What are aviation questions you expect to hear from a casual acquaintance? I recently met someone and in small talk found out they are an airline pilot. I let him know I was a student pilot myself and shortly after they texted me their contact info and said to contact them with any questions in my training, they still remembered their time as a CFI and would be happy to help in any way they could. I truly appreciated that.
I later stumbled upon an article written by an airline pilot about networking in aviation. He really encouraged networking and said, maybe disappointed, that he often shares his contact info but very few actually contact him back.
In both cases it sounds to me like pilots are open to inquiry but I can’t quite visualize what would be an aviation conversation starter with basically a stranger. I would genuinely like to continue meeting pilots of all walks of life and share aviation experiences and thoughts, but what really would be some airplane small talk and ice breaker? Especially when there is such a large gap in our flight experience. When you share your contact, what would you welcome to hear back? Without it being too trivial and coming from a friend you haven’t met.
I like your second sentence in this thread, you recently met someone, continue to talk and meet people and you’d be surprised. Aviation is a small community, I’m waiting for the 2023 data to be published, but I believe the latest numbers show there’s only 100,000 - 200,000 airline pilots in the United States; compared to the hundred millions that are citizens.
I feel the networking can swing in both directions, I recently crossed paths with a captain that is from my hometown (heard of their name, never met them prior) on a deadhead the other evening. I found out their son was possibly interested in following their parents’ route. I recommend checking out ATP as they would be completing their bachelor’s very shortly from a well accredited university. I gave my contact info and said if they had any questions, reach out to me. I even OFFERED to take their son flying and give them the controls because I have my CFI, it is current, and while I fly a jet, I still remain proficient in my single-piston operations.
If I give my contact information out (I use caution to ensure the individual is not scamming, bad egg, or joking around), it’s an offering…I don’t expect to hear back immediately but hope one day they take the opportunity to reach out if they ever have questions. We all started out one day as a student pilot, now airline pilots. We have demonstrated the success it takes to operate an airliner, safely, proficiently, and within company standards/policies. You would be surprised how the conversations start, I’ve had conversations with passengers that expressed interest of how my career started and route it took to get to where I was (I don’t just give out my info to PAX but recommend the forum ).
Honestly I don’t even understand your question. This was a kind soul who offered assistance should you need it. That’s a wonderful thing but it’s not an exercise in “I need to come to with something to ask”. If you have a question ask, if you don’t, don’t. It’s really that simple.
I believe you are over thinking this. When I share my contact info with somebody, I am happy to answer any questions they may have. There are no right or wrong questions. I further do not really care if they contact me back. If they do reach out, great, I am happy to help them. If they do not, I figure they either do not have questions or have moved onto their next big “dream”. It really does not affect me either way.
That being said, I would not reach out just for the sake of doing so, other than maybe a “Thank you for the contact info, I will let you know if I have any questions.” Nobody wants to be pestered with meaningless questions just because somebody is trying to build a network. Let the network build itself naturally.
Couldn’t agree with this more. If you have legitimate questions, reach out and ask. If you don’t, hold on to the contact until maybe you do. There’s nothing to force here.
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