Airline pilot - a dream job

“This is one of the best jobs I could ever have,” says First Officer Sven Schönleber. The 31-year-old Lufthansa co-pilot comes from the small town of Holzgerlingen in Swabia. Join him on a four-day rotation from Frankfurt to Orlando, Florida, and back and experience a normal day with him.

Rotation to Orlando

The morning sky over Frankfurt is hazy, but the mercury is rising rapidly. Dressed in his dark uniform, Sven Schönleber enters the Flight Operations Center (FOC) at Frankfurt Airport. In a few hours’ time, he will take off for Orlando in the sunshine state of Florida. Sven Schönleber is a Lufthansa pilot and is here to be briefed on the route to his destination. The one broad and two narrow stripes on his sleeve and on the epaulettes of his shirt identify him as a Senior First Officer, or SFO. This means that he is qualified to take over when the pilot in command takes a break once the aircraft has reached its cruising altitude.

Beads of sweat glisten on Schönleber’s forehead. “The air conditioning wasn’t working on the ICE,” he says. Schönleber travels to work by train. The connection to Frankfurt Airport is so good, he explains, and it means that he generally arrives at work relaxed – avoiding the stress of being caught in a traffic jam. Today he had to put up with the unexpected inconvenience. “But it is more important that I arrive on time,” he adds.

Because he always allows extra time to get to work, he has time for a cup of coffee and a chat with his colleagues before the briefing with the other members of the cockpit crew. Here Schönleber meets the first crew members for the forthcoming flight, LH 464. Next to him stands Gerhard Weiland – “my boss”, as Schönleber calls the captain on the flight to Orlando.