WHY 11D?

WHY 11D?

Many of my readers, friends and pax ask why I picked 11D. I wanted a seat that wasn’t always in M/C. I wanted variety. On most A/C, 11D is in our M/C. However, on our larger widebody A/C, 11D is in the B/C. This way I get a better cross section and representation of my pax. I could have just as easily picked row 7-11 to meet my criteria. It was totally random that I picked 11D…..who’s next???

STEVE S. (of JETBLUE FAME)

PIT-JFK
AUG 9, 2010

Since the situation with Steven S. (Jetblue) is all over the news and FB, I felt I needed to add an entry. This is exactly why I am writing this blog. We all hear about the “crazies” (I am talking about the pax). They make national news. However, for every crazy, there are thousands of interesting, cool, great to meet and talk to “regulars”. I love my job, my office view is FANTASTIC and 99.99% of the time every pax I encounter is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!

RICH

July 5, 2010

DFW-SAN (originating from Italy within last 24 hours)

Submitted by: KS

Why are you on this flight? "Returning home from vacation"
FUN FACT: "I have hiked Mt. Kilimanjaro and plan to hike Aconcagua to achieve 7 200" (not sure what he wrote) climb before I turn 50 (3 years to go)"
BUCKET LIST: "Africa, much of Europe, including turkey, Ireland, Mexico, I have traveled extensively within US."
GUILTY PLEASURE: "Love gelatos' (once a day while on 2 week vacation); dark chocolate is irresistible on average day" :)
He was traveling with his family---I believe 5 of them.

FRANK

June 26, 2010 LAX-ORD

Wouldn't you know it, my first post was actually sitting in 12D, because the pax in 11D didn't speak English well.
FRANK was traveling with his adorable twin daughters to Chicago to meet up with wife/Mom. She is working on a film in Chicago. His FUN FACT is that he gets to “stay home with his daughters about 75% of the time. I was impressed on how much fun he was having as a stay at home Dad. His BUCKET LIST item is “that one Alaskan fish trip for huge halibut…..with my girls of course” His GUILTY PLEASURE??? He “can not miss ‘Ghost Adventures’ every night”

At the bottom of the page there was an additional FUN FACT that said, “I love my Daddy very, very, very much!”

Frank is an amazing man that is working 75% of the time as a stay at home Dad and loves it! His girls were great, what a wonderful family. He seems to be doing a great job and enjoying it immensely.

Airport Standby

So here is the deal. I go to LAX and sit in the crew operations (Op's) for 6 hours and get paid for 5. I am there in case a Flight Attendant is needed at the very last minute to crew an aircraft. It is part of our reserve obligation. Not a crew member? I will explain the crazy world of reserve in a later post. Remember I live in San Diego, so I leave my house at 2pm and if I don't fly tonight I will get home at 130am. I will just be sitting in "Op's" waiting to be called. I can check on the computer to make sure people have signed in and that the flights have departed, however at anytime they could call me to fly. I have had to sit for 5 hours and 45 minutes...only 15 minutes to go, when I got called to fly an allnighter to NY. Yes it is completely legal from the FAA's point of view. My duty day (from sign-in to landing) was 11:45 hours. 50% of the time you don't go anywhere, you sit there, you go home and then you drive to the airport the following day for a trip. That is only one of the crazy things that happens on reserve. Like I stated earlier, I will give you more info on reserve in future posts.

Keep your fingers crossed for me to get a good trip, so I can post things about the interesting people I meet seated in 11D.

XOXO Penni

June 13, 2010

Welcome aboard!

My 19+years of flying have opened up a world of opportunities for me...literally. I have climbed Machu Pichu, met an astronaut, received free water delivery for a year, gone to private concerts of well known musicians, eaten my way across the country, saved a life or two, all in a blue polyester suit. I can visit a city for less than 12 hours and be able to tell a great little hidden gem to visit or a unique delicious place to eat. Everything from the Dr. Pepper museum in Waco, a taco trailer in Tulsa, the best ribs in Saint Louis and more. I have been to flea markets, craft fairs and estate sales...nation wide. I have been to my share of food fairs, earth day celebrations, Thanksgiving Day Parades and local celebrations, however obscure they may be. I have been able to swim & layout at beaches around the world.

I love my life and my job and can't really imagine not having these experiences. However, it isn't always fun & games. We lost 2 planes on 9/11 and have lost other crew members in other accidents & incidents. My job has such a large work group, up to 21,000 during the peak of the airlines in 2001, that we all suffer through many loses. I have lost airline friends due to cancer, suicide and life in general. This blog is about the passengers (pax) and their stories, but it is dedicated to those who lost their lives doing what they loved to do. I will always remember 9/11 and the sacrifices of the Flight Attendants and Pilots, that died that day.