Emotions Flying

This morning our flight from New York to Cancun seemed quite normal.  Nothing of note except it was early and we navigated around a tropical storm.  The flight was smooth and non eventful just like I like it.   I was saying good bye to the passengers as they exit the aircraft.  A young lady reluctantly said something kind of low and it was hard to hear.  She said something like, thank you for that beautiful flight.  I thought that was very sweet and as I looked at her more closely I was pretty sure she was crying or very emotional.  My instinct was to not hold up the exiting traffic or embarrass her so I let her go.  Later that evening I was starting to get bothered by her emotions and I wondered what story she had to tell.

It made me realize that a normal flight to most of the 168 passengers could be something extraordinary for others.  Did she have a fear of flying, a previous bad experience, cancer or was she just emotional about being in this beautiful paradise that she has always dreamed of going?  The view out of the window in Cancun is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen.  So maybe she was touched by that spectacular arrival.

I have over 30,000 flight hours and some in the back of the airplane as well.  There are so many stories and things that I could write about.  Why is this lady who I didn't even talk to about her emotions really getting to me?  Maybe it is because I can relate.  I have had flights where I too was very emotional.  Some happy and some not so much.  Flying to a funeral of my 40 something year old cousin wasn't one of my happy times.  She had young children and she had always loved flying herself.  It was an emotional trip home to Kentucky.  Flying back to Texas from a Kentucky trip to help organize a funeral for a friend who lost her son in a car crash.  How can I help this family and what in the world do you say?  And even some happy times like my flight back from Minneapolis after Northwest Airlines told me yes we want you to come work for us.  After many rejections prior I finally felt this huge weight lifted off of me.

One crazy flight I was riding in the back on a Eagle jet headed to Kentucky when the airplane felt like it dropped out of the sky.  My seatmate who was a big muscular guy grabs me and screams like a little girl.  Well, everybody was screaming and I found myself telling everyone it is going to be okay.  We will be out of it soon look how it is getting brighter out the window.  My seatmate felt terrible and explained he was in the military and had been in a terrible helicopter crash.  He was in the hospital for a year.  The sudden drop brought back floods of emotions that he felt during that crash he was in a few years ago.

You see we all have a story, some known and some unknown.  Sometimes we don't even know that story is in us until something brings it out.  That particular airplane ride is etched in my memory because I was the uniformed crew member who helped calm the passengers in the middle of the airplane down in a scary situation.  It also gave me some sympathy for the stories of my passengers who may or may not come up before the flight to tell us about their concerns.

Yes, on occasion we have people come up and explain their fear of flying, weather, bumps, etc.  We give them a full briefing about what to expect and do our best to help them to return to their seat with full confidence that we will do the best job possible to keep them safe.  I personally have never had anyone get off after our briefing.  So next time you need to say something to the pilots.  Remember this blog.  I (we) care and I do want to hear your story.
   

Not our crew from today but just look how friendly we are.  We love to talk to you!