As we begin 2010, I hope everyone had a happy and safe holiday season. And I wish everyone a happy, healthy, (and most important) SAFE 2010!
Today’s article is my attempt to let you know a little about the REAL Dino. I couldn’t think of a better way to do that than to tell the story about how I (for better or worse—lol) first discovered my love of aviation. The one thing that binds us all together is our intense love for aviation. As I talk to people throughout the industry, everyone seems to remember the day they first fell in love with flying. I equate that day with our high school graduation or the day we got our first driver’s license. It’s such a life-changing moment that it just stays with us.
Many of you were just born into the industry. Having had a parent who worked in the industry as a pilot or FA, the love has just always been there. Many pilots tell stories to me of the first time their pilot parents took them on a flight on their personal aircraft or FA parents taking them on frequent flights almost since birth. I, on the other hand, didn’t come into it like that.
I grew up in a very small town in the Northeast. The population of a fully-loaded A-380 is probably larger than the town I grew up in. Most in my family were either factory workers or farmers, so as you can see, my early childhood didn’t exactly lead me directly to aviation.
That all changed in the summer of 1976. I was 6 or 7 years old. My mother decided that she had enough of our small town and moved us to the west coast. Every trip we had taken had always been by automobile, so I was very excited when I learned we’d be traveling by jet. Even before my first ride, the fascination with airplanes was there. Whether it was attending local air shows, airplane museums, or just sitting outside and looking at the jets flying high above my “fly-over” home town, I was drawn to them.
The day we arrived at the airport was amazing. Sinatra’s “Come Fly With Me” is now playing in my head as I type. We arrived early and around the same time as our flight crew. They walked through that airport like rock stars and we mere mortals treated them as such. The pilots looked so elegant and confident in their uniforms and the stewardesses looked like they had all fallen right out of a Vogue magazine (makeup and hair just perfect and not a wrinkle to be found on their uniforms). My first exposure to the industry was during the golden age of travel. It was like something out of a movie. It was cool, it was beautiful, it was exciting and I was hooked for life
Before boarding, I looked out the window of the airport one last time and saw what I believed was the largest airplane on the planet. Once on board, we were greeted by the most beautiful and happiest women I’d ever seen. Those beautiful models in the sky immediately took a liking to me (what can I say, I was an adorable child at that age) and took excellent care of me and my family. I walked through the cabin to find my seat. I still recall a distinct odor of that 1970’s plastic (I remember because all of my toys had that same distinct smell) and tobacco (some traditions, I’m happy to see go). We found our seats and eventually found ourselves taxiing to the runway. By this point, my heart was beating harder and harder. “Stewardesses, prepare for take-off” I hear over the speakers. Next thing I knew, the plane began moving faster and faster down the runway. My excitement was building harder than ever before. Suddenly, the jet began to inch off of the ground climbing higher and higher. I looked out the window as the airport and everything so familiar to me became smaller and smaller. “WOW!!!” I thought. I’M REALLY FLYING!!!!!!!!!!!!! The next part of the flight was, as I now know it to be, pretty routine (beverages, meals, etc). Once in the sky, my attention turned to the windows. I was completely entranced with looking out the window. Everything looked so tiny down there. After years of looking up at the tiny jet in the sky, I finally found out what they were looking at from their “view from the top”. It’s kind of funny because that’s the view of the world I’m now most used to seeing (and the one I most prefer). My favorite part of the flight was when the captain again came on the speakers and told us to look out at the Grand Canyon as we flew over it. That view is still engrained in my memory.
I think to this day, I’m most grateful to those flight attendants on that plane. They were more attentive to me than anyone had ever been up to that moment. They stopped by every couple minutes to make sure I was doing well. One had even gone to the captain to secure me an invitation to the flight deck. I wanted to go up there more than anything, but I was too scared to meet the pilots and for some reason wouldn’t go. It was probably the first time in my life I can remember regretting not doing something I really wanted to do. I’m guessing it happened a lot because the flight attendant came back and told us to let her know if I changed my mind (sadly, I never did—took me almost 30 years before I finally got to do it) and that the captain wanted me to have a gift. It was a small plastic model of the jet we were flying on with the airline logo on it. The FA’s were even there to nurse me during our descent when my ears start to hurt intensely.
The whole experience made me want to enter the industry, but it was those ladies and their special treatment of me that really cemented my desire to enter the industry. For years, I wanted to be a pilot, but events through the years steered me away from it, but my love of aviation endured. I still want to learn to fly planes as a hobby, but recent industry changes and my fast march towards middle-age is now acting as a deterrent from it ever being a viable career choice. Luckily, about 5 years ago, I fell into the industry by accident. I was in between jobs in my old industry and answered an ad for a job as a flight attendant. It seems the love was still there and that temporary job turned into a new career that I have a genuine passion for. To this day, I remember those ladies as a pattern for doing my job (and doing it well). Some days, the passengers can do their best to make that ideal difficult to achieve, but I still credit them for the reason I’m often recognized by my peers, supervisors, and especially the passengers as being good at what I do. I owe it all to them.
I often think of those FA’s and hope all is good for them. As they are all now in their 50’s and 60’s, I really hope that they were lucky enough to move into their retirement before all of the industry changes came into effect since 2001. My wish for them is that they are enjoying a happy and fun retirement and still traveling the world. Before I go, I want to once again send them a heart-felt “thank you” for having such a profound influence on me after all these years. Ladies, I owe it all to you.
Goodbye Everyone and Fly Safe!!!!
Dino |
