There's moonlighting, and then there's MOONLIGHTING

I know, I know. Most of the time you're in the air, it's not as if Captain Bob is actually flying the plane. Other than a few minutes at take off, a few minutes on landing, planes run on autopilot.

Admittedly, it's not as if the flesh-and-blood real pilots like Captain Bob get to goof off when autopilot is autopiloting. They actually have to manage autopilot and make sure nothing gang agly.  

In any case, flesh-and-blood real pilots need to be on their game. That's why there are limitations on the number of hours a pilot can fly. Who wants a flesh-and-blood real pilot nodding off if and when auto decides to act up. Or something.

But one flesh-and-blood real pilot decided that she was the one who was going to go rogue. 

According to the Shift, First Officer Danica Theuma was employed by both KM Malta Airlines and Virgin Atlantic. It appears that she has been working for both airlines simultaneously, at least since December 2023. (Source: Simple Flying)

Theuma's main airline squeeze was the KM Malta gig; Virgin Atlantic was her side hustle. 

While the breach of contract is obvious, the main issue with this situation is that Theuma was breaking her rest and duty limitations by working for Virgin Atlantic during her mandatory rest period.

Not having adequate rest severely reduces performance and can lead to impaired decision-making, which can result in disastrous emergency results. In addition to breaking airline regulations, Theuma also broke ICAO and EU regulations, putting both airlines at risk of fines and penalties and possibly compromising the airline’s insurance and liability.

Not surprisingly, Theuma was fired by Virgin. Surprisingly - given that she could have had her license revoked - KM Malta Airlines suspended her for a brief time but she has been reinstated. 

There's plenty of things a pilot could do if they wanted to moonlight during their off hours. And pilots flying in the EU have plenty of those off hours, as their flight hours are capped at 100 per month. 

They could sell stuff on real estate. Or eBay. (In Theuma's Pinterest profile, she lists real estate as in interest, so she may have been double-dipping on her moonlighting. She also lists traveling...) They could flip houses. Or drive an Uber. They could, of course, be influencers. Or they could go old-school like the moonlighting firefighters of my youth and do painting and wallpapering. (Firemen were the only people I knew back then who moonlighted, at least as far as I know - other than teachers who might do something or other over the summer. One job seemed like plenty enough for most people.)

Meanwhile, I'm wondering whether Theuma had been hoping to catch on full time with Virgin Air. 

KM Malta has a fleet of eight planes, and pretty much flies from Malta - population 531,000 - to destinations in Europe. Virgin Air has about five times that number of plane and flies to lots of places. Just not Malta.

So, despite not flying to Malta, there would have been a lot more opportunity for professional development at Virgin Atlantic, likely a better payday, and quite a bit more glam. Not exactly a genius move to screw up a possible career with Virgin. 

Wonder if Danica Theuma is having any regrets now that the skies aren't quite so friendly for her. At least she'll be able to get more rest.