Expert: D. Norkus - 12/10/2010

Question
I have seen john travolta in a pilots uniform and I have a query. when a commercial pilot is promoted, I take it that it is the company that gives the promotion and if the pilot goes to another company does he retain that rank?

Answer
Yes, it is the airline or company that gives the pilot the rank of captain. This rank is usually attained by years of service. When a pilot reaches about 50% on the pilot roster, they can upgrade to captain (figuring a staffing of 50% captains and 50% first officers). If the pilot quits or leaves rank does not transfer. They start over again at the bottom with their next airline and must work their way up again- unless that company offers the pilot a position of "street" or "direct entry" captain. They then hold this position out of seniority order ahead of pilots on the roster who have a longer tenure. Street captains are perpetually on the bottom of the captain list for schedule and equipment selection because as the pilots with tenure upgrade, they go ahead of the street captains due to their seniority with the company. This happens until everyone bypassed gets an upgrade. There are some carriers in the world where captain positions are given not by seniority/tenue but by managements selection. This is much less common.

Travolta is a special case. He is "captain" of his private jets and as a Qantas goodwill ambassador (movie star publicity) is given an honorary captain status complete with uniform by the airline. He has done some 747-400 training with the airline (covered in the media) but does not hold any flight status with Qantas.

Regards,
Dottie