Maiden Voyage of the Boeing 777
Maiden Voyage of the Boeing 777
Ladies and gents, from the Boeing 777 flight deck, Welcome Aboard!
Let’s go for a flight, shall we?
But First…
Merry Christmas!!!
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Holidays, and here’s to a MOST EXCELLENT (& Covid-Free!) 2022!!!
May all your Christmas wishes, aviation and otherwise, come true!
Maiden Voyage of the Boeing 777
My Christmas Wish
For me, I know my Christmas wish came true:
Sing with me, won’t you? To the tune of “2 Front Teeth!”
All I want for Christmas is my New Left Seat,
My new Left Seat,
My new Left Seat!
And, as of yesterday, it’s official: I’ve been released to fly the line!
Come with me in the jumpseat, and see how my first flights outta the nest went!
Maiden Voyage of the Boeing 777
The Commute
As regular readers know, I’m born, raised, and have lived in Phoenix for nearly my entire life. And, for the majority of my airline career, I’ve been blessed to both live and be based in my home town—which is a rarity in this business.
However, these days, my airline only bases Airbus A321 type planes in PHX. So, if I wanted to fly any other equipment, such as the Boeing 777 or 787, I would have to switch to another base. While there are several to choose from, for now, I’ve chosen to be based in DFW (Dallas.)
For the modern airline pilot, the decision to move bases and equipment also generates a new decision as well: move to the new base, or commute from your home?
Well, I love PHX, and ain’t goin’ nowhere! So, there’s only one choice: “commute” from PHX to DFW for my flights!
For any given trip in the future, therefore, I must first reposition to DFW to start my trip. As you can imagine, this makes any long day that much longer. The PHX-DFW flight is about 2 hours long, and goes several times a day. So, in general, I have several options.
But, even those options are limited. If I have an early report or a late release, I will have to rent a hotel room for the night.
So, next time you’re stuck, red-faced, in your rush hour commute to work, think of this: for many pilots and flight attendants, THIS is our commute!!
Maiden Voyage of the Boeing 777
Flights to LHR
For my first two trips on line, I flew with a designated Check Airman, who observed my handling of the flights, offered advice, and grilled me on myriad situations (“What do you do if you’re 38,000 feet over Greenland and you have a rapid depressurization?”)
In the States, nearly ALL flying is under radar contact, with airports available enroute in which to divert for a “non-normal.” However, flying overseas, not so much.
For International flying, the terrain, airports, rules, regulations, and services differ worldwide!
A few pics from the past week’s adventures…(and, speaking of Greenland, that’s what you’re looking at in the pics below!)
Maiden Voyage of the Boeing 777
Your Stocking Stuffer!
This is just a quick post to fill you in on my latest adventures in the new 777 toy. I’ll have MUCH more to say in future posts, but for now, enjoy this little tidbit.
A stocking stuffer, from me to you, on our favorite day of the year!
One cool thing that happened, was that the Lufthansa flight we’d been racing all the way across “The Pond” (Yes, the Atlantic! LOL), beat us to the gate, and to Customs.
However, upon hearing that I had a quick commuter flight back home to PHX, the pilots ushered me ahead of them, and the flight attendants insisted I go ahead of them as well.
I couldn’t say, “Danke” enough to them as I raced away, and caught my Christmas Eve flight home with only minutes to spare!
Yep, I’ve signed up for a whole new life. And, in the coming year, I’ll bring you along!
Till the next post…
This is 777 Cap'n Aux
Signing Off!
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