SPEAKER_03 0:14

Welcome to the Pan Am Podcast, brought to you by the Pan Am Museum in Garden City, New York. This podcast and our museum are dedicated to celebrating the legacy of the world's most iconic airlock, Pan American World Airways. My name is Tom Betty, and I'm the host of this program. Thank you for joining us. This program is sponsored by the generous support of Mr. Adam Aaron, the CEO of AMC Entertainment Holdings, Incorporated. The Pan Am Museum Foundation is a nonprofit organization. Please visit our website for more information at the Panamuseum.org. Again, our website is the Panamuseum.org. You can find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. If you are using Apple Podcasts, please consider leaving a review. It will help others discover this program. If you're not familiar with Pan Am, welcome. We are honored to have you here, and for you to learn about what we're all about. If you already know of Pan Am, worked for or flown on the airline, or just love our history, it's good to be with you again. So with that, let's get this episode in the air, so to speak. Welcome aboard your Pan American jet clipper. He first started flying professionally in 1999 and flew corporate, cargo, and at two United Regional Carriers, and then joined United Airlines in 2005. He's flown regional jets, 757s, 767s, 787s, and currently, for the last five years, has flown the A320 Airbus as captain. When he is not in the air, his other passion is music. And today, in addition to being a commercial airline pilot, he is a celebrated classical pianist who loves to play the piano wherever he can, either in formal settings or playing in hotel and airport lobbies around the world on layovers. Captain Brandt will be our special musical guest at the Pan Am Museum Foundation's annual gala weekend on Friday, November 11th, and Saturday, November 12th, 2022. For more information on our fundraising gala, visit our website at the Pan Ammuseum.org. On the evening of Friday, November 11th, join us for a special event reception at LaGuardia Airport, Terminal A, hosted by our sister organization, the Pan Am Historical Foundation. This dedication reception commemorates Pan Am's historic operation of the Marine Air Terminal between 1940 and 1948, and also the new Boeing 314 model that was recently installed. The next day, on the evening of Saturday, November 12th, join us in Garden City, New York for this year's Pan Am Museum Annual Gala as we celebrate Pan Am's legacy with the gala theme Flying Down to Rio. Two great events, one special Pan Am weekend. Visit our website, the Pan Am Museum.org for more information and to purchase your tickets. Now on to our interview with Captain Bo Brandt of United Airlines, who will be our special musical guest for this year's Pan Am Museum Foundation's annual fundraising gala. He has recorded numerous albums, and six are available online right now from Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube, Spotify, Rhapsody Radio, and on his Facebook page, which is called Bo Brandt Piano. In the fall of 2020, Captain Brandt released a new album of some of his favorite and popular songs called Four Decades. For more information on Captain Brandt and his music, visit his website, BoBrandMusic.com. There is a link in the episode description. A very special welcome to Captain Brandt to the Pan Am podcast.

SPEAKER_00 5:28

Well, thank you, Tom. It's an honor to uh be here and what an exciting uh series of podcasts. And again, I feel honored to be uh on your show as well.

SPEAKER_03 5:35

Well, we're honored to have you. So you have been interviewed by the New York Times, uh, National Network News, um, Oprah Winfrey likes your music. You're on Apple Music, Amazon Music. How many albums do you have so far?

SPEAKER_00 5:51

So over the years, I've completed seven albums, but six of the seven are online digitally. Uh, one uh was way back in the days when I actually did tapes, and uh that is no longer in existence. I have one left.

SPEAKER_03 6:05

Are you gonna frame it? Are your kids like, what is this, dad?

SPEAKER_00 6:08

You know, I have it in our uh in our safe of just some of those documents just to hold on to, and hopefully, you know, way in the future we'll find a way to play it.

SPEAKER_03 6:16

So you are a celebrated piano player, and you're also a pilot for United Airlines. Tell us a little bit about the dual passions that you have.

SPEAKER_00 6:29

Absolutely. You know, it started when I was um a very young boy. Uh my my my parents had a piano, and I started just coming up to the piano and and playing the keys when I was three years old. Um, I took formal lessons from five to 15, and I just, you know, had that love for music. I noticed from a young age, even though I was taking lessons, that I just uh you know loved to sit down every day and I would I would try to uh just create create pieces of music. I think the very first song, original piece that I uh I did, which I can still play, uh I was about six years old. It was just a very simple melody, but uh, I just you know had the love of uh piano my uh pretty much my entire life and I love keeping up with it today. Um, you know, growing up, how it kind of mixes in with flying. If you want me to go ahead and get into that, yes, please. Um I um, you know, while I was playing the piano, I I had um about seven airline pilot neighbors that were all within, you know, a mile or two of the house that I grew up in. So I had some really great mentors from a young age and was introduced to the airline world probably when I was about five or six, you know, getting to to wear the pilot hat and uh go to the Denver uh United Training Center. Um I was fortunate to go, you know, usually one or two times a year to fly the simulators. So how this, how these kind of go together was as I was growing up, you know, my my dad uh who uh unfortunately is no longer here, we we did unexpectedly lose him uh two years ago now. But we he was uh a very high-level thinker, entrepreneur, always was starting his own businesses and a lot of ups and downs with a lot of great things that he did. But when I was going through my flight training, uh there was definitely some difficult times, you know, financially where uh you know, how are we gonna how are we gonna pursue this flight training with the uh costs? So uh I first started playing at restaurants when I was 12 years old. And during that time, um, you know, just playing about three to four nights a week all throughout uh junior high and high school, um into college, I was able to uh pay for quite a bit of my flight training uh with the piano. Uh then I realized, you know, throughout my airline career, um, even at the regional airlines, uh, I was full United Express for a while before United, um, you know, I would find little pianos. And uh, even if we only had, you know, one flight attendant and another pilot, maybe before to dinner I would I would uh play. And um where it really started uh United was uh in in uh Frankfurt, Germany. We arrived one morning and uh when we got into the hotel, we landed a little bit early. And the hotel said, uh, you know, unfortunately, because you uh have arrived early, it's gonna be about an hour until we can get you uh access to your room. So we're all waiting in the lobby, you know, the flights and some pilots. Uh we happened to stay at the same hotel on that trip. And uh I did see a piano in the corner. This was this was in uh 2005, and I thought, well, you know what, I can play some morning music here. And I didn't really tell the crew yet that I had uh had played played the piano, but I I asked the front desk, they said, Yeah, go ahead and play. We'd we'd enjoy that. And I um I ended up just uh playing a few songs, and then you know, the the the flight attendants and pilots said, you know, that hour went by it, you know, in a moment's notice. And then they said, Well, hey, before we go to dinner, you know, let's let's have you play again. So that that evening I played a happy hour, and then you know, United, that kind of started the uh tradition of you know, pretty much most of the layovers that I would fly in uh in Europe, you know, whether it was Zurich, Geneva, um, Paris, uh, Frankfurt. I had uh pianos all over that I would cons uh consistently uh play at. And you know, it was a great way to get the crews together. That was my my favorite thing about it is it was it was a way to help me uh you know get to where I am today. And I thought this was a great way to give back because uh you know, flying you know during 9-11 and right at the 9-11 world, it kind of was a divide where we we we started to stay in different hotels, we would, you know, that flight to door security became a lot more um, you know, rigid. We're we're really the we didn't have a lot of interaction with the uh flight attendant. So I thought that this was a great way to uh get our crews together. We would have a nice uh you know piano happy hour and then go to dinner together. And that's been uh, you know, now I guess 18 years later, uh at least the United 18 years later, this is what I still uh enjoy doing as much as uh possible.

SPEAKER_03 10:39

And you become a celebrity, you are known as the piano playing pilot.

SPEAKER_00 10:46

I I I feel honored to have that have that name, but it but it's kind of fun. And I I guess the the point of that is that we have we all have our uh our passions, and it's it's so fun to see you know the all the different things that uh fellow crew members do. But this is a great, as I said, a great way to get everyone together. And I love uh love giving back and uh playing for passengers, you know, fellow crew members, just whoever wants to listen.

SPEAKER_03 11:07

That's great. So tell us a little bit about uh your inspiration to get into aviation.

SPEAKER_00 11:14

Absolutely. So um, you know, back to that story growing up where I had several airline pilot neighbors. Um you know, it was just such a I was just so intrigued by uh, you know, being able to ride on an airplane. Um my family, you know, we did go on uh quite a few trips. So from a very young age, I I would visit the flight deck and then having these neighbors that would uh just kind of inspire me from a young age to, hey, you know, you can do this someday, and you know, look at this hat and look at these uplets, you know, on your shoulder. Um, and then getting to go to fly the simulator at the uh Denver training center, you know, back in the day it was a DC8 simulator and 747, uh, 100 and 200, um, 727, you know, some very, very classic airliners. And I was just, I knew from the first time I I got to take off and land even in the simulator at a very, very young age that this is exactly what I wanted to do. So um, you know, these these great mentors that I've had uh throughout my career, um, you know, it's just been been a such a great thing. And I've I've tried to take you know what I've learned from them and and uh hopefully pass on to our next uh next generation. Since we are on the Pan Am uh podcast, one of the neighbors that I'd like to point out his name was uh Captain Jeff Canoe. Um he actually was one of the original pilots when uh the 747 was introduced at Pan Am. And uh I spent so much time um with him over the years. Uh he had two children that I became uh good friends with. One of them is uh actually is uh flying right now in flight training. And uh, even though he retired from um, he came over to United in two in 1986 and retired in 2002. Uh, you know, we've stayed in touch all these years, and uh his nickname is is actually D2, Dad, Dad 2. So what was so fun growing up uh, you know, with him is it was I heard all the nostalgia of the uh PNM 747s, you know, the trips around the world, all the all the uh you know great times that they had as crew, you know, stories with uh passenger interaction. And um, I think it's just been such a uh I don't know, such a part of who I am today that, you know, even though we're in the modern jet era, you know, I still try to make uh an onboard experience, you know. I I want it to feel like it's you know back in the in the 60s and 70s, where um, you know, if you want to hear all I'll share some of the things that I do on board the aircraft with my uh with my crew. But I really do enjoy um you know trying to make an experience. We we have so many airlines that's very competitive right now. And uh, you know, I feel that uh, you know, for for most people, you you go online, you you buy a ticket, and you know, you might might find what uh you know what airline, you know, just is the best uh price for for your need there. But but my goal is is I want to try to grab those passengers that maybe haven't um flown on United and create an experience with them that they'll want to keep coming back. So some things that I like to do, um and I I would say this kind of ties into Panam. I I learned that there was a captain's flight log where you know some of the pilots would would do a log that they would give to first class, first class passengers that would show their the routing, the the weather en route. Um, you know, some of those really neat uh things because Pan Am really was such a pioneer in in their their dispatch procedures, the the weather planning, and and so many things that we do today, I think really came from um the you know Pan Am. So I think we we have a lot to uh think of. So so what or a lot to uh be thankful of. So what I like to do, you know, on my flights is uh, you know, the flight duties come first. That's always a priority. So um, you know, my first officer and I uh well let me step back. Right right now, I'm I'm flying the uh Airbus A320. So years and years of flying long haul uh all across all across the uh Atlantic and Pacific, South America. Um the last uh almost five years, I've been doing uh more North America flying on the um on the Airbus. So uh, you know, when when we get to the aircraft, we we do all of our flight duties, the walk around, our briefings, make sure uh everything is completed up front. And then, you know, we always try to uh, or my goal as the captain is always to try to get that done um, you know, a little bit early so that way we have maybe right before our scheduled departure time, we have maybe an eight to 10 minute period where we can do some nice customer engagement. And what I like to do is um use our iPad. And uh I take a couple screenshots uh prior uh to departure of where the turbulence is, the weather and route, and actually show the actual routing. And um I started this actually about about 10 years ago when we first got our our iPads because I thought what a great tool that we can we can get our uh customers involved in this and uh really make you know the flight more transparent and and you can feel you know like you're you're actually part of the flight. So what I do is um you know, I start with first class, I give them a little uh briefing and I show the the weather, the flight time and route, uh where the where there's going to be potential turbulence. And then I uh then I started a couple of years ago realizing it just takes a few few minutes before a departure. Uh, but then I I go about every 10 rows, you know, our our economy plus section, go to the exit row and go all the way to the even the you know the last row of the airplane. And I just try to make sure that every customer, you know, knows where you know all the uh flight, and and I do I do notice there's a lot of nervous flyers there. So I'm hoping that this will help uh give them a you know a little better experience to know where those uh bumps are. And then what I do is before we uh push back, um, I think it's so important to to uh introduce my entire flight crew. So I bring uh my first officer out and um you know in the cabin and I I try to do the uh the PA address from the front of the aircraft. So I introduce you know who's gonna be actually flying the airplane. And and especially I think a lot of the uh public feels that it's always the captain who flies the airplane, and that's really not the case. Uh usually what we do is we trade every other uh flight. So if it's the first officer's uh, you know, his or her leg, uh I say, hey, you know, this is uh Christine here. She's she's gonna be flying the aircraft and uh you know doing the takeoff and landing and all the all the uh flying here. And then uh it's so important to introduce the uh the cabin crew. So my flight attendant, so I always introduce our purser and and the other uh flight attendants that are gonna be in the back because you know, my goal is just I want the passengers to know, you know, who you know, we're all here that they're all part of our family, and we want them to feel welcome aboard. So I found that these uh, you know, these little things you can do before departure that just takes a few minutes really makes that great experience. Um, another thing I like to do is we we have some amazing technology where we actually can see on the seat map, um, you know, internally if it's somebody's birthday or if they're one of our premium flyers. So I've made some cards that uh like a birthday card, for example, I make sure to have the entire crew uh sign the card and we just surprise, you know, the passenger randomly with like, hey, happy birthday. And it's a little drawing that I uh that I did, and I make sure the whole crew is involved. I just think it's so important to make these experiences in a flight. Because you know, I feel like if if somebody remembers that, you know, versus just buying a ticket from point A to B, that hey, you know, I actually I remembered, you know, that that crew and and and just how how well um, you know, hopefully they feel that they were treated well, but you know, that's bringing back some of that nostalgia where it would tie into Panamium where people remember the experiences from those flight crews and and you know, flying was a really big deal then. So so even though it's just you know a domestic flight, you know, two hours at a time, I feel that every flight counts and and it's so fun to try to make a uh an experience that people will remember.

SPEAKER_03 18:09

That's great, that's really inspiring. Uh and for our listeners, in 1986, the Pacific Division of Pan American World Airways was sold to United Airlines, and uh most of the Pacific Division uh was transferred and became United Airlines employees. And then at the end in 1991, uh the Heathrow operation went to United Airlines. So United Airlines history is intertwined with Pan Am history.

SPEAKER_00 18:37

Very much so.

SPEAKER_03 18:38

So uh we have a treat for our listeners. Uh Captain Brandt is going to play a song. It's about six minutes long. So Captain Brandt, take it away.

SPEAKER_00 18:50

All right. So I'm working on a new album that uh will be coming out hopefully this November 2022. Um so this will be my seventh uh you know actual published album. Um the I've the album title is called Inspiration. So the song that I'll be playing for you all is the title track inspiration. Um, I've had just so many experiences over the last uh three or four years where a lot of these um pieces that are going to be on this new album, they're all original compositions, but they're about places that I've been around the world and experiences that I've had. You know, I know we I know we've had a difficult uh two years, and I um just am really excited to kind of, you know, hopefully create a nice positive album that will create a good, you know, an experience where, you know, dinner or the evening, you know, you have a glass of wine that you can uh sit and kind of listen to a story without music. So um, so again, I'm gonna play here right now the uh title track called Inspiration, and I hope you uh enjoy it.

SPEAKER_03 25:39

That was great. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00 25:42

Oh, thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'm very excited about this new album. And, you know, kind of the kind of like I said, the the feeling and tone of the album. It's a little bit different than the other um other albums that I've uh uh composed.

SPEAKER_03 25:55

Yeah. And you know, so you're like the whole package deal here. Um, you know, people can listen to your music while flying on your airplanes.

SPEAKER_00 26:06

Kind of crazy to think about, but yes.

SPEAKER_03 26:08

Yeah. I mean, you you're not you're not playing. I mean, you probably would like to, but you can't have a a piano in in in an Airbus. But but yeah, so tell us where listeners can uh purchase your music.

SPEAKER_00 26:22

Um I you know I've been very, very fortunate to be on all the uh mainstream uh online media sources. So if you check out um Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify, Rhapsody Radio, there's I think there's about uh seven to ten online um venues that have uh my my six albums that are on there. I've um I had a lot of uh uh people over the year that has had had said, hey, you know, you really need you to have a Christmas album. So I did a holiday album a couple years ago. Um during during the COVID era, um, I I did an album called Four Decades because I've been playing for you know 40 years. So that was a really fun album where um only one is an original, but the other ones I I I've done some covers from Ed Sheeran, Adele, the Titanic theme song. Um you know, I I really do enjoy when I play at um events and restaurants. There's there's a lot of those songs that I I really enjoy. So so I did have fun uh you know kind of putting other people's work together and that. But the other um the other four are all original compositions. So with this album, when it's uh uh produced, uh I will have 94 original uh compositions, uh, you know, spanning now, I guess, quite quite quite some time now. So it's been been uh again an honor to keep both of these uh careers going. So uh please please check it out. I do have a website if you go to bowbrandmusic.com. Again, that's B-E-A-U-B-R-A-N-T-music.com. Um, I do have the NBC video, some of the uh the New York Times article, the Denver Post article, and uh you can see some videos and uh you know links to my music that are on there. So uh please check that out when you can as well.

SPEAKER_03 28:00

And let's talk about the New York Times article because some of our listeners may remember, but I live in Ohio and um I am a proud Ohioan. Uh and one of our landmark hotels in Ohio is in Cincinnati, the Netherland Plaza Hotel. And I understand that that's one of your favorite places to play. So I wanted to bring that up so we can talk about it. And this hotel has one of the greatest art deco architecture really in the country. Uh, it's a great example of the era, the early 1930s. Tell tell us why this is a favorite place for you to play.

SPEAKER_00 28:37

Sure, absolutely. You know, looking back over the years, I've been so fortunate to uh play in places actually, you know, from Shanghai, China. I I had two routine places that I would have played in uh Sydney and Melbourne, Australia, you know, Paris at a hotel right next to the Eiffel Tower. I mean, some really, really great places over the years. But now that I've been flying domestically, it's been a little harder to find a piano. So uh just about a year and a half ago, um the Airbus started going back into uh Cincinnati and uh from Denver where where my uh domicile is. And you know, when when we um first stayed there, when I first walked in, I was like, wow, what an what an amazing hotel. And I looked to the right at the check-in and I saw this amazing grand bar. And then and then I was like, whoa, there's a piano. And I saw this uh, you know, nine-foot Baldwin concert grand that's uh probably 50 years old. Um so that evening, uh, when we first got in, we had a 32 or 33 hour layover. Um, I I came down and introduced myself and met the uh um the uh Matre D uh of the bar there, the Palms Court restaurant. And uh she was just incredibly kind and she said, Hey, well, you know, right now we normally have jazz music from you know seven to nine, but when we got in, it was actually uh, you know, past that point. So uh so she let me play that evening. And then um, you know, after that, basically when I when I would come back, I would continue to play there. So how this happened at the New York Times was one of the other times I was playing. Um, I did an um an earlier set, the jazz group played for a while, and then I did the uh kind of the closing set before the uh the bar, I closed down for the night. So I had fun, you know, doing doing about an hour and a half uh set. And then during that time, um I took a quick five-minute break and a uh guest in the audience came up and said that, hey, you know, I'd like to talk to you once we're done uh done with your with your playing. So at the end of the end of the night, I had uh sat down um with this individual for a little bit after, you know, as the bar was closing down, and he introduced himself, said that he had a a uh idea for me and that he had been a writer, uh New York Times, Washington Post, Virginia uh pilot. His name was Carl Finkel, and then just an incredible uh writer, really enjoyed reading all of his uh his uh works. And um, you know, he just found out that I was a I was an airline captain on my layover playing uh you know, playing at this venue. And and he again, it was just such an honor to to to see that he recognized my my passion for it, and then he uh proposed it to the New York Times, and uh then it was featured in the um New York Times about uh almost exactly this time of year ago. So uh that was a huge honor. And then since then it's opened up a few more uh doors with NBC and a and a couple other uh um you know papers, the Denver Post. I was featured in the airline pilots um magazine actually two months ago. Um, so that was an honor to get to you know to be sent out to all the uh airline pilots in the magazine. And um, so again, it's just been, you know, like I said, this this last year is it's definitely been an honor for uh playing all these years and it's that recognition that's happened lately.

SPEAKER_03 31:34

That's great. One of the things that I'm most proud of with this program is we have uh many younger listeners that listen to our program and they send messages on social media and email um that some of them are in high school uh and they're listening. Uh we have a 12-year-old in Australia that loves, she just loves our program and loves Pan Am history. Can you talk a little bit about to them about uh what inspired you to get into aviation and and what message you have for them if they're thinking about getting into aviation?

SPEAKER_00 32:14

Sure, absolutely. You know, I love um one of the biggest things in this is make sure, you know, any anytime you meet a pilot or somebody in the industry, you know, definitely stay in touch with them because I feel like every job that I have had, it's been because of networking and just all the amazing uh passion in this industry. You'll, you know, from all walks of life, it's just incredible the people that I've been fortunate to work with. Um, you know, looking back again, just having these amazing neighbors that inspired me. I started flying uh actually when I was 12 years old. Uh I know that sounds kind of crazy, but that's when I took my first uh private pilots working on my private pilots uh license. I have uh three children, and one of them, uh, my my oldest name is Nolan. Uh, we had to keep that tradition in the family. So he started flying at 12 years old too. And he's he's 14 now, he has 15 hours of flying, and so excited. He he's definitely airline bound. So he he has the uh the bug that I had too. But um does he play any music? He does. He he's an amazing uh cello player, even though he's focused on uh football right now, high school football, he's still he still plays in the orchestra and he really does have a uh um a great sound. So I'm really excited and I I keep telling him, you know, you you've got to keep this up because you you know you have this talent and and I promise you someday it it is gonna be uh you're gonna be so glad that you didn't stop playing. But uh since your listeners around the world, um, you know, if you feel you have that passion for for wanting to be in this industry and fly, it's such an exciting time. We have so many um just tremendous amounts of uh you know airplanes and order growth. And this, this I feel like this is abroad to all airlines. We have uh quite a few, I mean, thousands of pilots that are gonna be retiring over the next decade, uh, tremendous orders of new airplanes. So there is such a bright future for uh this travel and uh this industry. So I'm I'm really, really excited for the future. Um, you know, what I would say is definitely go uh take a discovery flight. Uh it's about $100, and uh you get to actually go up for an hour with an instructor and you know, anybody who's interested in flying, it's such a great way to kind of feel that, hey, you know, is this something I want to do? And uh most people I know that take a discovery flight usually get hooked right away. Um, but you know, the flight training is expensive. It's it's about three times the cost of when I went through. But I think there's a lot of great resources out there to to help with, you know, people that might might uh you know need some sort of financial help. And there's a lot of scholarships available. But but you can kind of go through um, you know, you have to work on your uh private pilot's license, then your instrument license uh to fly and you know, to learn how to read the instruments when you fly through the clouds, then you get your commercial pilot's license, then you um then you have a choice to get your multi-engine license, then uh then a certified flight instructor rating, instrument rating, and then or certified flight instructor instrument rating. And then finally, once you hit the 1500 hours, that's your airline transport license, which is uh allows you to actually fly um you know passenger. So typically once you what's it called the ETP, once you get your ETP, uh that's when you're typically at the regional airlines. Uh typically you have to spend about two to three years there. And uh, you know, right now, again, it's such a great time. And then then hopefully you can make it to you know all the all the uh major airlines out there that are hiring right now. And again, it's a pretty exciting time after you know some ups and downs the last uh 20 years, but but right now, you know, I don't see any end in sight to it. Uh again, every what I would say is that you know it's challenging. Um, you know, looking back on it, uh, you're gonna make lots of mistakes, but mistakes are good. You know, you learn from mistakes, it makes you a better pilot and better person. And and don't focus on on what you did wrong, just do the next thing uh right and that much better and have fun with it. Most importantly, don't try to go from a Cessna 172 wishing you were on you know a 747 or Airbus A380 or 777, uh, because it's such a journey. And every bit of it, when I look back, I mean it's already been a blur for me, but I have loved every moment of it from you know, flying the the little regional turboprops and uh you know jets, and you know, I've I've flown the 757, 767, 787, uh Airbus 319 and 320 at United. So um, you know, such an amazing uh group of airplanes to to fly all over the world in. And uh again, it's just every bit of the journey is uh is amazing. So if you have that passion, just enjoy the people you get to work with, um, you know, learn new things every day, keep pushing yourself and and uh and I think it's so so incredibly worth it in the end.

SPEAKER_03 36:33

And I did a little homework before this interview. And United Airlines has over 14,000 pilots. Yes. And this year, 2022, they plan to hire 2,000 more pilots. And uh in 2030, they're going to be on track to have an additional 10,000 pilots. And United Airlines captains can earn more than $350,000 annually. That's that's great. That's a great career. Um and United Airlines also has a website for anyone interested in getting into aviation. It's United's Aviate Academy, and their website is unitedaviate.com. And I'll put this in the episode notes. Is there anything you wanted to add about the training program of United Airlines?

SPEAKER_00 37:32

Absolutely. You know, we do um it's really again really exciting to hear those numbers that you know next year we'll have a, like I said, an additional 2,000 pilots. I know the goal, you know, is to be over 18,000 pilots in the next uh, you know, three or four years. We have a huge order order on board of new aircraft as well. Um we have two two paths in in the hiring process. Um, you know, we have a group that will be coming from the you know, regional airlines, uh, from other other partners that are not with United Express, uh, some that will be coming from, you know, maybe maybe they've been in the cargo world. We've our military pilots, our corporate pilots that would like to come to United. So we'll always have our traditional hiring program. And then the aviate program was designed because uh, you know, I think we're one of the first airlines to really see that insight of the of the uh true pilot shortage uh coming in the in the uh future. So um there's several ways to enter the aviate program, but uh United was um you know one of the first to to buy its own flight school. Um and again, it's called the United Aviate Flight Academy. It's it's a good year in Arizona, and right now they have a fleet of Cirrus aircraft, which I think is an amazing uh airplane. You know, I learned in a Cessna 152, 172, 182, which are which are great air aircraft. But I uh recently had uh stepped foot in the in the uh the new Cirrus um you know SR22 and other Cirrus uh aircraft that they're using, and it is incredible. I mean, the avionics in there just are absolutely amazing. I think that that's this is what what these uh future pilots are learning to fly in, you know, incredibly safe and just a great airplane. Um so the plan with aviate is uh once once you once you get in and um after you received your private pilot's uh license, uh then what you can do is actually come in and take your uh United Aviate interview, and that is actually your United interview. So uh even though it's going to be many years from then, but but that is actually the last interview you would have to do until you become a United Airlines pilot. Uh, there's a lot of you know, gates, you have to get all your ratings, you actually would uh most likely end up being an instructor at the academy, you know, teaching other future United pilots, and then uh you would spend at least two years at the regional airlines, uh, part of our United Express um family. And then uh once that once that point happens where you have at least 2,000 hours uh at those regional airlines and uh two years uh there, then you can come into uh United as a new hire. So uh the whole process is about a five to six year period. There's other ways to enter Aviate um through our regional um partners. If you were to maybe fly cargo and then get hired at one of our United Express Airlines, you can you can come into Aviate that way. And uh so we call it the Aviate jet stream, which is you know, again, it's a very organic way to get to United, but again, we'll always have our traditional way. But uh it is, you know, an incredibly uh exciting future, as I as I said.

SPEAKER_03 40:19

That's great. So I have the good fortune, and I'm very lucky, to talk to many different pilots of all different ages. I talked to a captain of a Boeing 314 flying boat. Wow, across across decades, decades of experience, I should say. And when I asked them the question, what is the favorite aircraft of theirs that they have flown? It's all over the map. Some people like the Stratocruiser, some people didn't like the Stratocruiser, some people love the 747, others will say the 707, and the people that liked the Boeing 314, for instance, said 314. Uh, there was one pilot that loved the DC 8, another pilot loved the DC 10. So I'm gonna ask that question to you. What is your all-time favorite aircraft?

SPEAKER_00 41:13

Ah, that that is a tough question because it, you know, you just went through such such an amazing uh series of airplanes, and you know, looking back, getting to fly that DC 8 uh simulator. And I actually wrote in one of the last United DC eights from Denver to Chicago with my uh with my father. So ah, gosh, that's that's that is a uh tough question for sure. Um I I think for me, I mean the 747400, of course, I was so sad to see that go. Um that obviously will will always have a uh you know a warm heart thinking of those you know lounges on the upper deck and some of the some of the carriers around the world had a actually had a piano lounge upstairs. So I wish I could have been in that era.

SPEAKER_03 41:48

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 41:48

But hey, I'm gonna go on my my crew break here and um you know go go play a couple songs. That would have been incredible. Um, you know, I would say, even though I've appreciated everything that I have flown, um the you know, the new 787 uh was was an incredible airplane to fly. I was fortunate to fly, I believe it was its second revenue service of the uh 787-10 from uh LA to LA to uh Newark um in 2019. And we had a whole bunch of media on board. So that was that was uh really fun to get to fly that airplane. Um believe it or not, I I love love the Airbus. I can I can't wait for us to get our uh our uh 321 uh NEOs and 321 Neo XLR aircraft because they're gonna be doing uh some narrow, you know, thin route long haul, some semi-long haul, you know, nine, eight to ten hour range uh flights now. So that's gonna be incredible. Uh looking back, the the classic 757-200, um, I have about 6,000 hours in the uh uh what we call the 756 fleet. It's a combined fleet where you fly the uh all the 757 200s, 300s, and 767. Technically, we have the 200 Twil the 200, 300, and 400. So uh that that uh 757-200, it's it's an amazing airplane that you know could could stop quickly, climb out of mountainous train, still is fast in route. So that was definitely uh probably a favorite of mine. Um I don't know, I love all aircraft, so that's that's that is a tough question.

SPEAKER_03 43:12

All right, let's pivot for a second and talk about your other passion, music. What has what artists have inspired you um with their music?

SPEAKER_00 43:23

You know, looking back, um I uh when I when I play um my music, I mean my my original compositions, again, I like to uh create a story or an image, you know, maybe of a feeling or some or um an experience that I've had. And I try to translate that, you know, in in my head uh in into music without words. Um so that that's you know, of course, that's that's my my goal in music. But when I first uh you know started playing other people's music besides my own, um I do play pretty much every every genre. Um and I I love playing, you know, I think it's so important to be able to play also. different genres but uh probably my favorite if i was just sitting down and and just having a glass of wine or just enjoying you know uh other other another uh artist's piano i really do like um uh jim brickman george winston yanni um probably one of my absolute favorites from italy is uh ludovicio naudi um you know uh some of these artists you know they're they're all piano players that do not have any words with their music but they they all tend to tell a story and that's that's what I like to do is is is is share um share a story without words on my above album which which was uh two albums ago a lot of those songs are uh about experiences and places I've been I used to fly a lot from Los Angeles to uh Tokyo Narita and uh Shanghai and when you flew over the Aleutian Islands you look down and see these volcanic islands and you know you're you're really thousands of miles out in the uh Pacific there and and you would see these giant icebergs and things so one of the songs in there is called Cold Bay so that was again just just looking down you know hey even as pilots we still love to look out the window. I love looking down and seeing all the beautiful places that uh we get to fly over um there's another song on there called the crumbling wall uh we were fortunate a few years ago to go actually it was about a decade ago now uh to go to Ephesus Turkey and we were there um actually in a in a in a wintertime day we actually were there in January it was still pretty nice weather but there was no one around and to walk in these ancient uh Eastern Roman Empire streets and see these columns it was something that was just so um empowering to me so I wrote a song called The Crumbling Wall. So if you listen to it just close your eyes and hopefully you can imagine seeing that that ancient Roman city. So um that's why this new album as I said that's coming out uh there's going to be a lot of uh songs that are are are on places and experiences that I've had.

SPEAKER_02 45:47

Great. Would you like to add anything else to our discussion?

SPEAKER_00 45:52

With with uh no with piano I mean just I I think the biggest thing here is just um you know I think we all have our our passions and talents and you know no matter what career field uh we're in I mean I I just you know I I love people and I love love connecting with people and and learning what other people's passions are and and I think that that's uh something that especially with the what what we've been through the last two years I I think we all you know should be better about talking to each other giving more hugs you know just really trying to be be there to because because the world does offer a lot of a lot of amazing talent out there and uh you know I hope more and more people share their uh passions and talents with the world as well.

SPEAKER_03 46:29

Well thank you very much Captain what an inspiration to talk to you I I love to talk to people that have multiple passions and uh you are inspiring and I can't wait to hear you play the piano in person. And uh again thank you for coming on the program.

SPEAKER_00 46:47

Yeah speaking of that uh you know coming up in November here with the uh the Pan Am um museum gala I'm so honored so honored to be asked to play there um you know both on November 11th and November 12th.

SPEAKER_03 46:59

So uh to anybody in the audience hopefully uh you know love to meet you that meet you there and please come up and say hello but but uh again I I'm I feel so incredibly honored to uh to play at this this uh flying down to Rio event this will be uh an a uh a true fun uh an honor uh to uh play to play out there great well I will see you in a month absolutely all right thank you Captain thank you Tom appreciate your uh your time here as well Pan Am was a pioneer in air travel and still stands as one of the most iconic and innovative airlines in aviation history that legacy lives on at the Pan Am Museum in Garden City New York where you can explore the rich history of the aircraft and individuals at the heart of the company known as the world's most experienced airline. For more information about the Pan Am Museum check out our website at www.thepanammuseum dot org. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok. As was once a tagline in one of our commercials, we would greatly appreciate your support to help the Pan Am Museum continue making the going great. You can also support the museum by shopping on our online store for all things Pan Am accessories, apparel, jewelry, books, models, and posters. We want to hear from you. If you have a question for us or want to share your story, our email address is podcast at the Pan Ammuseum dot org we're going to close out this episode with another song this one's George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue used in a united commercial played by Captain Brandt as flight crews once said to passengers departing for their destinations around the world thank you for flying Pan Am