Ian Frow's excellent obituary on Tommy Farnsworth brought to mind other long gone but equally admired and remembered 'Chief Pilots'. The attachment is from an ex Pan American pilot who similarly remembers when Chief pilots were men to be admired and when airlines were better then they are now are. Although some of the content of the item may not be relevant to BALPA members they can be assured they soon will be. When I first joined the 'real' airlines in 1973, we all knew the fellow with the job title of "Chief Pilot". He was not twenty or thirty years old, but more like fifty, maybe near retirement age. His office was full of aviation memorabilia, photos of the airplanes he had flown with the company - and that meant all of them - in every venue, in every bit of lousy weather from typhoons to the ice and snow of many winters, from props to jets. He had walked the walk over and again, so when he said something about what we did or how we ought to do it, his word carried the weight of not only authority but true line experience. He knew all the fundamentals, because his flight bag carried the scars of 20 years or more of flightdeck life. The stripes on his sleeve were even worn and fading, as the wearing away from thousands of hours doing the real job took the sheen off new gear. In a way, this was a badge of honour.
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