Etihad Airways pilot Mark Brierley on how a typical day is for him

Gulf News

British pilot Mark Brierley has accumulated over 11,000 flying hours in his 10 years of experience as captain for Etihad Airways. He says his day could stretch into a long one or end quicker, depending whether he is on an ultra-long-range flight or a short one.  Read the full story here: https://gulfnews.com/uae/a-day-in-the-life-of-etihad-pilot-mark-brierley-1.91041036  See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km  Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV  #UAEnews #pilot #etihad

Transcript

00:00Hi, my name is Mark Briley and I'm a captain at Etihad Airways. I'm on the Boeing 777

00:17and 787 fleet and I've been here for nine and a half years, so it really has become

00:21my second home. I've been flying since I was 25 years old. I've accumulated about

00:2612,000 hours, all on the Boeing. I've never flown any Airbus aircraft, so I started off

00:32on the small ones, 737, 757, 767, and it's a real pleasure to fly the 777 here at Etihad.

00:39I was encouraged. My grandfather, he was in the Royal Air Force, so he used to take me

00:43around when I was young to museums and air shows, but I never really considered it as

00:47a career. In fact, I went to university, I did architecture. Funnily enough, when I came

00:52home from my first year at university, I needed a job and I needed to earn some money.

00:57My parents had moved house a bit close to the local airport at home, so I ended up working

01:02at the airport. In the airport, I did some baggage loading, I did some check-in, I did

01:07some dispatching, and I kind of rose up through the ranks, became supervisor at the local

01:13airport. Then I kind of got the bug, got the passion, and just from there on, there was

01:18nothing else but flying for me. There's been some real unique experiences. One of them

01:22was getting my captain's award. Obviously, it's quite a difficult position to get in

01:29and it requires a lot of training, a lot of, I'd say, dedication. Etihad, they've got some

01:37really good facilities and really good trainers. They really help you lift up and meet those

01:41challenges and those standards. A couple of standout flights, we used to fly to Los Angeles.

01:45The shortest route, funnily enough, for that was over the North Pole. So I actually flew

01:49over the North Pole a couple of times en route to Los Angeles, which is quite different.

01:54No two days are the same. Every day is different. Different start time, different finish time.

01:59But I usually start the morning with a coffee, that's the first thing, and then checking

02:05WhatsApps and any changes to the planned day ahead. We have a reporting centre where all

02:10the crew come before a flight and that's when we check in. First thing we do is drop

02:15our luggage off for our flight ahead, the flight plans and paperwork that we need, and

02:20then we go to the crew briefing rooms, individual briefing rooms for each flight, where we meet

02:25the rest of our crew and discuss the day ahead and any challenges that we may face. Typically,

02:31it's one and a half hours, but if we're going a bit further afield, say Australia or the

02:36US, what we call ultra-long flights, then we come about an hour and 45 minutes before

02:40the flight. Etihad, we have a unique facility here in Abu Dhabi, we have the US pre-clearance,

02:46so we can enter technically the US before we even take off from the UAE. It's a great

02:52facility, it means when we arrive in the US, it's a really swift exit from the airport.

02:58So it's nice to get that out of the way and not have to be delayed at the other end. It's

03:02great to see Etihad really pushing the sustainability side of aviation. I think a lot of people

03:08are put off by the environmental impact that they create themselves, so Etihad can offset

03:15a lot of that worries and fears that people have about flying. And it's the future, we're

03:22all here, we're all in this world together, so whatever we can do, it's great to see a

03:27real corporate effort to push that side of things. Aviation's a fantastic career, I recommend

03:32it to anyone. It's a long journey, it takes a while to get from day one to sitting in

03:40a commercial airliner, but it's very rewarding, it has its challenges. I recommend it to anyone.

03:47Don't give up and don't think it's not possible for you, it's possible for everyone. If I

03:52can do it, anyone can do it. It is quite a responsibility, but it's also a privilege

03:57as well, to do something that I enjoy doing and to be able to facilitate for people a

04:03holiday or maybe a business trip or maybe to go and see a loved one. To be able to do

04:09that and provide that service for them as well, it's quite satisfying at the end of

04:15the day. It doesn't matter how long a trip is, whether it's a few days or a week, it's

04:19always great to come home to Abbott Abbey to see the iconic sights flying in here to

04:26Abbott Abbey over the city. It's a good feeling to know that you're home and you'll be welcomed

04:32back by family and friends and I look forward to that every time.

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