Cleared for Takeoff: Day Two - Diversions, Delays, and LaGuardia Nights

Sleep was elusive last night, for me and apparently the whole crew. No one could quite get comfortable, and while the bed and temperature were fine, I just couldn't get into a deep sleep. Still, I woke up feeling surprisingly recharged and ready for day two of IOE.

I got up around 4:45 a.m. to prep for the day. I reviewed the company pages, routes, and any potential items to flag. The first leg was from Savannah to JFK, and I was scheduled to be the pilot flying. What I didn’t expect was a maintenance delay right off the bat: during the preflight, we spotted evidence of a possible bird strike on one of the wings—likely from a previous leg at night that may have gone unnoticed. Maintenance was called, inspections were done, and everything checked out structurally.

Then, as we were starting the aircraft, we got an APU shutoff valve failure message. Suspected cause? The previous crew may have powered off the batteries before the APU completed its shutdown. We ran the GRG procedure and resolved it, but it pushed us behind schedule. Despite that, we managed to make up time in the air. With the longer flight duration, we covered several items on the IOE training lesson plan, especially those surrounding maintenance write-ups and procedures.

In-flight, we were reassigned. Originally slated to fly JFK to Norfolk, we were rerouted to Raleigh and then tasked with an additional third leg: Raleigh to LaGuardia. This also meant changing codeshares—from Delta to American—which triggered the unique JFK shuffle. We deplaned, hiked across the terminal, boarded the train to the American terminal, and cleared security all over again. That adventure alone took more than 40 minutes. We got to the gate right at the scheduled departure time, and I felt the pressure mounting as we prepped the plane.

This leg was the captain's to fly, and I was on radios. Honestly, I need to tighten up my ATC work. Some of the rapid-fire instructions were tough to catch, especially without familiarity with the routes. But the captain was excellent—pulled me through with calm precision, and I learned a ton. He shared some descent management techniques using a blend of vertical modes, which made the approach into Raleigh smooth and efficient.

We had a decent layover at RDU before our next leg back to LGA. I hadn’t eaten all day, so I powered through the English muffin I had snagged from the Savannah hotel breakfast. That’s when we got word of a ground stop at LaGuardia due to frequency outages. We figured we had time, but just as everyone was settling in to eat, the ground stop cleared. Time to board.

This last leg of the day was mine to fly. I felt more confident than I had earlier—more in control of the aircraft, the flow, and the timing. We followed the Hudson River up to runway 22 at LaGuardia, descending with a gorgeous view of NYC lit up below. The landing was a bit wobbly, but I took it all the way to touchdown solo, and it felt good.

The surprise bonus of being rerouted to LGA? I matched layovers with my original training partner, who's also here tonight. We’re planning to grab dinner later, and I’m looking forward to some downtime. Tomorrow we head from LGA to Indianapolis—just one leg, and then we’re done.

All in all, today was a wild mix of reroutes, maintenance issues, long walks through JFK, and valuable lessons in staying flexible. It was a real taste of line flying—and I’m already looking forward to what comes next.