"Flight 2876, One three right, cleared for takeoff."
"One three right, cleared for takeoff, 2876", I repeated to Dallas Love tower, a couple days ago. The captain taxied the airplane on to the runway, and lined it up on the centerline. I took control of it and smoothly pushed the thrust levers forward. I was pushed back against my seat as we started rolling down the runway. A few thousand feet down the runway, I pulled back on the yoke and gently lifted us off in to the calm, blue, morning sky. It was around 7am and the sun had just come up. We had less than 20 people in the back so we climbed quickly in to the sky. The morning sun reflected off the numerous lakes and turned them in to a warm gold and the earth slowly got further and further away. The next few hours, I enjoyed some fun conversation with my captain. We flew over west Texas, the plateaus and mesas in New Mexico, saw a little bit of the Grand Canyon as we flew over Arizona, and finally, cruised over southern California and landed at LAX.
A few days earlier, we arrived at the airport early and were talking to some of the passengers before boarding. One woman told me that we were taking her to see her father for the last time before he passed away.
Another time, just a few weeks earlier, one of the passengers told me that we were taking him to be the best man in his brothers wedding who he had not seen in 5 years.
As more of my flights get cancelled, my mind inevitably goes to places that I wish it wouldn't. I worry if the day will come where I am not able to do what I love so much. I am grateful everyday that I get to fly airplanes. I am grateful to be a small part of people's lives that help them get safely and comfortably to anywhere they need to get to for the variety of reasons they need to get there. I take pride in every second of my job. I've never loved a job as much as I love to fly.
Over the past couple weeks, numerous airlines have shut down for good. Compass, Trans States, Ravn, and others are no longer around. I have friends at some of these airlines who are now without a job. I feel so badly for them. This has been devastating for so many families in every industry.
I feel that once the worst part of this virus has passed us by, that it's all gonna be okay. I just hope my job is still there when it happens and I hope and pray everyday that when it all shakes out, I can still get to safely take you on your vacation. I hope I get to happily take you to see your family so you can hug them and hold them again. I hope to be able to spend the rest of my life connecting you with the important moments in yours.
I also hope that we all learn to be nicer to each other. That we work on learning from each other's differences rather than using them as a wedge to drive us further apart. I hope our minds open and we realize that we all play in the same sand box and that if we all play nice, it's better for all of us.
Take care of yourselves and each other. Thanks for reading this. Talk to you later.
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