Reincarnation

Today, we hear from our old (emphasis on the OLD) mate, Jeremy Burfoot. As one of John’s pals he has written a number of times for us and we welcome his latest contribution.

It’s all very well training for an airline role as a First Officer when you’re in your twenties and working your way up the career ladder - but what about when you were once a mighty A380 Captain but are now starting at the bottom once again? Jeremy tells us what it’s like.

Silver Fox in the making

When Covid hit in 2020, I was happily ensconced as an A380 Captain for Qantas based in Sydney. My last flight, unknowingly, turned out to be a flight from Singapore to Sydney towards the end of March. I didn’t even fly it myself, having given the sector to the First Officer.

Over the next few months Qantas made it obvious that we weren’t required and told us the A380 was never coming back. They said we could stick around but we wouldn’t get paid, and we couldn’t transfer to the B787. As a result, around 280 senior A380 pilots left the airline. I was one of them.

At first, I wasn’t too upset about it and threw myself into golf and a few other things. But after six months, it dawned on me that I wasn’t going to make the Seniors Golf Tour, so I started getting a bit edgy.

That’s when I started writing books. The most successful until recently was the book about my aviation career that a friend convinced me to write, titled ‘Kiwis Can Fly’. People who have read Kiwis Can Fly always comment on my obvious dislike for the ex-Qantas CEO Alan Joyce. He still remains the only person on this earth that I can’t forgive. But enough about him.

The only time I heard John laughing uncontrollably whilst reading, was when he read this book!

Over the following 3 years, I wrote 7 books to add to my original one from 2006. ‘The Secret Life of Flying’ was published by Pan MacMillan in June 2024, so I guess I can lay some sort of dubious claim to being a writer, which goes some way towards making me feel like the last four years wasn’t completely wasted.

But writing wasn’t enough either and I started applying for any and all jobs in aviation so that I could get back in the game. Sadly, this was a soul-destroying process because ageism is alive and well in the aviation industry. I must have applied for over 100 jobs from pilot to safety specialist to navigation specialist. I think I got two interviews, from memory. The rest just sent standard form responses saying that better people were available. This was obviously bs. It was my age that was the problem. The world has gone mad. No one values experience anymore. Its all about diversity and quotas and paying as little as possible to get the job done. An example? Of course. One job was for a navigation services officer where they said that ideally the successful applicant would either be an ex-flight navigator or a long-term commercial pilot. I was both. I got the standard form rejection.

The one job, I did get was refuelling jets at Auckland Airport. This was interesting for about 3 months and then started to get depressing as I watched everyone go flying. I think I stuck that job out for about 8 months which was a bit long as now when I think about it my right cheek twitches.

One day I was sourcing something on the dark web, and I saw an ad for Air New Zealand pilots pop up, so I applied as a joke, expecting some sort of link to a porn site to appear at any moment or perhaps a virus to infect my computer. It was actually legit, and I got through the initial online tests. I waited about 6 months for some more tests, then some more time passed, and I stopped thinking about it while I continued to write. But then in early February 2024 I had a call from Air New Zealand asking me if I’d be able to attend two days of interviews and testing. The lady offered me a selection board in a couple of months but then added that there was a slot available in a few days. I took the first slot. I’m not getting any younger you know.

For the days leading up to the interviews I tossed up as to whether I could be bothered turning up and putting myself through the process just so they could tell me I was too old. In the end, I decided to go along as you can’t winge about missing out, if you don’t have a go.

I attended the interviews, and the following Monday was informed I had a job. Hallelujah. But that was the easy part because CAA was determined to make it as hard as possible for me to get a New Zealand licence. Despite their best efforts, I finally achieved that. The story behind that is being saved for a book.

Oh yeah! Back in the business - finally!

And so it was that on 10th October 2024 and aged 65, I started my A320 course with Air New Zealand. This was a bit of a shock to the system as I hadn’t flown for four and a half years. It was definitely head down and bum up stuff. The first few simulators were interesting. I’m right-handed and my left hand is pretty useless. Sitting in the right-hand seat instead of the left and having to enter things in the MCDU with my left hand was about as awkward as a cow trying to climb a ladder and it must have looked similar to observers.

I started to wonder if there was something to this aging process everyone talks about. Maybe there’s a reason we have to retire at 65, I thought. Maybe I’ve become a SOC! But slowly and surely everything came back and I could see that the real reason for my struggle was the 4.5 years off. Now, I’m as good as new, maybe even better than before, like fine wine.

The A320 operation domestically up and down the country and across the Tasman to Australia is different to what I was used to as an A380 Captain. For a start, the 320 operation is busier and more intense and subject to generally worse weather than I normally saw on the 380. The saving grace is that on the 320, I’m much more current and do more landings in a month than I would have done in 18 months on the 380.

Back in the day - London walk around pre take-off

The differences in the cockpit aren’t that noticeable as it’s mostly Airbus common procedures, but the 380 was a big beast that almost made its own weather whereas the 320 is a flighty little rocket ship that is extremely susceptible to the weather.  I still can’t quite get used to taking off with 5 tonnes of fuel which would be less than 30 minutes fixed reserve on the 380.

But I can say I’m loving being back in the game. I’m loving both the flying and the people. And as for ‘Kiwis Can Fly’. That’s going to need a part two, of course, but it will have to wait until I’ve retired on my own terms lest Air New Zealand not like what I write and invite me to seek a third career somewhere else. And TBH, I don’t think I have another one in me.