The ABC’s of Being a Pilot’s Wife

As we have shared many times before, being a pilot’s wife can be challenging, to say the least. However, our pilot wives have compiled the ABC’s of being a Pilot’s Wife. Remember, this is all in good fun and at the end of the day, we love and support each and every one of our pilots.

A - Adapatable - a pilot’s wife’s life is never stable. Pilot schedules are given on a monthly basis, furloughs happen and situations/issues are always coming up. A good pilot wife must always be able to adapt to these situations all while exhibiting the utmost grace and style.

B - Budget-conscious - He probably is paying back student loans, which will put a damper on the family budget.  He won’t be home to pay the bills, so you’ll have to make sure that everything is paid on time.  He’ll live on pretzels and peanuts, but somehow find it necessary to splurge on the latest and greatest cellphone.

C - Calm- Situations will arise that you have no control over. Plans may change at a moment’s notice. Things may happen at home you have to deal with and make do by yourself. It is important to remain calm, cool and collected (look there’s three C’s!). Don’t freak out over the small stuff.

D - Devoted - Crazy schedules, terrible pay, long hours, nights alone — only a wife that is truly devoted to her husband could put up with these conditions.

E - Envy - sitting on a balcony overlooking the ocean in Hawaii is something ANYONE would be envious of. That is a perk of flying!

F - Flexible - What? You won’t be home for Christmas? You got JA’d an hour before my surgery? You have to go for a week of training when? Where? Your crew base is moving to WHERE? When are we moving? When are we moving again? Can you call in sick for my due date? What if I am a week overdue? Honey, my water just broke, where are you?

G - Grateful - Grateful he finally came home and sometimes grateful he finally leaving again.

H - Humbled - As incredibly difficult it can be to be a pilots wife for all the reasons you all have stated - I always try to remember, my children and I have always had a roof over our head (although sometimes barely); we have food everyday (although there were times that barely happened too); and every night we have always had a bed and warm place to sleep at night and my husband is doing the job he loves. Okay….when we get to “S” sign me up for stressed!

I - Independent - You mean, I live half of my life alone? I got married but you are gone 50% of the time?!!! Guess I’ll have to entertain myself while you are away.

J - Jealous - He gets to actually take a shower and eat dinner by himself!!!

K - Kissable - Always be the one he wants to come home to… The one he can’t wait to kiss when he gets home…

L - Long Distance - You’re going to be gone how long? Having no idea when you’ll be able to work a rendezvous between your schedules, missing him the whole time.

M - Money - or the lack of - Ladies let’s tell the world the REAL truth - contrary to popular belief, pilots are not “rolling in the dough”.

N - Numbers - The amount of numbers these guys retain is amazing! From runways, heading and altitudes, to tail number and go times. How about converting temperatures from C to F? Or remembering the seat number of a famous celebrity on their flight. These guys can sure hold their numbers.

O - Online - Communication is the key word in any relationship, but even more when you are married to a pilot! When he is away communicating with him by email, phone, fax or pigeon - it is a must!

P - Patience - We need an endless supply to deal with the flight delays/cancellations/schedule problems/vacation issues/etc… Not to mention his “extra-curricular activities” that sometimes take him even further away from family time (like RC planes/helicopters, personal aircraft, computers, etc)… I know I am constantly praying for more patience…

Q - Quick - Flight delays, weather delays, it seems like pilots are always hurrying and scurrying. Schedules are so unpredictable, that you may or may not get a sizable amount of time with your man. Only 36 hours till he leaves again? Better get in all the fix-it stuff at home, visit all the extended family, and try to fit in some alone time.

R - Reserve - Being a new First Officer or even a new Captain, being on reserve or “On call” is totally normal. Getting a line is really something to celebrate!

S - Strong - enough said right? We deal with a lot of up and downs, happiness and craziness. However, it’s not just about us; it’s also about our husbands. We must be strong for them and make sure they’re aware that we are with them on this wild airplane ride through life. Being there and being strong for each other is a must.

T - Trust - There is no way a pilot’s wife can survive without trust — seriously, you’d run yourself crazy. The job of a pilot keeps him away from his wife and in questionable situations quite often. However, the best pilot wife must trust her pilot — there is no other choice. Trust him and the vows that you both made to each other - those will hold you together while you are apart.

U - Uniform - They do look sexy, don’t they?

V - Valuable - So many things in this industry is valuable. The limited valuable time spent together as a family. The valuable training. The valuable lessons learned from each mishap.

W - Worry - All the time! Every time there’s news on tv of a crash, bankruptcy, change in the business, etc. Worrying about whether he’ll make it home on time for something important. Worrying about how to parent all by yourself. Worrying about everything!

X - Xeric - If you get transferred to PHX (I hope)?? Hey, don’t judge! You try to find a word that relates and starts with an X . . .

Y - Yo-yo - Like a yo-yo our pilots are always going out and back from hub to outstation to hub.

Z - Zulu - As pilot wives we MUST know what this refers to… Sometimes, my husband and I refer to zulu time more than local time. Maybe that’s why pilot watches have so many time settings… at least one of them will be zulu!

So, there you have it . . . compiled by the best pilot wives in the world! Got any new ones to add, feel free to leave them in the comments.

**All comments must be approved. This is a g-rated site, keep it clean or it will be deleted. This is my site and I reserve the right to approve and decline comments as I see fit.**