I first thought of this making this blog entry while walking around my aircraft during a preflight one morning after a good night's sleep. It was a nice calm, cool morning. The hotel even had a nice little free breakfast for us. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the sun was just breaking over the horizon. I could see a couple of large birds sitting on various airport signs and lights. After all, the big open fields at an airport are a great place to hunt for rodents and the like. On climb out, the brightening sky was just incredible and the air was nice and smooth. Even ATC wasn't very busy that morning. We were cleared direct to our destination. I had a nice warm cup of coffee in my hands and I got to thinking, "Man, this job isn't so bad sometimes..."
With all the bad news that's going on all over the world, I figured it's about time to report some good news. Sure, there are lots of downsides to the job I have, but sometimes things are pretty good. The last couple of trips I've been on, most things really did fall into place rather well and it made for quite the enjoyable time at work.
When I was ready to start my last trip, I was at my local airport trying to hitch a ride on a mainline flight to my base. The flight was pretty full, so I was planning to hitch a ride up on the jumpseat. Usually, this isn't a very comfortable seat, but it's a seat nonetheless. I waited for everyone else to get on board and then I brought up the end of the line. At the last minute, the gate agent handed me a boarding pass. It was for an open seat in first class. Fantastic. A nice big seat, leg room, not to mention a free breakfast on the way to work. It was hard to be upset about my job that morning.
After we flew a few legs that day, it was time to head to the hotel. We shut down the plane, packed up, and headed across the airport. I was expecting to stand around for another 15-20mins waiting for the hotel shuttle. However, we walked outside and the shuttle was right there waiting for us. We just walked right up to it, got on, and headed off to the airport. That was a very nice surprise.
One morning, there was a maintenance issue with the aircraft we were supposed to take. It wasn't expected to be a big deal, so I put all my stuff away, and did my walk around. Then, I started going through all the paperwork. I knew that if I didn't have everything done and ready, the maintenance guy would show up, fix the issue and send us on his way. If I wasn't ready to go, then we would take another 20mins to get ready before departing, and then chief pilot wouldn't be pleased with me. I also knew that if I did take the time to get everything ready, and we did swap planes, I'd have to do all this work over again. Sure enough, after I got all of my tasks done, maintenance said they wouldn't be able to fix the issue at the gate and we'd have to swap aircraft. I sighed, accepted the fact, and began to pack my stuff up. It was at the moment where maintenance indeed was able to fix the problem. He signed us off and we were on our way. I really couldn't complain about that little turn of events.
Anyone that has taken a few airline flights in their life would know that delays are just a part of this business. Sometimes it's for a broken plane, a late plane, other times it's weather. Just before boarding the passengers up for the last leg of our trip, we were told by ATC that we would be looking at at least an hour delay. I grabbed another cup of coffee, and just relaxed in my seat. I'm not 100% sure why, but I had left the clearance delivery frequency up on the radio with the speaker on. Maybe just to have something to listen to. Then, they called me back. I replied. They said, "The ground stop has been canceled. You are released when ready!" Fantastic!
As a last little reward, when I commuted home at the end of this trip, I went to hop on the train. I knew that my card didn't have all that much money on it. So, I knew I would have to stop and add some money to it before I hopped on the train. I popped my card in and I had over $24 on it! I was sure I didn't have enough to make a trip, but as it turned out, I had more than plenty!
Sometimes, things can really suck. Sometimes, you just can't catch a break anywhere. However, statically speaking, a streak like that can't last forever. Looks like I have been on a good streak lately. Alas, I also know that it won't last forever, but it sure has been a nice change of pace and I've remembered just how much I really do enjoy flying for a living.
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