Last year we saw the worst condition of the aviation industry for some time following the impact of Covid-19. Thousands of flight crew were left grounded and many faced redundancy which sadly for some wasn’t their first downturn of this very cyclical industry that they will have been challenged with.
On the 8th of March 1991 Chris Barton found himself in a position that is unfortunately all-too-familiar for many of today’s pilots; jobless. We spoke to Chris recently and he told his story of the years between losing his job on the 757 for Air Europe and the start of his career with Virgin Atlantic.
With everything from flying a business jet with an infamous English gangster on-board, to nearly killing himself in a beagle basset it’s an interesting read – we hope you enjoy.
Finding my way back to flying following the collapse of Air Europe
by Chris Barton – Virgin Atlantic A350/A330 Captain
Standing eating a bowl of cereal, watching breakfast TV in London, was how I got the news Air Europe had gone bust. Feb 91 had seen the end of Gulf War 1 and in March the collapse of the first non-state, pan European airline. My logbook said I had almost 1700hrs total time, but only 110 on the 757. The skipper I’d flown biz jets with for 3 years had warned me, “Don’t do it, they owe a lot of money and B.A are out to kill them”. But you’ve got to move on right?
Following the collapse the pilots set up in the job centre at LGW. Air Europe had a fleet which was broken down into F100s, B737-300s and the 75. The rumours were that the F100 would be out of work for a year. They were the first hired by an internal French airline. There was no Internet back then folks, so job seekers went to Flight Magazine, and banged out nice letters and CV to every airline they could think of.
Air 2000 gave me an interview in the second week and turned me down the third, hours was the issue. To their credit they interviewed right across the experience spectrum. As the weeks rolled by, I realised I might not fly for a while. My fiancé held the mortgage up with her ad agency job, but the pips were squeaking. My old job on a Bermudan registered Lear was filled, but they could use me for sickness and holiday. Still nothing.
Staring at my last paper strip roster pinned to the kitchen wall and hearing the fluting whistle made by the B.A 75’s overhead as the first stage of slats went out, base leg for LHR, made me feel bereft. I did some part time air taxi on a Beagle Bassett (G-HRHI), that Prince Charles had flown, and nearly killed myself taking off out of Cumbernauld with the park brake partially applied!
As I wafted back down south with my heart rate returning to normal, I prayed to higher power for a 2 crew job.
Probably my lowest point came as I was summoned to a South London dole office, to discuss ‘alternative employment options’. On a form, in a box labelled ‘Other work considered’, I put “Astronaut”. I got a b****cking and was asked to explain myself.
June came along and I started to pick up some ad-hoc biz jet work. C550 stuff with a cowboy outfit cleaning out the owner of a Citation 2, and my first lesson with a bandit Captain. So single crew orientated was he that he fired up the starboard engine, while I was half way through my walk around! His fruit basket of surprises also included pushing the thrust levers up in rain during the descent (with me as Pilot Flying!), as he explained in broad Norfolk farmer, “Yo gotta keep the ITTs up boy!” Contrast this with the legendary L35 TRE, the late, great Ian Cooper. I’d piled into Exeter one night from Tenerife, with approach radar shortening the track miles just for fun. Horribly high, ‘Coops’ never interfered, never said a peep outside the SOPs. As we taxied in to the terminal with the infamous John Palmer in the back (Look up Brinks Mat Robbery), Coops raised a Scottish eyebrow and smiled, “I was wondering if you’d get away with that laddie”. What a lovely chap.
Finally, the Phone rang in April 92. Phil Rose at the Air Europe job centre was offering contract work with Park Aviation. They wanted crew to fly ex Air Europe 75’s for Transavia based in AMS. A year of work beckoned! Pre EASA, I needed to sit Dutch Air Law, jump into a Dutch swimming pool with 30 Dutch cabin crew and have a Dutch prostate examination for good measure. The contract guys who came from the UK were all ex Air Europe refugees. The rest, Australians fleeing the Ansett implosion, and some ex Eastern Airlines ‘good ole boys’ from North Carolina.
Transavia is a subsidiary of KLM and was the most professionally run flight department I’ve ever experienced, right down to a one to one met briefing from a KLM forecaster with hand annotated met charts! The Dutch are super-hot on F/O CRM after the Tenerife 747 disaster, and so, if you had something to say, nothing was dismissed. 3 of us Brits established a ‘British Embassy’ a stones throw from the airport and much jolly BBQ/Amstel fun was had. There was more 75 flying knitted on the end of Holland, with work in Newcastle (Ambassador) and Bogota (Avianca), then finally after pestering Virgin, the start of my Airbus years.
What’s the moral of all this? I guess, never lose hope. Things will get better. The airline industry is cyclical, you will get hired - eventually.
In the meantime, try to stay in aviation, my buddy at Virgin hoovered out planes at Gatwick while looking for work. I did office work for a medivac start up at LHR, before flying for them. Don’t be afraid of going abroad, even if the re-location scares you, it will probably be some of the best flying you’ll ever do, and you’ll meet some amazing people.
‘Crash n burn’
(As a young guy called Bear Lemley once said in a flying school far far away. He caught fire flight testing a Malibu, new out of Piper at Vero Beach, FL, and ditch in the intercostal waterway, only to be picked up by a boat with a party in full swing on-board. So it does mean good luck!)
