Kayoh @ 190

“What route do you fly?” is the number one question asked of airline pilots and is also probably one of the top reasons we generally avoid being in uniform if at all possible so as to not be asked this question.

It is not the fault of the passenger sitting next to us while we have to travel on company business. Most people have known someone at some point in life who probably did fly from LAX to Tokyo every other Tuesday, but I personally have never met a pilot who was able to have a schedule that predictable.

I am not quite sure why pilots have such an aversion to this question just like I am not quite sure why a “normal” person has the idea that we all fly from one city to one other city and that’s it. Back in the extremely early days of aviation (I’m talking transporting the mail before commercial passenger flights took place) the pilots were assigned to a “route”. For example, Route A went from Buffalo, NY to Detroit to Louisville and then back up to Buffalo.  Route B would go from Buffalo to Pittsburgh to Columbus, OH and back up to Buffalo.  You get the idea.  So yes, there definitely used to be “Routes”.  Then the glory days of passenger airlines came upon us, especially when the planes started flying overseas to Europe and beyond. A pilot just might be able to go from LAX to Tokyo every other Tuesday.  But those days are long gone. We’re talking decades gone.  Now, it is all about efficiency.

At my airline, most of the scheduled trips take me across the nation a couple of times as well as up and down one or both of the coasts.  Every trip is different and for me personally, because I am at the bottom of the seniority totem pole, I never know where I’m going until I get to my base where I begin every trip. Each trip is always a new adventure with different cities and different crews to fly with.  Just flying one route all the time could get quite tedious.

I would absolutely love to know where the idea became ingrained in society that pilots have only one route, but in the meantime I will do my best to answer this one question with grace and kindness.

Fear is a part of life. Fear of heights, fear of water and most definitely fear of flying. Getting on a commercial airplane for some people is an extremely nerve wracking experience usually handled with pills, alcohol or just the simplicity of holding someone’s hand. Even with this fear, people face it knowing that otherwise it would take them a week of driving or riding the train to get them to where they want to go.

I always encourage fearful flyers to talk to the pilots whenever possible. For one thing, I have seen a person visibly feel better and more relaxed as they are about to go back to their seat. I guess just talking to the pilots and knowing who is up there helps. For another, meeting a passenger who is nervous about flying stays with me throughout the flight. Most of the time pilots do not interact with the passengers, so if I have a face in my mind of a person who is experiencing anxiety over being on my airplane, I will do everything I can to make sure that flight is as smooth as humanly possible. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but I will definitely put in the extra effort.

That all being said, I just had an experience with a passenger that I have no idea what to think.

While getting ready for a flight during passenger boarding, the flight attendant comes up and says that she had someone who was scared of flying and wanted to talk to us.  When she came in the cockpit, she was crying and sniffing and generally freaked out. A petite girl in her early twenties just crying her eyes out because she had to get on an airplane. My heart really went out to her.

She took another step closer to us and said “I know that over 90% of airplane crashes are the pilot’s fault, so please don’t kill me”.

(This is the part where you insert the screeching tire sound)

After picking our jaws up off the floor, both of us took turns trying to calm her down and explain that we didn’t want to die either and we would do everything we could to make the flight as smooth and safe as possible, but to no avail. She kept throwing various airplane crashes at us and telling us how it was all the pilot’s fault that these people died and that she didn’t want to die.

The kicker of it was that she has been flying quite a bit commercially since she was two years old. She knew what to expect. She knew if something sounded different than normal when the airplane was climbing or descending. She knew more than an awful lot of people do about airplanes.

After a few minutes of this, any nugget of nurturing female compassion on my part went out the window and I was seriously trying to figure out how to get this woman out of my cockpit.  I still think back on it and have no clue what was really going on. If she was really that afraid (I can’t imagine being completely paralyzed by a fear like that), why was she getting on an airplane? Was this to get attention? Did she have any clue that by using that approach to get someone to help you will probably backfire? It was a curious situation.

As far as I know, she was fine during the flight. We never heard a peep about her once she left the cockpit, but that was a conversation I will not forget.

I am going to go out on a limb here and wish everyone a Merry Christmas!  Very un-PC of me, but no matter which holiday you celebrate, I believe a good old fashion Merry Christmas is in order

I will be frolicking around our great nation (Canada too on this trip) taking people to here from there in order to be with their loved ones for the Holidays. My goal is to bring a little cheer to the masses at the airports and hotels wherever I go. First, I will start here:

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

Part of my job includes a bit of PR duty, especially with the kiddies. Not too often, but every once in awhile when we’re getting ready for the next flight, a child will come up to the cockpit and take a look around. Most of the time, they are shy and don’t really know why Mom and/or Dad made them go visit the scary pilots in the front of the big airplane. Usually, I just let them sit in my seat and ask Mom if she has a camera, then a few pictures are taken, the kid tries to leave as fast as they can while the parents excitedly thank us for giving this experience to their child.

Today, however, was a different and more rewarding experience for me. While in Pittsburgh, getting ready to go to San Fransisco this little boy showed up in the cockpit all by himself and started talking to us. The guy I was flying with did the usual of offering up his seat, which the boy promptly climbed right on up and started having a great time playing with the various controls and buttons.

We find out that his name is Noah and that he has flown on Northwest, Air Canada, and Japan Airlines to name a few. Noah is a world traveler at seven years old. He then asks us what would happen if we ran out of gas. We tell him that we have enough gas to fly for six hours but our flight will only take four and a half. To which he counters with, “yeah, but what if you still run out?”.

Somewhere in there, Noah’s Mom appears and talks to us for a few minutes and during that time I watch as Noah figures out how to strap himself into the five-point seatbelt harness as well as how to get the seat to move around (very impressive, took me awhile and this little guy is seven!).

It may not be much, but Noah reminded me of when I was a little girl flying out to visit Grandma. I always asked to go see the cockpit (when you could actually do that in flight), and was so excited when I got back to my seat. It was such a treat for me to see that kind of excitement and curiosity in a child.

Of course, being the smartass that I am, when Noah and his Mom were turning to go back to their seats I just couldn’t resist:  “So Noah, have you ever been to a Turkish prison?”  Luckily, the adults all got a laugh from my Airplane reference and the look on Noah’s face was priceless

Today, 57 of my fellow pilots were let go. Let go in a crazy world of corporate greed and bailouts. A world where there are no jobs unless you want to outsource yourself overseas. I feel for them and their families, and yet I sit here crossing my fingers and praying it won’t be me next.

I have spent the whole of my adult life chasing airplanes all over this great country, so now the question has to be asked….How far am I willing to go to chase airplanes? What other skills do I possess? Should I go back to school? If so, what for?  I ask myself these questions, and inevitably end up crossing my fingers and praying that at the end of the day, I will keep my job.