You might notice that I have not posted a schedule in quite some time, there are two reasons for this. To begin with, Covid happened last spring and our flying dried up. I had a check ride scheduled for June, but the company cancelled it because there was so much uncertainty at the time and I was scheduled to be displaced to being a First Officer. Come summer, the union and the company had agreed to terms to keep the majority of pilots in their current positions, including me (Airbus 320 Captain).
However, in September my eye doctor discovered that I had a small retinal tear in my left eye. It took five minutes, some serious valium, and a laser to fix it, but I was grounded by the FAA until they could review my case. On January 21, I was approved to return to work. It took the company a bit of time to work me into the training pipeline, but I am now scheduled to go back on February 22 for training. Training will consist of five days of work in the simulator, the last two of which will be check ride days. In March I will be scheduled for two days of flying with a Line Check Airmen before I am released back to the line.
It was an interesting year off. While I did enjoy certain aspects of it, I am very much ready to get back in the sky.
February 1-21: off
Feb 22: simulator training
Feb 23: day off in Denver
Feb 24-27: simulator training
When something medical like that comes up, what happens for you? Do you get paid disability? Do you have to find another job to get by or dip into savings?