It’s a bird, it’s a plane…no, it’s Kaihily the Pilot! Pilots travel a LOT, and Kaihily is no exception… we’ve caught up with her to find out all about her latest adventures and to see where she’s off to next.

(PS – Look for definitions of words with a * at the end of the interview!)

Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us, Kaihily!

I’m happy to be here!

So, where have you flown to recently? You’re a difficult gal to get a hold of!

(She laughs) Well it’s been a busy few months, but I just arrived here from Hawaii.

I hear it’s beautiful there this time of year! Is that a typical route for you?

I actually live in Hawaii! I was home for nearly a week between flights. I don’t usually have typical routes. Since I have seniority* at my airline, I usually get to choose the flights I want and build my own schedule. This month I had 17 days off!

Wow, that seems like a lot of days off. Do you find it hard that you don’t have a typical schedule?

That’s a good question… I think because I’ve always had such a varied* work schedule, I’ve become used to it. I like that I can choose my routes depending on where I want to go that month, or how many hours I want to fly. It gives me a lot of flexibility!

Did you always want to become a pilot? And was it easy to become one?

I didn’t really know what I wanted to do until I was a little older and already finished university. It wasn’t too difficult to be a pilot, but required a lot of time. In order to become licenced*, I had to pass the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) test after logging a minimum of 250 hours of flying time. After that, I needed to have at least 1500 hours to become licensed as an airline transport pilot, which is the type of pilot who works on commercial airlines. (source: https://study.com/articles/Become_a_Licensed_Commercial_Pilot_Step-by-Step_Career_Guide.html)

What do you like to do when you’re back home?

I LOVE to skateboard. It’s one of my favorite things to do! Sometimes I choose my flights based on places that have great skateparks, so I can go try them out. I also love yoga… I find it keeps me grounded… (laughs) … no pun intended!

Definitions:

Words can sometimes mean different things. Within this interview, these words mean the following:

*seniority: “a privileged position earned by reason of longer service or higher rank”

*varied: “having more than one option or form”

*licenced: “to permit the use of something, usually legally”