The Airplane Geek in Me

Meet my aviation world.

My life working for the airlines.
Insights into the workings of an airline.
Reviews of airlines, airplanes, service and my many timetables.

The one Air Greenland A330 at Kanquerlassuaq Airport after a 5 hour flight from Copenhagen, February 2019.

I was probably a pilot in an earlier life. Or maybe a flight attendant, or a gate agent, or something having to do with early aviation. The draw I had to aviation and airplanes from an early age was magnetic. At age 4 I visited my Aunt Georgia in Seattle and drew a picture of a plane flying above the Space Needle. Aviation was in my blood.

The white zone is for loading and unloading only.

Our family of 7 didn’t fly much for vacations, so I had to settle for driving to the airport (PDX) with my dad to pick up relatives or family friends coming for a visit. He preferred a drive by the baggage claim area, but would appease me by parking in the garage and going into the terminal to meet our guests by the plane.

It was in the ticket counter lobby of PDX that, while waiting for my aunt to arrive, I locked in on timetables. You can go to my recent post What is a timetable? for more information on that. Rest assured, I was hooked and now house thousands of them in a dedicated closet in my home.

TWA timetables were among the first I collected from the Portland International Airport. I loved the balance of red and white but also because TWA was so international and represented the WORLD of travel to me.

To me, the airport was magical, mostly because it represented movement, action and connection to the world. Bustling with energy, I set out on a direct course for the aviation world.

Plants to planes.

The summer of my junior year of college I decided to make my break from the tractor on the farm to the ramp of the airport with an entry level position as a Ground Service Agent (or baggage handler) for Horizon Air at PDX. I loved this job – close to the planes, the people, the action. It was a fun environment, mostly because so many of my fellow workers shared a love of aviation.

Many went on to be pilots, flight attendants, travel agents and any other job within the industry you can imagine. I went on to work in Corporate Sales, representing Horizon Air first and then Alaska Airlines to the travel agent and corporate communities of the industry. Between Horizon Air and Alaska Airlines my career spanned 25 years.

Working a promotional “Sunset Flight” on a Boeing 737-900 at San Diego airport in August, 2014.

Marry me and fly for free.

The perk of free flights (for the taxes and such) was a huge draw to me and allowed me to begin my wander of the world at a relatively early age. Pack my bag and GO. It was liberating.

As my roles increased within the sales organization I also had wonderful work travel opportunities. Touring fisheries in Alaska on remote islands and entertaining key expats at a reception in Beijing were a few of the interesting work gigs I enjoyed.

Beautiful Akun Island from a helicopter en route to the island of Akutan. This island has a population of 1 human, 10,000 ferrel cattle, a dozen donkeys and a few dogs. This island is in the expansive string of Aleutian Islands in Alaska and about three hours flying away from Anchorage.

Our friends at Hainan Airlines gave us a personalized tour of the Forbidden City in Beijing. Later that day we hosted a reception for expats living in China. Also, I don’t know why we were encouraged to make the peace sign and I have double the fun.

It’s not really about the destination.

While the destination is always fun and impacts me in some meaningful way, the journey is also very important. What type of plane matters to me. Experiencing new airlines is fascinating.

While I don’t condone removing items from the aircraft, a friend once brought me back a life vest from under the seat as a souvenir, which I loved and still have to this day. I had it displayed on a wall in my home and at a party someone pulled the cord and it remained inflated for 15 years.

On my way to Beijing to work with our partner airline Hainan. My first time flying on a Dreamliner (B787) and also experiencing the fantastic service of Hainan Airlines from San Jose, CA to Beijing.

Shop talk.

Even though I’m no longer with Alaska Airlines these days, I love shop talk and immediately jump into the middle of a debate with fellow avgeek friends about Condor’s retro livery or whether or not airlines will start canceling their 737MAX orders. Aviation still feeds my world.

A retro Condor Airlines livery on a Boeing 767 after a 12 hour flight from Frankfurt to San Diego.

Milestones important to me.

DECEMBER 1984, FIRST FLIGHT

Family vacation to Disneyland to visit our cousins and see Mickey. I was excited for months ahead to get to fly on a plane. PSA (Pacific Southwest Air) MD80 from PDX to San Francisco and onward to tiny Ontario airport. I still remember the smile on the front of the plane.

Something got mixed up with our flights and in SFO my mom worked us from one terminal to the next to get reaccomodated on an Alaska Airlines flight from SFO to Ontario. My first flight on my future employer as well that day.

JUNE 1990, FIRST INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT

I was in the Spanish Club in high school, mostly because I knew it was an excuse to get to go on the bi-yearly trip to either Mexico or Spain. I was always gunning for Spain, since it was farther away, but we ended up with Mexico and I loved it.

We flew American Airlines from PDX to DFW to Mexico City. This experience opened up my life to the world beyond the borders of the US.

AUGUST 1992, FIRST FLIGHT TO EUROPE (OR A DIFFERENT CONTINENT)

Also my first flight in Business Class after convincing the gate agent that the seats my cousin Monica and I held in coach were more valuable to give to someone waiting on the oversold list. How did this work?

Also my first (kinda) flight in the smoking section of an airplane. I took the seat because it seemed exciting (and it was) and then somehow managed to trade with a guy who wanted to consume a pack of cigarettes on the 7 hour flight from Chicago to London. Whew, that two rows forward really made a difference!

JUNE 1994, FIRST FLIGHT AS AN AIRLINE EMPLOYEE (NON-REV)

I flew from Portland to Spokane to get drug tested and it was love at first flight. And also I passed my drug test and physical strain tests with flying colors. The world of free flights on Horizon Air and Alaska Airlines was intoxicating to me.

My first International non-rev experience was the next year on SAS to Sweden because I had to wait a year before other airlines allowed me to bum a seat.

SEPTEMBER 2001, FIRST FLIGHT AFTER 9-11

The 9/11 attacks devastated and changed our airline world (and world in general) forever. Alaska started the first trans-con flight in their system between Seattle and DCA on September 4th and I flew out to DC a week after the air traffic system was back up and running to help the sales team promote the new service, which was switched to Dulles temporarily while DCA was closed indefinitely. The initial part of the flight was full of emotions with a lot of tenseness in the air, but it felt like a tiny step in the direction of healing.