With everything else going on, the significance of today almost passed me by. It was exactly 33 years ago today that I began my airline career with Piedmont Airlines. June 25, 1981 was a beautiful sunny day when I first stepped onto the ramp at Washington National Airport as an airline employee. I remember the ramp smelling of coffee, and I quickly discovered that there was an art to hoisting myself into the belly bin of a YS-11 without hitting my head on the bin ceiling. Every time a plane took off on what was then runway 36, I simply had to stop and take a look, I felt like I was the luckiest guy in the world! Three mergers and two corporate bankruptcies later, I still have a job, unlike many of my colleagues at Pan Am, TWA, Eastern, and Braniff, to name a few. The industry today is barely recognizable from the industry I began working for. When I started, the 737-200 was the backbone of Piedmonts fleet. Today, the last of the US Airways 737-400s are a few weeks away from leaving the fleet. I cant say Im happy about the changes that have occurred in my industry, in general, and my company, specifically, but I still feel like I have one of the best jobs in the world. Some days, youre the big dog and some days, youre the fire hydrant. I come to work with the attitude that I am going to have a good day, and I really do have more big dog days than fire hydrant days. I can wake up in the morning and decide to have dinner in New York, San Francisco, or London...as long as there is an empty seat on the plane, Im all set. Through my job, I met a wonderful kind-hearted woman who agreed to be my wife. I work in an airport environment, which to me is the equivalent of a young kid working in a candy store. When I started 33 years ago, I could not begin to imagine where the journey was going to take me, but I have to admit its been a very good ride. There have been plenty of unforeseen twists and turns along the way, but all in all, I still consider myself blessed to be working in the industry that has been my lifelong passion.
Posted on: Thu, 26 Jun 2014 02:49:10 +0000
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