Cabin Pressure with Shawn and "G"
Every Monday, listeners are invited to join seasoned flight attendants Shawn and G for an exciting journey behind the scenes and into the galley of their favorite airlines with the podcast, "Cabin Pressure!" This show promises to bring the thrilling in-flight experience directly to the listeners' ears.
Shawn and G, with their wealth of knowledge and affable personalities, create an atmosphere akin to sharing a drink and captivating stories with friends at 30,000 feet. "Cabin Pressure!" seeks to entertain a wide audience—whether listeners are aviation enthusiasts, frequent flyers, or simply fans of a good story.
The podcast provides entertainment for anyone traveling, enduring the daily commute, or seeking an amusing escape at any time. With "Cabin Pressure," listeners are encouraged to fasten their seatbelts, stow their tray tables, and prepare for takeoff into an engaging adventure.
Cabin Pressure with Shawn and "G"
When Experience Matters: The 65-Year Cutoff and the Future of Aviation
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Step into the cockpit with John, a veteran pilot with 51 years of flying experience and 39 years in commercial aviation. His journey through the skies spans 53 different aircraft types and countless adventures that illuminate both the joys and challenges of a life spent above the clouds.
The conversation tackles a controversial topic in aviation: the mandatory retirement age of 65 for commercial airline pilots. John argues this represents outdated age discrimination, particularly as pilots undergo rigorous medical exams every six months and proficiency checks regularly. Why should capable, experienced pilots be forced to ground themselves when they can still pass every test thrown their way? The timing seems especially problematic given the industry's current struggle with pilot shortages.
Wildlife encounters feature prominently as John shares hair-raising stories about birds, rabbits, and other creatures meeting unfortunate ends in aircraft engines. One particularly memorable incident involved geese being "cooked" in an engine after a strike, filling the cabin with smoke and necessitating an emergency return. Despite these challenges, John maintains that "the best flight is boring and uneventful."
The episode offers rare glimpses into pilot culture, from judging colleagues' aircraft walk-arounds to dealing with problematic flight attendants. In one hilarious exchange, a co-pilot responded to repeated cabin calls about a passenger vomiting by asking with perfect deadpan delivery: "What color is the vomit?" claiming it was now required information. The camaraderie and humor that sustain aviation professionals through challenging situations shines throughout these stories.
What emerges is a passionate case for valuing experience in the cockpit. As one host observes about flying with veteran pilots during turbulence: "Never did I think twice about it when you and Chris are up in the cockpit." In an industry where split-second decisions matter, perhaps we should reconsider rules that prioritize age over demonstrated ability.
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pilots have an age limit and they have a mandatory retirement. A rabbit gets sucked into an engine, the flight attendant. No one wants to fly with all this. Next, on cabin pressure. What is up? That was loud.
Speaker 2:I was expecting this big opening. I know you were this big freaking opening Every week, this big ass opening, and then, all of a sudden, what is up?
Speaker 1:Bra, that's what my nephew always says. Bra, you're killing me, man.
Speaker 2:Like I said, I was expecting this big-ass opening and then nothing. No, man Just fell off the shelf on that one.
Speaker 1:What's been going on? Oh, you know, first of all, the weather's breaking Golf's in the air right now, so everybody's like ready to get out there. So the wife and I just went out and did some golfing today. Actually I suck and she's great, as usual.
Speaker 2:I was waiting for that one. I already knew that.
Speaker 1:I'm going to say it myself first, before you say it.
Speaker 2:Oh, I'm still going to say it Because he's not exactly happy, gilmore, over there.
Speaker 1:No, I can play, but today was not a first-round rough start and it was wet out there, man, it was like sloppy wet. My whole my, my pans have mud on them and everything so here comes the excuses right now, okay, no, no I know it was sloppy wet.
Speaker 2:The course was this. That was it. You know, okay, how did carol shoot?
Speaker 1:carol was good, she's always good yeah same course same course. Okay, right, that's kind of ironic, but she hit it less than me. Yeah, well, which is the point?
Speaker 1:Especially in that game right, exactly, but anyways, the other thing that's going on, on a little bit of a serious note, is that this week my freaking doctor, you know I have to like every three months I'm on this heart medication. I got like these heart problems and stuff and my doctor's like I have to get a EKG and a blood test and all this stuff because of this medication and he pulled me off of it and he's like, sorry, it's not working anymore. So now I'm back into having PVCs If you know what PVCs are, which is basically extra heartbeats, and one of the how basically extra heartbeats and how they fix that is that one, they can do it with medication. And two, the second part is you can do a heart surgery, which is an ablation, and I've already had one and now they're like you're going to have another one. So the big suck happening right now. So when is that going to happen? That's to be determined, but yeah, I'm not looking forward to this whole situation.
Speaker 2:So until then no medication.
Speaker 1:No medication for the heart or anything, because it's not working. So it's like you know, that medication I was doing like every 12 hours. I had to do it. It was a pain in the ass but it was helping, but then evidently it just stopped working. So, like I went to the doctor today for my knee this morning and you know they try to take a heart, um, blood pressure for you. Yeah, and this, this condition I have right now, those machines won't work so they can't take my blood pressure. That crazy, that is crazy. Yeah, yeah, yeah, but uh, so that's a happy note. What's in right now?
Speaker 2:but what do you notice in that?
Speaker 1:though, when?
Speaker 2:you're talking about the, do you notice?
Speaker 1:anything. No, the crazy thing is that I rarely have any symptoms like with it, like comes along with it, like I I'm sitting here and I'm having it right now, and like I have a monitor over here on my desk, that uh, that um, I can like do ekg myself.
Speaker 2:That uh, cardiomobile have you ever heard of?
Speaker 1:that. No, it's that thing that they, you know, they have them in your billfold types and then they have ones that are higher tech, that does six-point leads and stuff like that. But it can do EKG just sitting there and I could show you I have PVCs going on right now but I can't feel anything.
Speaker 1:So it's not like this is in a hard condition where you're like, oh, I'm grabbing my chest and you know, ethyl, here I come, I'm coming, ethyl. No, you know, ethel, I'm coming, no, no, no, it's nothing like that, it's just like, literally, I'm just having these extra heartbeats, but, um, it's to explain it a little further is like it doesn't pump the heart enough, so my normal beats are happening, and then the PVC is like a squeeze. So instead of a full Harbor, it's just like a squeeze.
Speaker 1:So what happens is you're having not enough blood flow and oxygen going through your body and stuff like that. So symptoms can happen from that. But with me I'm not really. I get winded, I get tired sometimes, but I'm always damn tired.
Speaker 2:Well, you know, on a lighter note you may you just realize this I will shock your ass if you need it, I will. I mean I, you know, I, brother, I will put them damn things on you and shock, even if it says no shock is needed. My ass is going to shock you, right? I shocked them. Thank you for doing book for volunteer you know.
Speaker 2:Hey, that's what the brother is for. Man I'm going to, I'm going to jump right in there. It says no shock is needed. I'm hitting that damn thing. That stock's needed on his ass. He needs it. Boof. No, but you got to get that shit taken care of.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know it's something I'm not looking forward to. The first one was not a fun operation. It was six and a half hours on my back awake, Having heart surgery when you're awake.
Speaker 2:I remember when you told me about that You're all hooked up to all these machines and probes all over the front of you, the back of you.
Speaker 1:It takes them over an hour just to hook you up with all the leads will they let me come in and take a picture? I wish that'd be so cool. In fact, if the next time I do it I'm gonna have them take a picture, cool for sure. I'm like listen, I need a picture.
Speaker 1:I'm a photographer, I want a picture of me probed up yeah, I want to come in and take that picture anyways, but uh, yeah, so I got all that's going on and you know, just normal life, uh getting through, doing, uh, doing, uh, the stuff that we get do every day, yeah, what about you, man?
Speaker 2:same thing. Uh, out flying was doing a lot of the florida stuff. Uh, get caught up in that that. This time of year, all the time, florida panhandle it's just all the time we get. We get boarded up, get ready to push back, get ready to go. What? Florida panhandle? Man, weather up there at Jacksonville center shuts that shit down in a heartbeat, I know.
Speaker 1:I'm not looking forward to come. I'm getting ready to come back to flying here May one and I'm not looking forward to it.
Speaker 2:All you hear is, when you call up and talk to the cockpit, is we're trying to find a reroute because Jacksonville Center blocked this. So we have to go all the way around the Gulf or we have to go up the other side of the ocean to come around the East Coast all the way back into Ohio. Pain in the ass.
Speaker 1:And we have the problem also of the different cockpits that we got going on there. Some of them are experience and plan and understand what's going on and throw that extra gas on, no matter what the company says, and they can not do the diversions that we have to do. But every now and then we get those and even in, even if you plan, you still are going to have to divert Sometimes. Carol, my wife had to do that the other day even though they planned they had to divert. Yeah, and you were with them, weren't you?
Speaker 2:I was yeah, yeah, I'm always. I actually with Carol more on a plane than your ass will ever be good. This is a very good thing. Yeah, I know probably for her too, but uh, yeah anyway, I was in st louis the other day, right, 81 degree we pulled in there I it was probably about four o'clock in the afternoon, like 81 degrees 81 degrees man, and tomorrow here in in northeast ohio it's supposed to be like in the high, it's almost supposed to be like 90.
Speaker 1:Really, I think it's predicted at like 89 degrees Murrow.
Speaker 2:It was really nice, which is weird. Yeah, it was nice. I hadn't been to St Louis for a long time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, St Louis is a cool city.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I have not been there for a long time. The hotel is real quick, right around the corner, so that was good. But yeah, just doing a lot of the florida stuff and got the first uh cut of the year on my lawn and it was freezing outside yesterday, dude, it was cold, cold it was.
Speaker 1:It was cold and you were cutting lawn I was cutting lawn.
Speaker 2:I was out there edging my rocks in the front of the property. I did a lot of shit, man. I was done, I think, around 8, 30 at night you know what happened with me yesterday?
Speaker 1:I was watching my my lawnmower guy do it.
Speaker 2:It was, he looked cold yeah but I already that was kind of sucked to be. I seen him as I was coming in. I'm like, oh, look at sean's grass looks really nice. I already know they do an excellent job.
Speaker 1:Yeah, whatever, hey, we all make choices, right see your choice.
Speaker 2:Your choice was you.
Speaker 1:You married a captain right, well, she wasn't captain when I married her. That's what she is now.
Speaker 2:It doesn't matter what she was, it is, she is now I did.
Speaker 1:I had vision when I met her he would be captain.
Speaker 2:He he plays on a golf course. I'm the guy shagging balls on the golf course.
Speaker 1:That's bullshit actually I think you're the guy in the golf range picking up the ball in a little little cage.
Speaker 2:You're so wrong. I do know where you live. I know where you live brother.
Speaker 1:Anyways, hey, you know what? We've got uh a guest today and uh, we brought back uh john the pilot, john the pilot, john the pilot he's uh back here to uh come on the show with us again. Because we thought, hey, there was a lot of questions that we had left to ask John and the and the conversation was so interesting We'd like just the whole, you know, being a pilot and all that stuff. I know there was other people that had already talked to me about our episode said hey, you know, that was a super interesting episode, you should have more guests on, and so we're trying to do that, but John's back here.
Speaker 2:But you know, what I love about having him on the show, though, is that we always talk about this, too is that you get a perspective from a pilot, and john's one of the best people that do that, because he's in the industry for such a long time yeah, so, john, welcome back to our show oh, thanks guys.
Speaker 3:Uh, it's. I'm thrilled to be back.
Speaker 1:You made me a little, made me a family, think I was, uh, something else you know yeah, so you know, you know, like, like, uh, the newspaper has, like the experts that sit in and stuff, like we're going to be pulling you back when we have Tories. There's something happened. We've got John the expert.
Speaker 3:John the pilot, Pilot. Do I have to put on a real serious face?
Speaker 1:They can't see your face on there. I kind of like that, so it's okay, hey, welcome John the pilot.
Speaker 3:That's right.
Speaker 2:It's like Dear Ann or dear, whatever it was. What dear abby, exactly?
Speaker 3:yeah, exactly dear abby, we got a whole new section of the show. Well, you guys, it was a thrill for me the first time to even watch how you guys do this stuff, and uh, you're just naturals at it well, we, it takes a little bit of a practice and everything, but we're, we're trying to get better we're a work in progress, right a constant work, but anyways, hey, john.
Speaker 1:Um, one of the questions we didn't ask you last time you're on here was like how long have you been flying like? Or how long two parts to that one commercially? How long was your career and and total in life? How long have you been flying?
Speaker 3:so I, uh will turn 66 in july. All right, and uh, I soloed when I was 15. So if I do my math right, yeah, 51 years 51 years of flying, total flying, total flying.
Speaker 1:And so then, like as a career and having it as a job, how long, how many years was that?
Speaker 3:airline, airline wise, was 39, 39 years. Prior to that I flew corporately and did some other commercial work for about three or four other years, so about 40, 43 years, 43 years.
Speaker 1:So, like on pilots, when I'm thinking about like there's this like a graduated, like life of a pilot, like you kind of like start off real small, of course, right that private plane, and then you kind of like keep building up bigger, bigger planes and all that stuff, bigger airlines, bigger jobs, all that stuff, bigger responsibilities. So like how many of those jobs did you have before you got into commercial aviation, like into the main mainline commercialization, not not commuters, that are corporate.
Speaker 3:Right? Um, well, let's think about it. I mean, the progression for me was you. You went out and you got your private license, and then you got your commercial, your instrument, and then you get a CFI, because that way you'd be able to go build time, learn a lot, just trying to teach it to other people.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so CFI, you're a certified flight instructor.
Speaker 3:And then there's varying degrees of that. You have the regular flight instructor, you can get an instrument flight instructor rating where you can teach instruments, and then you get a multi-engine rating. So once you do that, you're trying to build time and the whole idea particularly earlier on, like in my career, insurance was always a big deal. You had to have time in different types of airplanes, you had to have experience to be able to get insured, to get a job. Oh really, yeah. So it really made it kind of tough and so you just jumped through every hoop that you could and the more you you know, flight instruct like in multi-engine, was the big thing to get multi-engine time, because obviously going into a corporate position to multi-engine airplane, so you need the experience to to even be considered.
Speaker 1:You know what? Insurance is something that I would not have ever even thought about in pilots, Like like I had to be insured.
Speaker 3:Well, it's that way, you know, particularly in general aviation, when you're kind of coming up through the ranks, okay, yeah and uh. So so once I got that opportunity, uh, in order to build times, I I jumped through all kinds of hoops. I mean, I can remember a flight instructing and then driving down to uh Dover because there was a company down there that owned a company in Medina that they would fly their turboprop airplane back and forth really quick hop. And I knew the pilot and I said, hey, what's chance I could come with you get some experience. And he said, yeah, sure, so I'd flight instruct in the morning, run down, fly up with them, fly back with them, drive back flight instructor somewhere, go back when he's going to pick the people up, and you know you do stuff like that in order to kind of build that experience and get the experience and all that and then we talked about it last time.
Speaker 3:Everybody needs a break and I got that break with the company and in the Akron area. Initially that took a chance on me and then, you know, it's kind of just smooth sailing. Not smooth sailing. I mean, there's the ups and downs of aviation that we've all been through, sure, and so I was. I was fortunate that carrier that I went with went through ups and downs but it was didn't ever furlough me, yeah. So I mean.
Speaker 1:I have lots of friends that are pilots that are like they've, uh, like the whole entire company shuts down, right. Right, like that happened after nine 11 and it happened after, um, all all these different situations during the economic turns of the country and stuff like that Right, so, um, yeah, to have that happen and all those fluctuations, and like, I have a lot of flight attendant friends that went out and got their license and started to, you know they want to become pilots and do a career of it and all that stuff. But then that was right before nine 11 hit and nine ahead 11 kind of like just decimated the whole entire you know industry and uh, people don't realize that there was a lot of people that you know industry and uh, people don't realize that there was a lot of people that you know they had aspirations and doing things, but the opportunities just became so slim.
Speaker 3:Right and then and then compounding on that, I think, uh, and it's just personal opinion, but they made the job so bad for people. If you remember, you know they were always looking for pay cuts, bankruptcies, all this stuff that everybody started looking at that job going. Well, why would I make an investment to get that job when now they've knocked the pay down to a point that it's like you know there's no return on your.
Speaker 1:Like my example, the flight attendant friends I had. They were making more money as flight attendants, right in order, and they can fly. So if they went to fly, they would literally be cutting their pay in half, right you know. And so they weren't incentivized to like, make that transition over.
Speaker 3:So it was even you know a level, uh, transition and so, consequently, they made a shortage of pilots, which is where we find ourselves now industry-wide. You know, they're trying to come up with people and and it's kind of a tough thing yeah, it's interesting.
Speaker 1:I mean, then, I think that when you talk about pilots, it's definitely another aspect of it. Is that to me? Um, pilots do one of the career and I don't know any other thing off the top of my head that does this but it's the only one, of the only careers out there that has this age discrimination happening right with it. I mean, it's that's exactly what it's called is age discrimination, that it's an industry that has very, very old, antiquated rules that are being applied. Today's system and the health and well wellness of us, you know it's, it's lengthening.
Speaker 1:You know, back in the day, maybe in the fifties, you know people didn't live to be a hundred. You know people didn't work to lengthening. You know, back in the day, maybe in the 50s, you know people didn't live to be a hundred. You know people didn't work to be, you know, beyond 60. You know 50 at that point. But so these rules are for the people that don't understand. That's what I'm talking about. Is that it's the rule is that pilots can only fly in commercially up to 65 in commercial aviation, and you'd have to like, tell me what, what, what part rule is that FAR part.
Speaker 3:Right, it's. It's just a mandatory retirement age of 65 to fly for an air carrier, but that's only that's so.
Speaker 1:Air carriers fly that are flying under part.
Speaker 3:What? What is that? 121. 121. I don't believe it applies to 135.
Speaker 1:Yeah, 135. So those are, that's 135.
Speaker 3:So that's the charter executive jets and you can fly for. Like corporations fly under Part 91, which is just kind of the same general aviation rules, like if you guys went out and grabbed an airplane and learned to fly and flew around, sure, same rules those airplanes operate under. So you know, technically a guy can fly to the with them until whenever yeah, whatever as long as he's comfortable with.
Speaker 1:Yeah yeah, as long as they can pass their medical. And then the things that you guys have to do on a regular basis to keep your faa certification, which is how I think it should be everywhere. Like I don't really get these part things. You know, like the different. There shouldn't be a difference between corporate flying and commercial aviation, you know, as far as I'm concerned, as far as like, can I do this job or can't I do this job, I think it's a really uh, sometime in history. I hope someday that they will wipe that away and say, listen, if you can do these X, y and Z and pass the medical, you can fly.
Speaker 2:But you know something going to that to talk about that. With the medical, though, I think that once you get to 65, I think once you get to 65, now John's in great shape, Okay, Right, but I think it should be a more extensive medical for you to. If you choose to go on, I believe that then you should be able to go on to well, that's what I'm saying.
Speaker 1:Like the, the medical, it could be anything whatever. Whatever they want to change it to Right, but don't discriminate because age no.
Speaker 2:I totally faculty's don't shut off at 65.
Speaker 1:Yep.
Speaker 2:Cause we're sitting next to one of the one of the best pilots I've ever flown with, and I'm telling you that in a 65, I take this man in the cockpit any day.
Speaker 1:Right, I mean right now John could fly the plane, absolutely no problems. I mean that's why it's like age shouldn't be. They're discriminating because of age.
Speaker 2:And it's just an old antiquated rule.
Speaker 1:It's kind of like this like you know, like the time change right now, yeah, I don't know where you guys stand on it, but I hate the time change. I don't, you know, but it's an old rule that happened and it's still in place today. Right, right.
Speaker 3:What do you?
Speaker 2:think about that.
Speaker 3:I, you know, I, uh, obviously I resigned myself to the fact I couldn't change it. But uh, I agree, because when you think about it, we go through all kinds of. I had to do a physical every six months, you know, an EKG once a year and I have checks every nine months, Right? So supposedly if I'm starting to diminish, somebody would notice something, Not only that you're flying with somebody else. That I mean. And you, you know everyone the crew's going to notice if, like hey, there's something wrong with him.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly Cognitive test or something like that.
Speaker 1:But you know I mean, but let them have that opportunity.
Speaker 3:That's my point. Is I like?
Speaker 1:this industry. A lot of people don't understand that we're have a shortage right now of pilots industry. Why shortage right now of pilots industry? Why, because, one, the commercial airline business is expanding and more people are traveling and we just, you know, we're just a different world now and so, as that growth is happening, we're kind of constraining ourselves from that growth because of these old antiquated rules, right, you know? I mean I, I don't, that's just my personal opinion. I think it's a terrible. I'm surprised that, like I know, there's different standpoints from the union standpoints to the personal standpoints to, you know, to the government and all this stuff. They all have different opinions about what should be happening and stuff, and I know that comes up. But I just thought it's interesting, it's interesting topic to talk about and stuff. It really is. And I talk about and stuff.
Speaker 3:No, it really is, and I I I agree with you Everything you said about it. I just think that it's it's silly.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's silly, I mean a perfect perfect example.
Speaker 2:I can't do it. Yeah, Perfect example. How long were you on the seven?
Speaker 3:three, 15 years of my career 15 years of your career.
Speaker 2:We, like we had said before you had flown with Chris. Both of you guys know that plane like the back of your hand.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Right there, I mean that that will tell you the experience over the age any day of the week and the week.
Speaker 1:I mean, it's the same for us, so like, and for a flight attendant, like. We don't have age restrictions right you know. I mean, there's some flight attendants we've been flying with that didn't don't need to have their ass on the plane. For sure they need to retire, they need to find something else to do, but that's a whole nother subject. But at the same time, pilots should have that, you know, option is that.
Speaker 1:That's how I feel and I wish I'm very surprised in this today's world where they're so litigious. That is that the how do you say that, like the legal whatever, uh, that somebody hasn't finally just said enough's, enough, I'm suing. I'm going to sue the government. This is age discrimination, you know.
Speaker 3:Right, right, interesting enough enough, they did have a bunch of guys I actually knew uh, two of them just through the course of my career that were petitioning the faa to do that and it looked like, you know, prior to last summer, that maybe something was going to happen. But uh, the the union, for whatever reason, doesn't want it, and I don't know why yeah, it's.
Speaker 1:It's a very interesting dynamic and with when you start talking about the whole subject of that, because there's so these different viewpoints and the union has this. You know, unions usually want more people to have more jobs, but for some reason the pilot unions seem like they they want the younger pilots to be able to have that opportunity. So this is kind of like a system that's in place already and they're setting their ways kind of like the flushed old and get in the new type of thing. You know which.
Speaker 3:I understand that aspect of it, but at the same time there's so many jobs needed right now, like there's so many pilots needed, you know and, like you were saying, it's too bad because I know quite a few guys about my age that have been retiring and it's like they're all quite capable, like Gary says, you know, I mean, if you want some kind of a check and balance, I mean I can't reiterate the fact that when you deal as a crew, you know as a team, when you're flying the airplane, that there's all kinds of checks just right there at that level, right.
Speaker 2:It's just experience, I mean as a crew member. We're sitting in the back of the plane. I'll tell you this a thousand times over. We get some of the craziest ass turbulence coming into cleve when we get crosswinds, everything. And it would not. I've said this already. You've been gone. You've been gone a few months and I've already said you know when we're coming in we're getting getting our ass tossed all around the back of that thing. And I used to say all the time never did I think twice about it when you and Chris are up in the cockpit, never even worried about it. Never did. I mean truthfully, never did. But you know a lot of these young guns. You just don't I mean, we don't know, I mean and nothing against them. But you know there's something to be said for experience and and when you exactly what you said, sean, is it's age discrimination and if these guys pass the medical and they still want to fly, should be able to fly yeah safety is always first right.
Speaker 1:That's what they said right and if you're, if you're passing everything, do it and I understand a lot of guys in with the union about moving up.
Speaker 2:But listen, most of these guys and we're a lot of people don't understand. Years ago to move up from a first officer to a captain, it took you sometimes like 10 to 12 years just to make that upgrade. Now it's like a year.
Speaker 1:It's even less because now they have situations and we're talking about now we're getting into that growth and that growth of airlines and the availability of air and aviation Like we've are growing. These companies are growing so fast. We're getting into these like economic air, like an example is, our company is has a base in San Fran and they want to expand that and the problem with that is that it's an economic thing, right, you can't afford to expand that and the problem with that is that it's an economic thing, right, you can't afford to live there. You can't hire enough people to stay there. Every time they put people there they've had, but they want to. They still want to grow that market and make it bigger, but the pilots, even at their entry, Sally, can't afford to be there.
Speaker 1:So you got to figure out this whole dynamics of like how are you going, you know, if you don't have the, you know the pilots or the employees willing to go to those markets, right, right, yep, so it's, it's a, really it's a it's. It's an interesting situation that's happening out there that I know many of our listeners probably don't understand some of the dynamics of the airline industry. But these are some of the problems that are out there that we're kind of like internally inside the world of aviation, that we we deal with and talk about as flight attendants and pilots and stuff. But hey, john, how many different aircrafts over your career have you flown?
Speaker 3:So you gave me a heads up on some of the things you wanted to talk about. So I had to go back through, I sat down and I actually started listing them all and I think I got the majority of them. It was 53, 53, 53 types that is a lot of aircraft.
Speaker 1:That's a lot of airplanes I mean, I don't think I've flown 53 different class you know, let me, let me uh 53 different models models of airplanes okay so you broke it down.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so 73 has like five different models. And I didn't, I didn't count that, I just went seven, three. But yeah, they do, but mainly it's airplanes that were different.
Speaker 1:And that's, and that's the interesting aspect of pilots too. Like I think that people don't understand, like you, like, if I, if I was a bus driver, I'm driving this one type of bus, right. Or if I'm a truck driver, I'm driving this one type of bus, right. Or if I'm a truck driver, I'm driving this one type of dress and I have a license to drive that type of bus, as a pilot, you get certified on, or type rated on, a certain type of plane, right, and uh, seven, three is a wild example of like how many different models that if you're, once you're, type rated, you can fly all of them right, correct, yeah, and then the configurations are much different, right, oh, yep, talk to that yeah, so technically, as the 7-3 type rating, you could fly a 737-100.
Speaker 3:I don't think there's any in existence anymore we flew them.
Speaker 1:Those were the junk jets.
Speaker 2:Remember those we flew.
Speaker 1:We talked about those torpedo engines and that's the aircraft I met my wife on. No, no kidding Right.
Speaker 3:So you could do the ones, the twos, and then you go into the threes, fours, fives, right. Then you go to the NGs and you had the 800 series and then you went to the 900, and then you went to 900ER and then they introduced the MAX MAX and with the 900 er, and then they introduced the max right, and so you have the max eight and the max nine, and then we have different configurations. Well, our, yeah, my previous employer, your employer, uh, because during the whole covid thing, people deferred their deliveries and yeah, they actually stepped up and they took a bunch of deliveries.
Speaker 3:So we have airplanes that are slight different, configurations that we fly to.
Speaker 1:So, from company to company, uh, a 737 inside the cockpit is configured different from company company, correct? Yes, and so that's another thing people don't understand with with flying. Like, I know one company right now that use HUDs and you know they fly HUDs all day, which is heads up displays, which we are now having those in our cars and stuff like that which I love, my HUD and but yeah, so they they're flying those things like all you know that in these different companies, but our company chose not to have them and so we don't fly with them in our company. But you get all these different configurations and especially when you merge companies in the airline business, you get all these different planes of different configurations, interiors, exteriors and all that stuff, and then they reconfigure them to their standards, Right, Right.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:Which is, which is, which is the interesting aspect of the business that people don't understand, and in in doing that, we have to all be type rated on those planes.
Speaker 3:Right, right. Well, you guys are multifaceted, cause you can go the entire fleet Right, you know you. You guys have to deal with at least from our perspective, it is just you know the, the fleet, right right, right.
Speaker 1:I mean, there's no plane in our, in our company, that a flight attendant can't touch. We're trained on every part of everything. Yeah, so it doesn't matter where, each system, the safety systems on each planes. We so, just like all the multi-different uh types of 737s you have, we're trained to be on all those different types of planes, which is a challenge. And you don't have to memorize it, people, because if I did, I wouldn't be employed here.
Speaker 2:You know it's funny. I was sitting there thinking, when you started naming them off, all the 7-3s, how long I've been here and I've actually flown every one of those planes Me too. Oh my God, I would go back to the DC. I was sitting there thinking of the DC-910, the little snub-nosed plane. I mean, do you ever?
Speaker 1:remember that one. Well, they had the 10s the 30s, the 50s, the 80s, like the McDonnell Douglas or the FD-80s.
Speaker 2:Yeah, air buses, all the air. Remember back in the day with the Airbuses, because everything was Boeing right, so the Airbus would always break down somewhere. They used to carry a lot of the parts in the belly, yeah, and a lot of times you would land somewhere and the maintenance guy wouldn't be certified to work on an Airbus and you're just going to get canceled right there. You knew it was done. It was dead in the water.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we used to call it the scare bus. Scare bus, yeah, I mean, that was the nickname in the previous company we worked for, but it was like, yeah, we didn't have a good history with that as far as the air bus. And I know some companies. You know that's the only plane they fly. But there's different models of the air buses too as well, and I'm not so familiar with the air bus Cause I'm so. We've flown so much Boeing in our in our lifetime. But there's, they've got all the different levels.
Speaker 2:But back then we just didn't have have a lot of air bus, we only had we had the seven threes.
Speaker 1:I stayed away from it. Yeah, we had a lot of the Boeing, so, yeah, a maintenance nightmare back then. Yeah, maintenance nightmare. Yeah, there's other aspects to the plane too that, uh, we won't go into right now, but what, why we stayed away from him, but uh, anyways. Uh, john, let's talk about this. Um, what was one of the most fun experiences that you had in your career? Like something, it doesn't have to be within the airline, like out of all that flying that you just talked about, like what was one of the most spectacular events that you've had with this? That was just like I'm this is amazing, because I'm a pilot and I'm doing this- oh, interesting question.
Speaker 3:Uh, in thinking about that, this is going to be probably pretty boring. But the one that stuck out in my mind was flying 7-3, 3s and 5s had a layover in. Where do they do the Rapid City, south Dakota? I was trying to think of the Harley thing. I think that's near the Black Hills. Sturgis, yeah, sturgis is up there.
Speaker 3:So we were laying over there and the hotel lobby actually had a Christmas tree with ornaments on it with little kids' names, right, Right. And so I was a first officer at the time, and the captain, the whole crew, we were all staying together. So we got to rent a car and we went to the mall and we all fulfilled somebody's you know dreams on there.
Speaker 1:Oh, so this was like a gift tree.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and it just it left me with probably one of the most memorable times. You know we all went out as a crew and had dinner and stuff and had fun, but that was the most memorable part. I mean, I know that sounds sad.
Speaker 1:No, that is that is. That's a perfect, that is a perfect story. I mean, that's one of the experiences that I enjoy this career. For is that all the different bonding experiences that we get with the crew members and all the different crew members we get to meet, because we're not always flying with the same. You know, we do typically in this base that we're in right now, because it's pretty small and depending on what type of flying you do, but early in your career you're moving about the country all over because you just don't have a choice. They're kind of sending you and you go, and it doesn't matter if you're a pilot or a flight attendant. That's the echelon of your career, right.
Speaker 2:Right, spend a lot of holidays together, yeah.
Speaker 1:A lot, of a lot of restaurants together and eating meals together, and then, but that that's a perfect, uh, that's a perfect room, you know story.
Speaker 3:And then secondarily was uh, I was a new. Within my first year I was a DC eight flight engineer. Remember DC eight?
Speaker 1:Wow, we just took, you, took it way back to to the DC-8.
Speaker 3:So my wife was an Eastern flight attendant at the time, you know, and so we were both kind of out there on a trip we're doing a late night to the West Coast and I mentioned to the crew. I said I heard an Eastern flight check on and I go yeah, I think that's the one my wife's on.
Speaker 1:That's cool Really yeah.
Speaker 3:So next thing I know the co-pilot goes hey, eastern. And he goes yeah, and he goes. Our engineer thinks his wife's on your flight, what's her name? Tells him they go Right. Next thing I know we're sitting there and I hear my wife's voice on ATC going hi, john, oh I hear my wife's voice on ATC going hi, John. Oh, that is so cool and I'm like, but you know, I'm on probation thinking yeah, what are they doing? I'm like, I'm going to fire them.
Speaker 1:Nobody shows you chattering. This isn't like a walkie talkie, so I give myself into it.
Speaker 3:Chat it a little bit and then next thing, you know, the ATC guys goes. Well, I hate to break you guys up, but uh, yeah, we're gonna get back to one of us you're supposed to fly.
Speaker 1:It's a, so that's where two of my two of my fun, really fun times yeah, that is. Those are those experiences and like all these like little teeny things that happen in in our, in our careers are just, uh, spectacular. Like, when it comes to mind me is that you know how one thing that we hate about this business is the irregularities of it, that that we get, like, you know, we think that we're going to get to fly down to Florida and next thing, you know, we're laying over in San Francisco. You know, like those things happen constantly and I had a bit like that where you know it was a total shit show across the whole nation. Weather was bad, planes were diverting, you know, things were changing and both my wife and I were flying and we both ended up in the same city and it was unscheduled, unbelievable.
Speaker 2:So yeah.
Speaker 1:So we both end up staying in San Francisco on the same nights, diverting totally unscheduled, and got to stay a night there with my wife, you know, so it was really cool.
Speaker 3:Yeah, isn't it amazing the small nuanced things that just stick in your mind.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, like I can remember that layover, like details of this. You know the Game of Thrones, those big, what do they? They call them werewolves or merwolves or something. Anyway, they're giant, these giant dogs that they made like these wolves in the show. And there was one, a lady, that actually lived in this hotel on san francisco. She's been living there for like I don't know how long. Have you met her?
Speaker 3:I did, oh, no way. I know yeah, and two big. What were those dogs she had?
Speaker 1:well, one was I. His name was like Zeus or something like that was it like an Irish wolfhound or something. No, no, no, these I can't um. I'll have to look it up, but I'm sure some of the listeners are like yelling out right now that's this, but um, but I mean I'm talking. This dog is a massive and they look like giant wolves. That's what they look like, but, friendliest dog you'd ever they were.
Speaker 3:And that's amazing Cause she, I, we chatted with her one day waiting for the van to go back to doing all night yeah exactly A lot of a lot of people.
Speaker 1:we would have that layover in San Fran and she lived it in the top floor of that hotel.
Speaker 3:She's been there for like I don't know 15, 20 years. And it's crazy. Like the FO is sitting there going. Now let's figure the math out on this.
Speaker 1:And it actually made sense versus the real estate out there, right, and she was into real estate, the lady and everything. But these are the weird encounters and the people that we meet along our journeys of our career, but that's one thing that I remembered about it.
Speaker 2:John career, but that's that's one thing that I remembered about it.
Speaker 1:John, the worst experience that you had with a flight attendant, and not the one directly across from you or the one next to you. You know you'd exclude those stories.
Speaker 2:Okay, what was the worst experience that you had with a flight attendant?
Speaker 3:So I, uh, I had to think about this question too, cause most of the time I just get along with everybody you know, and particularly in the latter years of my life, I was always flying with you guys or people that I knew.
Speaker 1:Right, but you know, we're some quirky, we're some quirky crowds, oh for sure. Like everybody's just, you're not quirky at all.
Speaker 2:Not, not even a little bit. No, not Mr Quirky. Over here, john Go ahead been?
Speaker 3:no, not mr quirky over here. John, go ahead. What was your work? Well, I, I was flying europe at the time, and so we go. The two first officers they'd augment the crew going there for time. You know, there'd be two co-pilots and a captain. So we're walking out to the airplane and the flight attendants are there and they've got like an extension cord running down into the 67 to do some cleaning. Well, this lead flight goes. Nobody go on board because it's dangerous. This, this cord running down the thing.
Speaker 1:And so I look at the two co-pilots.
Speaker 3:They look at me and like what?
Speaker 3:So we go down and you know, we started doing our stuff, you know, and finally come down and she was just a very interesting person you know to deal with and and uh, everything was a problem, everything, and it got to the point we were joking about it. All right, guys, are we taking how long till we get another call from the back? And we had it down to like one guy was going I'm saying about three minutes, you know, and literally we were getting calls from the back every five minutes and it was just goofball stuff.
Speaker 2:I mean, you guys would yeah, john, we just talked about our one percenters. We just talked about the crazy-ass people that nobody wants to see on an airplane, and you just wonder where they came from.
Speaker 3:So we finally get, almost get to London, and then at one time I forget the exact scenario Something happened in the cabin. It was one of those rare flights where we had federal air marshals on board.
Speaker 3:And you know how it's kind of random, but we know as a crew when they're on and when they're not, and it's like the last thing you want to do is expose these guys, right? So she calls up and goes well, we're having this problem and I've told the FAMs they need to sit by the door and this, and that. So she's totally exposing these guys now. Oh my gosh, and I'm sitting there going A little bit of a problem there. Oh my gosh. Yeah, so we get on the ground in London. I'm so happy it's over.
Speaker 3:And of course, then I find out we've got them going back. Let's do it again. So I get on the elevator and the door opens back up and two of the younger flight attendants come in and go. Door closes. They go what would you think of flying with so-and-so? And I said, well, it was definitely different. They go. Yeah, you know why? Because she did complain when she first got on. She said well, the lead flight attendant called in sick, and so now I'm here, you know, sure, they both said you know why that she called in sick.
Speaker 3:And no, she actually came to work, saw that this person was on the flight and said bye.
Speaker 2:Called in sick.
Speaker 3:I'm going home.
Speaker 1:She already knew those two flights, what it was going to be like that's what we do when we go to pick a trip up.
Speaker 2:We look at the crew.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, yeah, oh hell, no, no, ain't worth the money is not worth the money so all the way home we're joking again about all right, how long.
Speaker 3:And on the taxi out ding, she had some big problem, you know. And then we're flight log and finally one of the, the one first officer. It was a lot like shawn actually he had, he had just a great sense of humor and he was very a lot of dry wit to him. Sure, and she called again and I just said, would you take that? And so he picks it up and she goes well.
Speaker 3:I just want you to know. We just had a passenger and so-and-so throw up and without batting an eye, the guy goes well, what color is the vomit? And she goes. What he goes. Well, what color is the vomit? And she goes, she goes what he goes. Well, what color is the vomit? He goes. The company now wants us to report what color the vomit is. That's a perfect comeback. And she hung up and we didn't hear from her anymore. So she might've got the message, but I was just like but that was probably.
Speaker 1:what color is the vomit such? But I was just like, but that was probably what color is the vomit and um, and what, what does it smell like? Yeah, we need, we need a deeper description of the smell.
Speaker 3:but that was, that was it. I mean you.
Speaker 2:You know how we all had the people that were kind of annoying that she just kind of dealt with all these, all these years of flying brother. You know that there's a lot more than that, but that was a funny one. Okay, let's talk about years of flying brother. You know that there's a lot more than that, but that was a funny one. Okay, let's talk about the most challenging situation that you've ever faced flying airlines, or just uh, anytime, anytime anytime being a pilot you know, probably generalized, it's just kind of the uh.
Speaker 3:The weather aspect of things is probably the uh. It can get kind of exciting, particularly if you're trying to like beat a front end to an airport or something and you're always changing your mind and sure zigging and zagging and you know you probably hear from carol all the time trying to well, mother nature, she has her own plan and you're just a part of it exactly right, exactly, uh.
Speaker 3:But uh, you know, I I do remember as a young pilot, when I was once again talking about building time, flew a guy. He owned his own plane but flew him and a couple of people over to Milwaukee Airport and then, coming out, the weather wasn't looking good Lots of thunderstorms around the, around the lakes, and you're talking about a small plane, no radar, no, nothing, right, so there's, yeah, we can get this done.
Speaker 3:You know the attitude so there I am at night, single engine over the lake with thunderstorms, and I just remember thinking to myself at one point what have you gotten yourself?
Speaker 1:how did I get to this situation and it was.
Speaker 3:It was pretty challenging, just the weather, because it was a terrible ride. A lot of rain, you know, and right in a small airplane. When you get into even in the jets, if you get into a lot of like you, you don't, you stay away from the weather, but you'll get into static areas where the radios start kind of going oh, yeah and uh, and so I just remember being in that small plane and going holy cow, I was sweating like that. So that was probably the most exciting and I think we touched on it before too With the airlines. I always felt pretty prepared for everything and as you that experience level, as you go, exactly, you just keep yourself out of problem.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, you learn, it's just like we do with age Right. Yeah, you learn, it's just like like we do it with age right. We become more conservative, or rage, and a little bit of not taking so many risks with our lives. Exactly, exactly.
Speaker 3:Right. So I wish I had one of those. There I was stories for you, but I really don't.
Speaker 1:There it was. It was coming in at a bank of 25.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know what we say all the time the best flight is boring and uneventful. That's right. That's it. In this industry, boring and uneventful is the best flight to have. Now you can have all those YouTube videos that you want. Go ahead and have them. I don't want them. I'll take the boring and uneventful, but I don't want them. I'll take the boring and uneventful, but here's a question for you have you ever, like has a bird ever, chased the plane or had some kind of wildlife encounter that happened when you were flying?
Speaker 3:Or funny Birds are constant, right. Yeah, I mean you're always dealing with birds and you hope you miss them half the time Because there's not a lot of stuff you can do. I mean you sit there and it's not like you can just weave down, right, I mean you're kind of committed to the direction you're going. You try to try to clear the area, like Florida. You know we always early in my career I found running the radar messes with their heads a little bit. So really there was some theory about it because I went to some radar class as a corporate pilot.
Speaker 3:And so I some radar class as a corporate pilot, and so I just always tried to do that and but you'd hit them. You know where's it we go into all the time. It seems like we always hit birds panama right because they've got you down panama city. They keep you low over the bay right and then you come in and seems like every time I went down there we hit birds yeah, bird strikes.
Speaker 1:I mean, we've all been on planes with bird strikes. It seems like it's but as, but as far as that, yeah, with the airlines.
Speaker 3:No, I haven't hit any of the the bigger animals with a small plane, even my own, my own plane, right One night landing down at the airport down here and I caught movement out of the left side and there's a deer.
Speaker 1:Oh no, and I was like oh no, don't.
Speaker 3:And he looked like you know how they zig and zag you don't know which way a freaking deer is going this way, you know, because my partners would love a new prop and yeah it's amazing how much those deers can do damage to your vehicle oh sorry like it doesn't take real large deer to like tear your car or plane up, you know.
Speaker 3:No, we did hit one night going out of Orlando. It was probably my I was a 7.5 first officer, took off at night and I used to constantly, you know, you guys would come up with the counts and I'd always sit there back in the old days when we did counts, sure, and I would write them all down. So I knew, you know, if we had a problem, I knew it. Well, it was like the last, like all we were doing was Orlando over to, uh, uh, fort Myers and uh, we took off, went through an overcast. We were just accelerating it.
Speaker 3:Suddenly we got this huge bang and a surge and one of the engines and and we were like what in the world, right, and we got dings from the back and they were going, hey, we're film with smoke, you know, oh, wow, and we're like what the world? And it sounded to us like it was just right behind us that it happened. So we happened to have a jump seater. Captain sent him back to go kind of check on things. We told orlina we had to come back, you know, and, um, we could not figure it out, and at one point the jump seeker wasn't coming back. We were getting another ding from the aft again going. It's really full of smoke back here and we're like, all right, we're on our way back in, you know, sure, and uh, we come in and it turned out we had hit, uh, some geese you know at the time in retrospect.
Speaker 3:You sit there and go oh, we should have known that's what it was. But it was just one of those things that we hit them right on the ray dome and we put two through the right engine and so it did that little burp thing, but they were all operating after that just fine. It's amazing.
Speaker 1:And then the smoke.
Speaker 3:And the smoke was we obviously were cooking them. Yeah, and the smoke was we obviously were cooking them, yeah, as they go through the.
Speaker 1:It wasn't Christmas time, right Right. This isn't like Christmas goose.
Speaker 2:I'm sitting here thinking cooking them, shit cooking them. That damn thing went right through there. There wasn't shit cooking in there.
Speaker 1:John Chop suey goose.
Speaker 2:There's nothing but feathers on the side of that thing Right.
Speaker 3:And then we came back and the funniest part of that was after we got back to the gate and then we obviously canceled and we went to the hotel and we had passengers on the van with us, you know, sure, and they're all sitting there going oh my gosh, were you guys the crew? And we go, yeah. And he said, oh, it was so you know nervous and stuff. And I said yeah, but didn't you hear our announcements?
Speaker 1:We made announcements and said no, it's not. And they just said we didn't believe you. You should have told me you were serving geese. Yeah, it's crazy, I mean. But I mean how many airlines and you know how many planes out there on a daily basis hit wildlife, I mean it's, it's unbelievable, the uh, you know like pita's out here probably like screaming you know planes and stuff, like how much we like take care of like so many bird populations and stuff you know, and I feel bad, I don't like right, but it's just like it's almost unavoidable I live on a golf course.
Speaker 1:You can take out as many gooses as you want. Yeah, now you're gonna get peter right, it was like yikes, but hey, so here. Here here's a. We're going to ask one last question here, cause we're running up on time here, but I just wanted to know you know the the movie airplane.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah.
Speaker 1:Classic yeah, yeah, yeah. So how much is that in real life?
Speaker 3:Sarcastically all, all of it, yeah.
Speaker 2:You know why I bring this up was how about the first officer? The first officer? Didn't you see the airplane? The first officer? Yeah, kareem. No, when the first officer deflated, she had to go. Oh, you did oh yeah, the autopilot.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, that's right, that was the autopilot.
Speaker 2:I'm sorry about that Autopilot Definitely. It was funny.
Speaker 1:That was fun. Yeah, there's so many aspects to the movie, but the why I'd like to bring this question up was was this is like how much of plane movies like airline movies and stuff that we watch and out there in the world and people believe like that's like reality. You know plane movies, like airline movies and stuff that we watch and out there in the world and people believe like that's like reality. You know, like how many of these plane movies that we're having to be seeing we're like that shit ain't true, right yeah, I mean it almost ruins it, doesn't it right?
Speaker 3:my wife won't go to an aviation movie with me because she goes. Oh, you just ruin it all the time because won't go to an aviation movie with me because she goes.
Speaker 1:Oh, you just ruin it all the time because that's like snakes on the plane right, yeah, well, I mean like they have all these like crazy things like you know, like, uh, the you know guys like taking over the plane and he's like terrorizing the whole plane, the entire flight, but you don't know who it is, and things like like are you no held on?
Speaker 2:to the wheel? Well, went up through the belly, came up through the bottom of it, found a way into the plane, saved everybody. Yeah, no, freezing your ass off getting into the wheel.
Speaker 3:Well, how about going back to airplane? I think my favorite part was do you remember going to LAX? Yeah, a long time ago, early in your career. And the white zone is for loading and unloading. And that one just like crack me up. Spot on, spot on, spot on.
Speaker 1:It's like, yeah, there's those those classic like you're, just like there's funny, like the like scenarios and situations that like attribute to all these different situations that we're in, like that we can totally relate to.
Speaker 1:But, uh, sometimes, sometimes I, you know, I'm afraid that like what the public really believes, you know, fake airline theories or whatever you want to call it information, oh it's just like that yeah, yeah, like, like every plane has this, you know, and then you're like no, no, no, no, no, so, anyways, hey, so we want to do the um uh, we want to talk about those. We're gonna do that. Little flash questions, again. Flash questions, yeah, little little hot questions here. So I, I got, I got a list here.
Speaker 1:G doesn't have all the lists, so I'm just running me out I cut them out, but here it is because we're just going to do this quick. So how many pairs of 88 aviators do you actually own?
Speaker 3:one.
Speaker 1:And are they all mirrored? No, and do you wake up with a captain voice or do you have a warmup?
Speaker 3:I'm not sure I ever warmed up to it. It was who I was.
Speaker 1:Exactly so, true or false? Were you born with perfect posture or a slight smirk?
Speaker 3:Slight smirk.
Speaker 1:Slight smirk, okay.
Speaker 3:And how many pilot watches or too many pilot watches do you have? I have two. Two, I have two and one, one I inherited, oh, that's cool. And then one that I I bought, yeah, and there's no batteries in any either of them at this point. They're both dead.
Speaker 1:So all right, wow, but you know everything's went digital now. So like this pilot watch is. There's no batteries in either of them at this point. They're both dead, wow.
Speaker 3:You know everything's went digital now. So this pilot watch is. It's funny. You say that because I remember as a new guy sitting back there and some captain showed up with a typical aviation pilot watch and he's bragging to everybody about it and you know it costs more than I made in the first year, and so he's sitting there and I go. Well, I held up my Casio and I go well, does it do this? No, and I said well, can it do this? And he goes no, no.
Speaker 2:It's got a light on it too. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Technology changes. Casio light. Yeah, technology changes.
Speaker 3:So uh, do you say Roger that in real life conversations, just because you can Roger Roger, that I knew that was coming.
Speaker 1:I knew that was coming.
Speaker 3:That was, that was a softball.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and so, uh, yeah and so ever secretly judge another pilot walking down the tarmac.
Speaker 2:I judge Chris all the time.
Speaker 3:On walk-arounds. On the walk-arounds We'll comment. Sometimes when we watch certain guys.
Speaker 1:That's hilarious. Okay, what's more important? Flight manual or a perfect leather jacket Flight manual Killing me? I don't know, you know, I don't know what these answers are, but if your life had a theme song when you stepped into the cockpit, what would it be? Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 2:He just threw that one out there.
Speaker 3:Oh my gosh, I've never even thought of that. You'd have to give me a couple minutes to come up with that. I was right away. I'm moving on up.
Speaker 1:Moving on up Doing the George Jefferson.
Speaker 2:You know how old we are, because we knew exactly what that was yeah, we, we just lost half our listeners for sure anyways.
Speaker 1:Hey, we wanted to wrap up with a little bit of a current events that actually ties into what we were talking about, like um. So there was an airline that just happened to have a rabbit sucked up into the engine on takeoff. I mean that's some crazy shit, right there it is. I mean we hit birds and all kinds of stuff, but I've never heard of a rabbit. Have you heard of anything else like that, a different type of animal?
Speaker 3:hitting the plane Coyote, coyote, coyote and deer. You know, I've heard hitting the engines, wow, and of course they had the southwest, the guy on the runway, they hit, you know right remember that. But uh, yeah, yeah, rabbit, rabbit, they're gonna talk about this. One must have been a big rabbit.
Speaker 2:We watch that video.
Speaker 3:They're gonna definitely talk about this one well, you know where that was right and uh which one you're?
Speaker 1:talking about the rabbit, the rabbit. Yeah, yeah, you see, that happened in denver right the, the jackrabbits are big yeah, they're big. They're not. They're not a lot. I mean they're. They can give a goose run like. I mean they're.
Speaker 3:They can be really big but uh, it always reminds me of the monty python. It's just a rabbit, it's just a rabbit.
Speaker 1:He ain't no rabbit, no more.
Speaker 2:There he is. Yeah, there, he was Definitely not there he goes that mighty Python.
Speaker 1:That's awesome, that's bad. So, anyways, I also wanted to talk about like. So there's an airline out there that's getting ready right now change its boarding procedure. Like in our career, how many times, I mean, we get asked this all the time, like why do you do this, why do you board like this? And we've changed boarding procedures like it seems like a hundred times. How do you feel about that?
Speaker 3:people are going to do what they want to do anyway. I just uh, I I think it's you're in trouble if that's like gonna save you as an airline right we're gonna. We're gonna get away what made us who we are and then change it to this pre-assigned yeah, you figure out.
Speaker 1:You figure out this like it's this solution of of the how you run your business, everything and it's working. And then all of a sudden you come along and say, hey, you know, what let's?
Speaker 3:change this to this today. Yeah, you would think that there were more underlying problems than that.
Speaker 2:Okay, well, let me just jump in on this for a second, though.
Speaker 2:Even with our airline, if you really wanted to make a boarding process work, take a group of flight attendants, take a group of gate agents, put them together for a week, let them come up with a boarding process, and you go ahead and put it side-by-side to yours, and I guarantee it's going to be 10 times better, because they never, ever go to the flight attendants or the gate agents together to come up with a boarding process.
Speaker 2:And you know that All the years I've been flying, not one time, not one time. And if they did, we would have a boarding process that would actually really work for the airlines, would work for the business class people. But see, the problem is, is what you do is that you give it to these little people that graduated from college in a cubicle that have no idea how to board an airplane, because all they did is they took a survey, they put it out to people, they allowed that survey dictate how the boarding process begins and how it starts and how it ends, and that's why we have a mess. They allow that survey dictate how the boarding process begins and how it starts and how it ends.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's why we have a mess. But here's the bottom line to what you're saying is that you know, these companies are ran by marketing. You know, and that's the problem, it's that these marketing procedures and stuff come up with these great ideas hey, let's do this because we're trying to sell this product this way. And um, they let the customers start to. I mean, in today's world, they're letting the customer try to dictate how we're running our business that's my point.
Speaker 2:It's a survey I understand.
Speaker 1:So it's like you can't, you can't, let you know. It's not just um the company, it's, it's this, this theory of like running your company through marketing information, and that shouldn't be happening, but that's you know so. So our biggest you know people that buy tickets on our planes, right, are trying to dictate how, how they want the plane boarded, and which is bullshit, bullshit but hey, listen on a lighter.
Speaker 2:hey, listen on a lighter note plucky song, plucky plucky got home Sean lucky the parrot just got home.
Speaker 1:What was it? She was in Panama, right, or something like that she was?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think so.
Speaker 1:Dominican Republic, dominican Republic, yeah, that's right.
Speaker 2:But no.
Speaker 1:John didn't know about bus. So there was this lady. We could talk about this. It was. It's been in the news for a but a lady. This elderly lady got stuck down in Dominican Republic and she flew down with the parrot and when she was getting ready to board to come back, they denied her boarding and said she didn't check the parrot Right. So she was literally stuck in that country because they wouldn't.
Speaker 3:but evidently the end of the story is she's finally got home. Did they have to put a little vest on it? Plucky's back.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Plucky's back in in in the, the uh.
Speaker 2:Plucky is back, so we're going to end with our inspirational quote the best way to predict the future is to create it Exactly.
Speaker 1:You can't, you can't let life just meet, you can't let life just guide you. You've got to go out there and make it happen.
Speaker 2:Make it happen every single day. Man, we are having a lot of fun. Had a great time with John the Pilot. See what I love about this? John the Pilot is going to be our section now because we're going to invite him back a lot when he will get the pilot's perspective. He might have had to retire at 65, but his ass will be back here talking about being a pilot. John the pilot.
Speaker 1:Right, alright. Thanks, john, for being on the show. We really appreciate you coming. Thanks for having me back.
Speaker 3:You guys, like I said, I can't say enough. I've always. You two guys are just some of my favorite people in the world People always say to you I just some of my favorite people in the world. Good, we appreciate that. People always say to you miss it and I go. The only thing I miss is the people.
Speaker 2:Well, you're not going to miss it anymore, because we got John the Pilot coming back John the Pilot, coming back.
Speaker 3:Shout out, chris, maybe we can get him to come someday Get.
Speaker 2:Chris's ass back. Chris, get your ass in there, lazy ass. Anyway, all right, guys Listen, it was a great week. You guys have a great week. We'll see you next time on Cab Impression.
Speaker 1:See ya If you laughed, learned something, or just feel a little bit better about your own job after hearing about ours, do us a favor Subscribe, leave a review and share this episode with your weirdest co-worker. You know the one. Hit us up on Facebook. Drop your wildest airport stories. We just might read them on air bonus points. If you involve questionable clothing decisions, until next time, stay strapped in, stay hydrated and, for the love of TSA, keep your clothes on in the terminal.
