I spent this past week in Orlando at Sapphire, SAP’s annual convention. This year it was combined with the annual ASUG meeting, the America’s SAP User’s Group meeting. But that’s not the subject of this post.
I flew UAL on the return flight. UAL is the only airline that makes air traffic control (ATC) available to passengers. It is found onj channel 9. When I was travelling a lot for business, I was a big UAL flyer. 1K for three years running (ok, big, but not great since many people fly more than I did and for more years running). I really enjoyed the ATC banter.
On this flight, about an hour before arrival, the captain invited us to listen in for a discussion about the flight. He spoke for 30 minutes on a whole variety of topics. It was really a hoot. He spoke about:
- Which controller is in talking to the plane as you go from gate to take off
- The statistics of the 757 — the most efficient plane in the sky
- What causes turbulence
- What kind of turbulence is dangerous and why
- The approach and how the pilots interact with ATC
- The seniority system at UAL
It was really great to hear him talk about his job. At one point, he said “I don’t have any idea if anyone at all is listening to this, so if you are listening and you want me to continue, please turn your call button on and then off.” Many people around the plane (including myself) pinged him with the call buttons. He was very appreciative of the support.
It was very nice to have a senior person with the airline speak so highly and professionally about both his company and the overall air traffic system.
I think it is always interesting to hear about what people do. I was chatting with a father of one of my son’s school mates and asked what he did. He didn’t seem like I would think it was interesting (I assume he thinks it’s interesting), but it was. He is a researcher in the University of Missouri medical school and works on genetic diseases. Again, he didn’t seem interested in chatting, but I thought it was fascinating.