The Diary Of An Airline Captain

How Do Airline Pilots Train For The Unexpected In 2025?

When disaster strikes at 38,000 feet, split-second decisions save lives. Behind every pilot during an emergency lies hundreds of hours of rigorous training. How do airlines prepare flight crews to handle the unexpected? The answer reveals an intense world few passengers ever witness.

The Diary Of An Airline Captain May 7, 2025

How to Become an Airline Pilot in 2025

Becoming an airline pilot is a great and rewarding career, but how do you get there? What are the best pilot training schools and routes in?

The Diary Of An Airline Captain January 29, 2025

The 30-Minute Airline Turnaround: How It Works

Behind the scenes: How airline pilots, cabin crew, and ground teams work in harmony to turnaround an airliner in 30 minutes keeping low-cost carriers flying on time.

The Diary Of An Airline Captain January 15, 2025

Back Into The Deep End

Just like with most jobs, pilots can sometimes end up taking substantial periods of time away from work for a variety of reasons. But what happens when they return to

Pilot Bible December 4, 2024

Gibraltar Diversion

Gibraltar is a notoriously windy and challenging airport for pilots, and can become extremely dangerous due to the unpredictable and unstable winds….

The Diary Of An Airline Captain November 6, 2024

What are ATC ‘Slots’ & ‘Ready Messages’?

It’s a word nobody likes to hear just after boarding an aircraft….But what are ‘slots’? And why are passengers often made to spend multiple hours sat on a stationary plane waiting for them?

The Diary Of An Airline Captain October 9, 2024

Diversion Averted

Airline pilots have to make critical decisions under pressure and today was no different. Here’s an insight into the process behind one…

The Diary Of An Airline Captain September 11, 2024

First Ever Landing

The first time landing an airliner with 200 passenger on board can be a daunting experience, here’s my story of how it went….

The Diary Of An Airline Captain September 4, 2024

3 Hardest Parts of being an Airline Captain (that they don’t teach you on the command course!)

What are the 3 hardest parts of being an airline captain that they won’t teach you in flight school? This airline captain reveals all….

The Diary Of An Airline Captain July 31, 2024

Airport Closure & Failure Management

A day filled with decisions, delays and expectation management. Another insight into what the daily life of an airline captain really consists of…

The Diary Of An Airline Captain July 3, 2024

The Danger of Long Duty Days

It’s a Sunday morning and I’m jolted awake by the piercing sound of my phone ringing at 5am for what is going to be (unbeknown to me at this point) a whopping 16+ hour duty day…

The Diary Of An Airline Captain June 5, 2024

Pan Pan! First Medical Divert

It’s 7pm and dark outside. We’re sat at 38000ft in the cruise over Croatia on the way back to London. Today we’ve already flown from London to Egypt and we’re

The Diary Of An Airline Captain May 22, 2024

Airline Captains Most Challenging Day (Part 3 of 3)

This was a day that pushed my skills and capacity as both a Commander and a human being to the limit. It consisted of 3 main events, the 3rd of which is detailed here – Flight Planning Laws, Discretion Limits & Passenger Management!

The Diary Of An Airline Captain April 10, 2024

Airline Pilot Mental Health – Impact of the Job Role

The role of a modern day airline pilot has evolved into a recipe for a mental health disaster, the consequences of which could be catastrophic

Pilot Bible March 4, 2024

Airline Captains Most Challenging Day (Part 2 of 3)

This was a day that pushed my skills and capacity as both a Commander and a human being to the limit. It consisted of 3 main events, each of which I’ll dissect across 3 articles.

The Diary Of An Airline Captain February 28, 2024

Airline Captains Most Challenging Day Part 1 of 3

This was a day that pushed my skills and capacity as both a Commander and a human being to the limit. It consisted of 3 main events, each of which I’ll dissect over the next few articles.

The Diary Of An Airline Captain January 23, 2024

Managing The Grey: Birds

Refusing a takeoff clearance due to birds on the runway is something I’ve never seen anyone do in my 10 year career, but as our thrust was rising to 50%, I made a command call.

The Diary Of An Airline Captain November 13, 2023

3 Health Hacks for Airline Pilots

Physical and mental health is of upmost importance for airline pilots. Here’s a few tips and tricks I’ve found helpful…

The Diary Of An Airline Captain November 12, 2023

Hazardous Pilot Attitudes Story – Amsterdam Diversion

There area 5 hazardous pilot attitudes and this story is an example of diverting because of them!

The Diary Of An Airline Captain September 26, 2023

Athens Adventure: Navigating Thunderstorms, Runway Closures, and High-Pressure Diversion Decisions

Dodging thunderstorms and managing a divert situation at 1am. this was an evening that really tested my pilot capacity….

The Diary Of An Airline Captain September 5, 2023

How to become an Airline Pilot in 2023

Becoming an airline pilot is a great and rewarding career, but how do you get there? What are the best pilot training schools and routes in?

The Diary Of An Airline Captain August 26, 2023

3 Hardest parts of being a new First Officer you won’t hear about in flight school!

When I reflect back on my first few years as a First Officer, they were times filled with a mixture of excitement, joy, frustration, stress and sometimes total bewilderment. Although

The Diary Of An Airline Captain August 12, 2023

4 Claims to make if flight delayed or cancelled EU/UK

Flight Delayed or Cancelled? Our Airline Captains tells you exactly what compensation you should be seeking from your airline

The Diary Of An Airline Captain July 28, 2023

Corfu Airport Full – Diversion & Back

Despite LGKR on the Greek Island of Corfu being a small, singe runway airport with one tiny apron, having to enter the hold on approach there is ‘extremely rare’ according

The Diary Of An Airline Captain July 8, 2023

What do airline pilots do during long flights?

Until I became a pilot, I also had no idea what went on behind that locked cockpit door during long flights. I’m about to spill the beans! It’s easiest to

The Diary Of An Airline Captain June 22, 2023

How long do airline pilots spend in each location?

This is totally dependant on which airline you work for, and whether you operate long or short haul flights. As a rule of thumb, long hauler airline pilots will spend

The Diary Of An Airline Captain June 21, 2023

Can Airliners Really Land Themselves?

In short – Yes, they can! However, in reality, your plane will only be landing itself around 1-5% of the time. In the industry we call these “Auto-lands” When do

The Diary Of An Airline Captain June 17, 2023

Unsustainable Instability!

June/23 3 days were planned; 1 night flight followed by 2 standbys, before the following unravelled; Day 1: Rostered an evening flight to Spain & back, so had to be

The Diary Of An Airline Captain June 7, 2023

What’s it actually like being an Airline Captain?

Hopefully this doesn’t come across as blowing smoke up my own ass when I say that becoming an Airline Captain is a great achievement for any individual. It’s a path

The Diary Of An Airline Captain May 31, 2023

Do Airline Pilots Fly Tired?

Tired Airline Pilots are dangerous, that’s a fact. Read our Captains Diary to find out how and why pilots can end up flying whilst tired!

The Diary Of An Airline Captain October 3, 2022