MEET
THE TEAM
Flyinghigh
LarryFisher
hasgone fromcabincrew tocrewingofficer topiloting theplanes.
He talksus throughhis time in the skies
AS TOLD TO
RACHAEL MOON
PHOTOS
JAMIE LAU
“When Ifirstwent
onto theaircraft,
Ihad topinch
myself....”
1 4 8
“Flying issomething I havealwaysbeen
interested in.
When Iwas a kid, Iwent
up toLutonmany times to lookat the
aircraft, but it seemedout ofmy reachas
acareer.
“Sittingata
computerall
daywasn’t for
me.
After
studying
economics at
university, I fell into
anoffice job, but quickly joinedeasyJet as
cabincrew in2006,when Iwas23.
“Itwas thebestmove I’veevermade
because it gotmy foot in thedoor and
gaveme thefirst tasteof theaviation
lifestyle. Beingable to interactwithpilots
inspiredme to think thiswas something I
would like todomyself. I used that time to
saveup somemoney to fundmypilot
licencesand thenwent to theStates to
get them, because it
wascheaper there.
“When I came
back to theUK in
2009,
I returned
toeasyJet, as itwas
recruitingcrewingofficers. I did that
for two years,making sureall easyJet
flightswere staffed– it gaveme the
chance to seehow theairline is run from
thegroundup–but I didn’t expect it to
lead toa jobon theflight deck.
“Iwasdelightedwhen thecompany
announced itwasgoing toopen
upan internal sponsorship
scheme
for all easyJet employees
withanexisting licence. About
60peopleapplied for 10places.
Itwas a rigorous selection
process:wedidaptitude tests, agroup
exerciseandan interview, and Imade the
top 10.
“First, the threeweek,
airline-qualification
course trainsyou
for
working inamulticrew
environment, compared
to the soloflights I’ddone
formy licence. The second stage
is a sixweek, type-ratingcourse.
Yougo intoanAirbus simulator
andby theend, you’requalified
tooperate that typeof
aircraft: you ecomeanAirbus
A320-ratedpilot.
“After that,we
wentback to the
easyJetacademy
andhadapilot induction, anddid
line training,where youactuallygo into
the right-hand seat of theplaneand
you’rewitha trainingcaptain.
“When Ifirstwentonto theaircraft,
I had topinchmyself.
Myfirst passenger
flightwasParis-Edinburgh, soa fairly
short flight. They’rechallenging,
because youdon’t get a lot of
time tocruise in theair.
“ It’sanexhilaratingand
empowering job.
It’s
strange, going from the
simulator toa real flight,
where you’vegot up to
180passengers in the
back. It’s still very surreal that it’s
me in that right-hand seat, but I feel
privileged tobedoing it.
“I’venowdoneabout 1,200hours.
It’s amazinghowquickly they rack
up: around800a year. Luton
has about 18aircraft andwe
havequitea lot of varied
destinations, as far afield
asEgypt, SharmEl Sheikh
andTel Aviv.
“My long-termaim is tobe incommand
andmakekeydecisionson theflight.
Theaverage time fromfirst officer to
commandat easyJet isbetweenfiveand
sevenyears. At a lot of other
airlines thiscan takeup to
20years, soeasyJet isone
of thosecompanieswhere
youcan rapidlyprogress.
It’sgreat tofinally realise
mydream.”
