is that if a previous check fails, subsequent checks become meaningless, forcing changes. Therefore, for anyone, it's a matter of taking things one step at a time; there's no room for overstepping boundaries.

But Xu Xian was different. The day before the fleet recommended inspection, the Civil Aviation Administration's left-seat simulator inspection was scheduled. Then, he took on left-seat training flights and accumulated left-seat time. Xu Xian had a whole plan for a month and a half. After the left-seat time was accumulated, the captain's inspection was also scheduled.

Xu Xian specifically checked the time of the captain's inspection, which was the 21st of that month, just before the monthly technical committee meeting.

Even if all the procedures for becoming a captain are completed and all checks are passed, the application still needs to be submitted to the technical committee for discussion. There have been many cases where pilots who had gone through the previous procedures smoothly and completed the checks well were stuck at the technical committee for a long time.

The preceding procedures and checks demonstrate that the pilot's technical skills meet the standards, but the final technical committee discussion involves some unrelated issues. Some senior instructors on the technical committee might feel that the pilot is too rough around the edges and cannot be released as captain yet, requiring more time to hone their skills. In such cases, it's not impossible for the technical committee to reject the pilot's captain appointment application on this basis.

The company's arrangement clearly indicates that once Xu Xian's final captain selection is approved, the results will be submitted directly to the monthly technical committee meeting for discussion, ensuring a decision within the same month. Otherwise, if the deadline is missed, another month will have to pass.

When other pilots are promoted to captain, they take one step and wait for the next step. Xu Xian, however, had the entire path laid out after taking that first step. Even the timing of the final technical committee meeting was taken into account. It was incredibly meticulous.

At Xingyou Aviation's flight department, the possibility of Xu Xian failing the inspection was completely unacceptable. What typically takes pilots over a year to complete, the flight department aimed to get for Xu Xian done within two months.

The flight department has even contacted the reception department to prepare a grand captain appointment ceremony for Xu Xianneng, and they will invite a large number of people to attend.

Thanks to the company's extreme attentiveness, Xu Xian's procedures were completed quickly. The inspection itself was uneventful; during the left-seat simulator inspection by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), the inspector was a CAAC-appointed representative from Letu Airlines. Normally, other pilots would be extremely obsequious to these representatives. However, on the day of the simulator inspection, the CAAC-appointed representative from Letu Airlines was exceptionally polite to Xu Xian, making Xu Xian feel somewhat embarrassed.

While other pilots' left-seat simulator checks are often a battle of wits and maneuvering between pilots and inspectors, Xu Xian's experience was surprisingly harmonious. After the check, the inspector from Letu Airlines even treated Xu Xian to a meal nearby, and the atmosphere couldn't have been more pleasant.

Once the simulator check for switching to the left seat is passed, the accumulation of left-seat time can begin. According to the flight schedule arranged by the flight department for Xu Xian, it can be completed in a little over a month.

This flight plan is handled directly between FlightBeam and the Planning Department. The Planning Department typically only provides flight schedules for the next week; they have never created a plan for an individual for the entire next month.

Finally, the head of the planning office personally arranged a month and a half of instructor training for Xu Xiansheng. After obtaining Qin Zongyang's consent, Qin Zongyang was assigned as the other person in each of these classes, so that he could accumulate teaching time as quickly as possible.

The so-called "accumulating left-seat time" refers to the process of a pilot switching from the right-seat co-pilot to the left-seat captain. This seat change involves significant changes in procedures and pilot feel. Therefore, even after passing the simulator test for switching to the left seat and the regulatory authority can issue you an airline transport license, recognizing your captain qualifications, the company still requires pilots to fly in the left seat for a period under the guidance of an instructor to adapt to the rhythm of a left-seat pilot.

This initial long-position phase of the aircraft is the phase of accumulating left-seat time.

At this stage, it is usually the master who teaches the apprentice. Otherwise, it is quite tiring and uncomfortable for the instructor to teach the apprentice, unless the master is willing to do so.

Now, Qin Zongyang is about to take office as the Vice President of Operations at Xingyou Aviation. He will take advantage of the time during the announcement period to train Xu Xian in flying. After he officially takes office, he will basically stop flying. Moreover, Qin Zongyang's time is almost up, and he does not plan to rehire him. Once the appointment of the Vice President of Operations is finalized, he will completely retire from the flying industry and focus all his energy on ground work.

The time spent flying with Xu Xian in the left seat was the last thing Qin Zongyang cared about in his flying career. With that attachment gone, he could finally put down his flying career.

In the Star Travel Aviation flight preparation room, Xu Xian arrived for the breathalyzer test right on time, just as usual. Getting up early is always a huge problem for Xu Xian.

With sleepy eyes, Xu Xian skillfully fetched a kettle of hot water before collecting the flight information. After several years of experience, Xu Xian had become quite the seasoned veteran, handling things methodically.

Of course, for a pilot who has already passed the left-hand seat check, he has indeed become a master in the field of flying.

Compared to Xu Xian's difficulty getting up, Qin Zongyang always arrives early. After all, he's getting old and can't fall asleep when it's time, and he has nothing to do if he doesn't get up.

When Xu Xian brought the documents over, Qin Zongyang had already finished and was happily holding his phone.

"What are you looking at? What's so interesting?" Xu Xian yawned, pulled up a stool, and sat opposite Qin Zongyang, his eyes half-closed, looking like he hadn't woken up properly.

Qin Zongyang grinned from ear to ear, turning his phone screen towards Xu Xian: "The day before yesterday, Lao He was seen smoking in the cockpit by passengers on the jet bridge, and he got reported! Hahahaha!"

Xu Xian's eyes were very sore, and he could only see things blurry. It took him a while to figure out what was going on.

Qin Zongyang showed Xu Xian a screenshot of a group chat. Just by looking at the people speaking in the screenshot, Xu Xian knew that the group was probably a leadership group.

In the group chat, Lu Xinyu reported that two days ago, instructor He Changyuan was smoking in the cockpit. As a result, the curtain was not drawn, and a passenger saw He Changyuan smoking through the glass curtain wall on the jet bridge. The passenger immediately called to report it to the Southwest Regional Administration. He Changyuan is still suspended from flying.

"Teacher He is something else. He swaggered around smoking when guests arrived. Doesn't he know what death means?" Xu Xian stretched and smacked his lips a few times. He just watched the whole thing for fun and didn't have any particular feelings about it.

"Hehe, now Old He should know how to spell 'death'." Qin Zongyang was like a child at heart; seeing his old friend in trouble, his first reaction was schadenfreude: "Getting old, his brain isn't working as well anymore. Smoking while picking up passengers, why didn't he just smoke right in their faces on the covered walkway? Hahaha!"

"Is it a big deal?" Xu Xian asked casually.

"It doesn't matter whether it's a big deal or not. Old He's time is up. No matter how this is handled, he's going to retire. He doesn't care much anymore." Qin Zongyang smiled as he put away his phone. "He called me yesterday and said that once he retires, he'll smoke ten cigarettes a day and won't have to sneak around anymore."

It is common knowledge that smoking is prohibited on civil aviation, but in practice, pilots sometimes choose to have a cigarette before takeoff and landing to stay alert.

Especially during early morning or late night shifts.

Passengers don't need to worry about anything; they can sleep as soon as they board the plane. But pilots can't. At least during the critical takeoff and landing phases, let alone sleeping, even a slight lapse in concentration can easily lead to problems. Therefore, staying alert during these critical phases is a very important task.

Some pilots will wipe their faces with a hot towel to wake themselves up before landing on a night flight, but this is not very effective. It is only helpful for the moment of wiping the face, and they will start to doze off again after a few minutes.

Some pilots use coffee to stay alert, but caffeine in coffee can be addictive, which some pilots dislike. Furthermore, coffee isn't widely accepted in China, and some people simply don't like the taste. Most importantly, caffeine is a diuretic; drinking even a little too much can cause uncontrollable urination.

It's fine during cruising, and you don't have to hold it in. But what if it's a critical phase? You can't keep running to the toilet, can you? What if the captain can't hold his pee anymore and has to run to the toilet when you're at the fifth approach?

In principle, pilots are not allowed to go to the toilet during critical phases. However, holding in urine when needed can cause health problems, which can be quite embarrassing.

Therefore, many pilots don't like to use coffee to stay alert. In this case, some pilots choose to take a puff of a cigarette before takeoff and landing, and the effect is excellent.

However, smoking on flights is a violation, so it can't be done openly. Therefore, most pilots who want to smoke do so while on the ground, before passengers board, so that the flight hasn't started and smoking won't cause any problems.

However, this time Instructor He Changyuan was truly audacious. Not only did he smoke while boarding passengers, but he also didn't draw the side curtains, as if he wanted to announce to the world that he was smoking in the cockpit.

Xu Xian thought that Instructor He Changyuan usually seemed quite normal, so why did he always do some stupid things when he was doing things?

"Did you attend yesterday's security meeting?" Qin Zongyang asked with a smile.

The rumored Flyers' Union actually came to fruition, and since its formation, there have been no more pilot strikes. However, this organization specifically reports airlines' violations to the authorities, which is a legitimate way to protect its own rights, but it has become a major nuisance for the airlines. In the end, the airlines couldn't withstand the constant reports and had to compromise.

Therefore, in the past six months, apart from the monthly safety meeting and important ad-hoc meetings, we have stopped holding many other study sessions, which has been quite effective.

Xu Xian curled his lip: "I had emergency training yesterday, how could I go anywhere else? What's wrong with the safety meeting?"

"The incident involving Lao He the day before yesterday was emphasized at yesterday's safety meeting. From now on, the Safety Supervision Commission will conduct random checks on flights, and if they find cigarette butts or ash, the flight will be grounded immediately. It's very strict." Qin Zongyang rolled his eyes: "Do you think if smoking were completely banned, those old smokers would be half-dead?"

"Aren't you a heavy smoker yourself? What's there to be so happy about?" Xu Xian said irritably. Although Qin Zongyang's smoking habit wasn't to the point of being unable to live without smoking, it was definitely not small. With this strict smoking ban, wouldn't Qin Zongyang also be in trouble? Xu Xian didn't know what he had to be so proud of.

At this moment, a glint of "wisdom" flashed in Qin Zongyang's eyes: "Hehe, I've seen the plan. Our takeoff time is either early in the morning or during mealtimes. Are those safety inspectors superhuman? Don't they sleep or eat? How could they possibly find us? We're perfectly safe."

Clearly, Qin Zongyang, this seasoned veteran, had a thorough understanding of the work habits of safety supervisors and didn't take the so-called safety inspections seriously, as if everything was under his control.

Xu Xian laughed and said, "You'd better be careful. You're currently in the public announcement period for the position of Vice President of Operations. If you get caught by the safety supervision department, you'll lose your position as Vice President of Operations."

(End of this chapter)