An American Airlines airline pilot has taken flight on social media after revealing some trade secrets along with a number of photos of himself enjoying life in-between his hectic work schedule.
Garrett, 29, from North Carolina, has accrued more than 600,000 followers on Instagram and a similar number on TikTok, with his posts detailing life behind the scenes as a commercial airline pilot.
In one of his recent videos, Garrett tackles ‘where poop goes on planes’ and says while many people think it’s dumped out mid-flight ‘onto the population down below’, it actually ‘goes through plumbing to the rear of the aircraft.’
Then when the plane lands, ground crew remove the toilet build-up via pipes.
Garrett, 29, from North Carolina, has accrued more than 600,000 followers on Instagram and a similar number on TikTok, with his posts detailing life behind the scenes as a pilot
When he’s not flying planes, Garrett’s posts reveal his other two major loves: leisure travel and going to the gym
Continuing on the subject of waste, he reveals: ‘On a 747 on a long haul flight, toilets can be flushed over a thousand times creating over 320 gallons of waste. That’s a lot!’
In another TikTok post, the aviation addict responds to the question: ‘Do pilots sleep on planes?’
He explains to viewers that the answer is ‘yes’ but ‘it’s not what you’re thinking’ and it’s not merely a case of snoozing at the tiller – a plane’s equivalent to the steering wheel of a car.
While showing a photo of a secret staff sleeping compartment inside an aircraft, Garrett continues: ‘Just to be clear, pilots aren’t sleeping on the flight deck on long haul flights.
‘There’s actually something called an augmented flight crew meaning there’s more than just two pilots up in the flight deck during these augmented crew flights.
‘Pilots will actually alternate going back to a designated rest area. A lot of these long haul airlines actually have designated crew bunk areas that are out of sight of passengers.’
One of Garrett’s posts also addresses what happens when lightning strikes a plane.
He says since a deadly strike in the US took out a plane in 1967 due to a catastrophic fuel tank explosion things have become ‘significantly safer’ with aircraft built to withstand such blows.
According to Garrett, who became a pilot at the age of 18, each commercial airline gets struck by lightning at least once a year and it has happened to him once during his aviation career.
He recalled: ‘The lightning bolt actually hit right under the nose underneath my feet and exited.’
The National Weather Service says ‘commercial transport passenger planes are hit by lightning an average of one or two times a year.’
‘They are designed and built to have conducting paths through the plane to take the lightning strike and conduct the currents,’ the service says.
For fearful flyers Garrett recommends a number of techniques to calm the nerves including getting to the airport early and finding a place to meditate if possible.
When it comes to selecting a seat on the plane with the least turbulence, he recommends opting for one near the wing.
‘If you’re near the wing route you actually are absorbing most of the turbulence in the wing route so therefore you will feel less and less bumps throughout the flight,’ he said.
Dr. Quay Snyder, the president of the Aviation Medicine Advisory Service, says seats over the wings – typically found in rows 10 to 30 – provide more stability as they are closer to the ‘center of mass.’
On the financial front, many viewers have quizzed Garrett on how much pilots make as he often shows glimpses of his luxury lifestyle, enjoying designer fashion brands, luxury cars and five-star hotels.
In another TikTok post, the aviation addict reveals how pilots sleep on planes, revealing what one of the secret staff sleeping compartments looks like
Garrett also shared ‘where poop goes on planes’ and says while many people think it’s dumped out mid-flight, it actually ‘goes through plumbing to the rear of the aircraft’
Garrett started out as a pilot when he was 18 and he now works for a major US airline
He says a new hire regional pilot can make $50,000 to $60,000 a year, and ‘then top out around $100,000.’
With major airlines, he says that salaries are ‘all over the place’.
‘Maybe on the lower end around $75,000 to $85,000 at the absolute bottom and then the sky’s the limit. If people want to fly as much as possible, pick up all this premium time, time and a half [etc],’ he said.
‘There are some cargo pilots and wide body captains… who make like $700,000 to $800,000 but if you’re a normal captain you can expect to make maybe $200,000 to $300,000 a year.’
Finally, on the topic of chemtrails – the theory that governments or other powers are engaged in a secret program to add toxic chemicals to the atmosphere from aircraft – the pilot says: ‘They’re not real.’
Garrett says on the matter: ‘Seriously they’re actually called contrails. [These are] essentially just really cold air up at altitude going through a turbine leaving condensation out the backend, hence the name ‘con.’
Continuing on the subject of waste, the pilot reveals: ‘On a 747 on a long haul flight, toilets can be flushed over a thousand times creating over 320 gallons of waste. That’s a lot!’
The pilot says one of the most common questions he gets is how he keeps in shape while he’s on the road. He says it’s simply a case of going to the gym when he can
Many images showcase his fit physique – which he says is the result of a dedicated workout routine – in a spread of sun-drenched destinations. Above, pictured on the Amalfi Coast in Italy
‘It’s the same thing as you walking outside on a really cold day and exhaling warm air – you’re basically creating contrails yourself.’
When he’s not flying planes, Garrett’s posts reveal his other two major loves: leisure travel and going to the gym.
Many images showcase his fit physique, which he says is the result of a dedicated workout routine, in a spread of sun-drenched destinations, from the Amalfi Coast to the Cayman Islands.
The pilot says one of the most common questions he gets is how he keeps in shape while he’s on the road.
He says it’s simply a case of going to the gym when he can, no matter what time of day it is.
In one video Garrett is seen pumping iron in a 6am workout class, which he said was followed up by walking his dog, Bella, and indulging in an infrared sauna session.
In other clips he is seen making a protein-packed smoothie and eating a protein bar, which he says is one of his essential snacks ‘after a workout, a hike, and just a long plane ride.’
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