Saturday, December 8, 2012

Three day trip....just right

I enjoyed my last 3 day trip. My Captain and I got along just fine and I found a flight attendant is also a pilot...a commercial instrument pilot actually.

It was a 5-4-3 trip. Five legs day one, four on day two and three on day three. The trip ended at 10PM. I haven't had a trip end that late....in years.

On day one, during one of the longer legs, my Captain had to use the lav. Policy is for another crew member (normally a flight attendant) to come up to the flight deck and sit in the jump seat. This is in cae the remaining pilot become incapacitated, the other pilot can still access the flight deck.

I noticed the flight attendant really scanning the screens....more so than just looking. Sure enough she is a commercial pilot with her instrument rating. She had recently sold her own plane and was getting ready to get her dispatcher license. After at least 10 years as a flight attendant she has had enough. Dispatchers at my airline top out in the low six figure range.

I've only had a small handful of flight attendants who were pilots in the last few years, very few commercially rated.

The trip was fairly uneventful.

On day two, while hanging out in the crew room I left behind my Nexus 7 tablet. I just finished chatting with friend who is a junior Captain. I made it all the way to my gate when I got a text asking if I left a tablet behind. Doh! On the way back to the plane I realized the snap on my ID holder was open...and my Crew ID was missing...with just 15 minutes to departure.

I figured it likely fell off in the cockpit as I got up. Walking down the jet bridge another Captain had my ID in his hand, a ramper found it. I'm getting old and forgetful eh?

On day three the day started with what I thought was an 11:30AM van. The hotel was in a downtown metro area which means no free breakfast and any food around was expensive.

I found a coffee house and had a decent breakfast. On the way back to the hotel I pondered getting an 11AM van and getting lunch at the airport. The flight to the hub was 3 hours long.

I should have gone early.

When I went down for the 11AM van...I was the only one there. The van driver stated the rest of the crew took an 11AM van. They tried to call me but I was out. A note on my door would have been nice.

Rushed to the airport and through security. I got to the plane at 11:50AM and we blocked out at 12;05PM...a few minutes early.

Long flight. Thankfully I always carry snacks.

Two hour sit. The last turn STARTED at 5PM. None of us were in the mood to fly. Four hours later we were back in base. Tailwinds and light loads helped us arrive 30 minutes early.

One perk of 3 day trips is I have 4 days off between trips instead of 3 days. More time with the kiddo.

1 comment:

  1. [...] rain. …. It felt wrong to come through so much of it in the rain and finish under blue sky. Three day trip….just right The hotel was in a downtown metro area which means no free breakfast and any food around was [...]

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