Hi I am 19 years old, and i am getting married this year. I wanted to know, out of the month, how many night are you as a pilot able to be at home? Also in regards to scheduling, being a religious Jew requires me not to work on Friday and Saturday due to the observance of the sabbath how do I approach this career with that being said?
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Moshe,
As a pilot I am gone roughly 12- 14 nights per month, usually broken up into 3 nights per week.
As for observing a religious schedule, Trans World Airlines v. Hardison established that offering special considerations to union employees because of religious concerns would abrogate the seniority rights of those not practicing that faith and was thus forbidden. Meaning, if you want to be an airline pilot you will have to be able to work 365 days per year and 24/7.
Also, you will need to be groomed to uniform standards, including no facial hair or payot.
Chris
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Moshe,
On a positive note I’ve never had any problem getting Yom Kippur or Rosh Hashanah off. Much easier than Christmas or Easter 
Adam
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how about shabbat, and all the other festivals that we have during the year?
Moshe,
The reality is, as with EVERYTHING at the airline,s it’s all a matter of seniority. Once you gain some you can pretty much get anything you want, need or desire. Unfortunately as Chris explained, there are no “religious” exceptions or priorities given to anyone. All I was saying is since Jews are a minority at the airlines, what we need rarely aligns with everyone else (like Christmas) so more times than not I’ve been able to get the days to observe. But there are no guarantees.
Adam
I understand that. However, the fine lines of the law states as follows:
Supreme Court in Trans World Airlines, Inc. v. Hardison
http://laws.findlaw.com/us/432/63.html decides its first Title VII
religious discrimination case. The Court states that under Title VII
employers must reasonably accommodate an employee’s religious needs unless
to do so would create an undue hardship for the employer. The Court defines
hardship as anything more than de minimis* cost. Does this mean that I am
running into a potential problem, or will Airlines respect religious needs
despite the law?*
Moshe,
Like everything else, your schedule will be based solely off of your seniority. The only places that you can expect to observe the Sabbath are the Israeli airlines.
Bottom line is that you will not be able to get the Sabbath off for religious reasons unfortunately.
Yarden
Moshe,
I would argue that accommodating your needs would place the entire pilot group at odds against the airline as again it would circumvent seniority and THAT would without question create a hardship for the airline. Bottomline, ain’t gonna happen.
Adam
now i know that weekend are unwanted yikes to take jobs does that mean that
in the beginning I will almost forsure have to work on Saturday, or are
there any other difficult unwanted hours DURING THE WEEK (like late night)?
Keep in mind, that as a junior employee, I don’t care to working crazy
hours during the week, but I would not be willing to work on sabbath
Moshe,
The court found that in the case of unionized workers, accommodating religious beliefs does in fact cause undue hardship to other employees. So, the airlines are absolutely following the law by not honoring religious beliefs. Think about it, the vast majority of pilots in this country are Christians, if airlines had to honor Christian religious holidays they would be unable to operate on Sunday and almost every other Christian religious holiday. All employees are treated the same, regardless of their religious beliefs, meaning that we all end up working on days that we do not want to.
If you are unwilling to work on the Sabbath or other religious holidays you should not enter the aviation field. I don’t mean to sound harsh, but it is the truth.
Chris
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point well said. However before I give up I would like to know from your
experience is late night just as unwanted as weekends?
Yes, late nights are undesirable. But keep in mind that the airlines aren’t shift work, you can’t just bid not to work on certain days and times, no matter what your seniority is. On any given trip I might fly early mornings one day, the afternoon the next day and then an all-nighter after that. Schedules are very dynamic and the times you fly will vary greatly from one day to the next and that is before you deal with delays, maintenance cancellations, etc.
The bottom line is that airlines operate 365 24/7 and their employees do as well, whether we want to or not.
I know this wasn’t the answer you were looking for, I wish I had different news for you.
Chris
thank you so much
Congratulations, on the light side and no disrespect i have extreme respect for dedication to God. Jokingly what would Abraham do, he would sacrifice to show faith. God wouldn’t convict you for accomplishing your dreams.
Moshe airlines are a long shot being shabbat observant. Another route would be such as what I took. The charter world Part 135 and or Part 91 flying might be more sutabile for you. Also perhaps Air Cargo might be a route to go being that some don’t operate over the weekend. I’m shabbat observant and have had my struggles but there is hope. Happy to answer any further questions
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Jack,
Again I have to ask which cargo operators don’t fly weekends?
Adam
Hi Adam. I know that Ameriflight cargo does not operate on weekends. Regards to the airline they both got in not exactly a “kosher” way to speak I don’t want to name airlines they wouldn’t like that. What do you fly ?
Jack,
While a fine company, I’m not sure anyone wants to spend their career at Ameriflight?
Not sure what “not a kosher way” actually means and no offense but I seriously doubt they’re working for a 121 carrier. Since virtually EVERY airline in this country operates based on seniority that would open the company up to HUGE litigation. If it is true hopefully someone will catch wind of it, the pilots will be fired and blacklisted. Much of what we do is based on trust and there’s no room for biased treatment.
Adam