Christelle Findeling graduated from EM Normandie, but her career took a completely different trajectory. Today, she is an airline pilot and captain for Air France. She looks back on her adventure which led her to rub shoulders with the clouds, but also on the preconceptions which persist about women in a profession which is still very masculine.
Christelle’s journey, from EM Normandie to the profession of airline pilot
Can you go back over your journey?
After EM Normandie, I didn’t look for work. I looked at the theoretical aspect to master to become an airline pilot. You had to pass around ten exams which took place every three months. I was alone with my books at home and I passed them on as a book candidate. It took me three years to get through everything. It was sometimes hard, because my profile as a management school student made me a math expert, while I was asked to be strong in physics.
After the theory, I had to move on to practice. I first joined a flying club to start flying. I then completed approved courses, quite expensive courses, before obtaining my private pilot’s license, then my professional pilot’s license. Finally, I had to pass my instrument-qualified professional pilot certificate, then the crew work qualification. From now on, this procedure is called CPLIR.
I had to wait two years before arriving at Brit Air. In fact, to be able to fly an airplane, you have to be qualified on an airplane. This is an expensive procedure, but airlines can finance it. So, by joining Brit Air, they paid for my qualification and I owed the company four years. At the same time, I went through the Air France recruitment process and was accepted. So I left Brit Air after a year, paying off my qualification.
Why go to business school to work as an airline pilot?
My passion was not born at that time. I discovered aeronautics thanks toEM Normandy. I completed a student internship as a flight attendant for Air France. My very first flight was a Paris-Madrid round trip. At the time, there were more personnel, notably a flight engineer. On my first flight, it was a woman and I was captivated.
You wanted to give up everything to become a pilot. How did your parents take it?
Coming back from my internship, at the end of the first year, I wanted to become a pilot and so I talked to my parents about it. They told me to finish school, while specifying that I could do whatever I wanted afterwards. So I continued to do my internships as a flight attendant for Air France, since it was well paid and I was able to be financially independent and thus pay for my last two years of studies at EM Normandy as well as my pilot training.
Become a pilot at Air France
Is it complex to integrate Air France?
There are many steps. I started in 90 and I was really ready in 97. You really have to stay motivated and keep believing. First of all, there is the Air France selection with interviews with psychologists and executives who are captains. Psychotechnical tests and psychomotor tests must also be carried out.
Then, once we arrive, we spend two months on a ground simulator and two months with an instructor. There is then a check, then we are released! You start as a co-pilot on small or medium-haul, then long-haul, before becoming captain of medium-haul and small aircraft and, finally, long-haul captain. Our license is put back into play every year since we do a mock check every six months and a simulated license renewal every year.
How did the first flight go?
It’s a relief. We feel light. At first, we are nervous, the captain’s costume is a little big, but we quickly get our bearings.
The daily life of an airline pilot
What is a typical day like for an airline pilot?
There is no routine. Every time we go on a flight, everything is different. We must clearly identify the fact that there are two professions. The first is that of a medium-haul pilot who flies a lot. We will do up to four stages per day, while a long-haul pilot generally completes one stage per day. The flight can last 12 hours and there is no piloting as such. We put it on autopilot and it’s more of a surveillance job.
Certain elements remain the same for both types of piloting. In the morning, you have to prepare the flights, analyze the filling data and the weather conditions. We then choose the fuel and repeat the operation for each flight.
It is said that it is a job that causes a lot of stress. How to manage it?
Above all, there will be difficult weather conditions. What I like least are the storms which are becoming more and more frequent. On the other hand, we are trained and prepared for breakdowns. A study has proven that, in recent plane accidents, there was a major communication problem between the pilot and co-pilot. Thus, the human factor is taken into account much more now.
Today, at Air France, we have CRM, for Crew Resource Management. These are compulsory courses for civil aviation. Each year, we are entitled to modules on stress management, fatigue management and decision-making. We also learn to regain control of our emotions.
Pilot, a very masculine profession
There are few women in your profession. Have you ever suffered comments because of your gender?
It’s more or less obvious. At one time, some pilots did not want to see women in their cockpits. If there are two co-pilots, a man and a woman, the captain will systematically give flight instructions to the man. If I have my coat on and it hides my gallons, I’m taken for the chief of staff…
However, they say that it is not a woman’s job, I say yes, on the contrary. There are many advantages to practicing this profession. Only 7% of us are women at Air France who are pilots, but here, we are classified according to our arrival number. Being a woman has no impact on pay or advancement.
