I worked a trip back home to Montana on May 17th. It had been awhile since I had been back in my home state. I was giddy with excitement about my trip. I had a 30- hour Kalispell layover. I had rented a car for my layover and I had a general plan of where I wanted to roam. Fortunately, I had two spectacular crew members that were raring to join me on my adventure. Heck. My adventure quickly became our adventure. We had a wildly spectacular time in the Wild West. I wouldn’t have changed a thing about our trip. Well,….except for me getting Covid. Yessiree. I absolutely would have changed this.

When I got my trip bid results for May, I was ecstatic to see I had two long Kalispell layovers. I had never been to Kalispell. Say, what!? I know it’s shameful to admit….being a Montanan and all. In my defense, Montana is the fourth largest state in America. Thankfully, it only took me a few minutes on Pinterest to get a game plan for my Kalispell layover. I learn by watching several YouTube videos that Glacier National Park visitors would need to purchase a park entrance pass 60 days in advance starting May 27th. Luckily, my layovers were prior to this date. Yeah for me beating the summer rush in Kalispell! After all my research and my Skytress friend Kellie texting me some valuable information, I felt I had a decent plan set for my first Kalispell layover. I decided I would just wing things on my second layover. Oh, and I decided I should start praying to ensure the reroute gods wouldn’t rear their ugly heads. For you all know,….I am The Rerouted Skytress.

Our Montana adventure started off shaky. The hotel clerk informed us we couldn’t use the hotel shuttle to ride to the airport to pick up the rental car. No siree. Apparently, we needed to request the shuttle 24 hours in advance. The clerk fiercely didn’t want to budge on this policy. Egads! But, of course, we got her to budge and she found us a driver. Once we were settled in the rental car, we quickly learned the Armada navigational system had issues. It wanted us to take a right into a muddy field instead of make a left to exit the airport. Skytress Amy quickly put our destination of Whitefish, Montana into her cell phone. In a blink, she had us heading in the right direction. I was eager to visit the quaint western town. Of course, my number one objective was to buy a Christmas ornament. My objective soon became all of our objective. We checked out several shops before we headed off to Crystal Winters. This shop had a little bit of everything. So, I bought a little bit of everything…..besides my Christmas ornament, of course. What can I say? The store had a huge selection of huckleberry item. Here’s a little known fact. I’m a wee bit obsessed with huckleberries. They’re phenomenally delicious!

We all knew rain was in the forecast for later in the day. So, we decided it was best to head to Glacier. Once again, Skytress Amy got us heading in the right direction. Skyter Paul then spotted the game warden. He figured the game warden was heading to Glacier. He was spot on. The three of us had a marvelous time sightseeing on the drive. It’s easy to sightsee when you are relying on the game warden to get you to your final destination. There were multiple quirky sites along the route. We tried to comment on all of them. The whole time though, my heart was pounding from the astounding scenery. The closer we got to Glacier, the more my words failed me. The three of us just kept saying. “Wow! Look at that”. One view was as exquisite as the next. I felt as if we were driving into a fairytale. Everything seemed utterly magical. Yet, it was all very real. The Lake McDonald Lodge and the surrounding log cabins made me feel like I was stepping back in time. I could only fathom the reaction of visitors to Glacier a hundred years ago. However, I believe they would have thanked God for the beauty presented before them just like I was. The three of us walked down to the water and placed our hands in it. It was cold and invigorating. I know Skyter Paul wanted to do his polar plunge. He came prepared to do it. He even got the approval from the park associate. Instead we walked around and took pictures. We ended up going inside the lodge. It was striking. Skytress Amy and I went to the restroom. When we walked back into the main hall there was Skyter Paul playing the piano. The piano was from 1914. The sign on the piano welcomed all to play it. Skyter Paul was entertaining everyone. I couldn’t stop smiling. I stepped away to check out the gift shop. I knew the perfect Christmas ornament was waiting inside for me to purchase. I giggled as I handed the sales clerk my credit card. The visitors inside the lodge were applauding Paul and his piano playing. Yessiree. It was just another magical moment in my magical day.

Most of the roads in the park were closed. The famous road, the Going -to -the Sun Road, will be closed until late June or early July. Snow still covers the road. I’ve learned up to 80 feet of snow can cover the road below. It can take 10 weeks to plow the road in the springtime. Skytress Amy told us about the time she drove the road with her crew on a layover. I tried to image the beauty and the danger of the trip. I was completely fascinated by her story. I vowed to myself that one day I will make this trip. The day we were in Glacier they were forecasting 15 inches of new snow on the mountain tops. I was amazed how quickly the fowl weather moved in. We took this as our sign to move out. Interestingly, I was surprised how sad I felt to leave the park and the God-gifted beauty of the land. But, then again, that’s what my Montana does to people.

We decided we would head to Flathead Lake. Our gate agent had suggested it to us the day before. Skytress Amy looked up the location on her phone. Flathead Lake is south of Kalispell. The SUV navigation system wanted us to head towards Canada. Of course, we followed Navigator Amy’s directions instead. Yessiree. I kept driving south. It humored me how one minute the speed limit was 70. Then in a heartbeat it would drop to 35 miles per hour. Then in another instant it was back to 60 miles per hour. I was marveling at the speed limits and interacting with Skyter Paul and Skytress Amy when out of my periphery I spied another mountain range and below it, Flathead Lake. It was beyond breathtaking. We spotted a sign for a picnic area and we turned off the highway. We were rewarded with a spectacular view of the lake. We were fascinated with the colorful rocks that created the shore. Paul and Amy skipped rocks along the water. I was completely entertained and impressed by their rock skipping skills. We took more pictures as we frolicked on the rocks. Paul and I filled our pockets with colorful rocks. I can’t explain it. I felt compelled to take a piece of Montana back home with me. I’d like to say I chose the rocks. But, I know without a doubt, they chose me.

We decided we would return the rental car and head back to Kalispell for dinner. Unfortunately, we were once again having issues with the hotel clerk and getting transportation back to the hotel from the airport. Skyter Paul secured us a ride with a gentleman picking up his rental car. His name was Emmanuel. Emmanuel means, “God is with us”. As I reflect upon our car ride, I have to smile. God was undeniably with us in the car that afternoon. Our great fortune continued when we headed out to dinner in Kalispell. We went to Brannigan’s Irish Pub. I was tickled to see pasties on the menu. My Mom made these when we were younger. I debated whether to order them. I decided I’d treat myself to them the following week on my layover. Ultimately, we all decided to get the Shephard’s Pie. It was exceptional. It was the perfect meal to cap off the day.

The next morning we received notification that our flight to Minneapolis had been delayed. Our Captain had to go to the emergency room during the night with muscle spasms. We had to wait for another Captain to be flown in to Kalispell. We knew we had very little time to make our deadhead flight to Atlanta once we arrived in Minneapolis. Skytress Amy joked that Paul and I would have to leave our rocks behind in order to make the flight. We encountered some of the nastiest rough air I’ve experienced in a long time on our approach into Minneapolis. At the last minute we had to abort our landing because of wind shear. We went through more rough air on our second attempt. But, the Captain made a perfect landing. While our passengers applauded, I breathed a sigh of relief.

Things always seem to go wrong when you are running late. I couldn’t get my suitcase out of the bin. My suitcase hook was stuck between the bin and the fuselage. Fortunately, Skytress Amy helped me get it unstuck. Then we quickly made our way to the furthest concourse imaginable to catch our flight to Atlanta. When I say this, I mean Skyter Paul ran ahead to make sure the agents knew we were coming. The rest of us walked briskly. Since my bag hook had been messed up in the overhead bin, my bags kept flipping on the hook. I’ll admit. I did question why I packed so many rocks from Flathead Lake. The collection of several new Christmas ornaments and a hefty supply of huckleberry items in my flight bag didn’t help the situation either. Fortunately, the bad weather had closed the ramp area for a brief time. Our flight was running behind schedule. We made it. I sat in my middle seat and I said a prayer of thanks. Then for the next two hours I enjoyed my movies while the passenger next to me coughed, sneezed and blew his nose. I mentioned this to my crew when we got off the plane in Atlanta. I told them I was pretty sure I was going to get this guy’s cold. Skytress Amy tried to make me feel better by telling me the guy probably had bad allergies. This thought made me feel better. …..until Sunday night…. when I started feeling awful, awful, awful.

Sunday night I was making a preliminary itinerary for my second Kalispell layover. I was excited to be going back to Montana. Then I noticed I was starting to feel feverish. I was achy. My head started hurting and I felt a cold coming on. My thoughts immediately turned to my seat mate. I knew I was getting his cold. I questioned my medical diagnosis during the night. A cold didn’t feel this awful. In the morning I decided to take a Covid test. My seat mate hadn’t given me a cold. Nope. He had given me Covid. My test showed a positive Covid result immediately. I was devastated I wouldn’t be going back to Montana. Yessiree. More devastated than finding out I had Covid.

I can’t explain the feeling I have when I am back in Montana. I am proud and honored that I am a native daughter of one of the most exquisite places in America. I am continuously awed by the majesty of the snow-capped mountains. I love the openness and grandeur of the land. The sky is immense, glorious and soulfully impactful. It truly is Big Sky country. Most importantly, my heart is at peace when I’m in Montana. I am fortunate I get to fly back to Montana periodically to experience all of it’s intoxicating wonder. Yes. Montana may be my home state. But, Montana welcomes everyone home. This past trip my Montana welcomed myself and my first-class crew home with open arms. Ultimately, it was too difficult to say goodbye. So we didn’t. We simply said,….until next time, Montana.

Our airline made some pretty big news a few days ago. Yessiree. Our airline will be the first major airline to pay it’s Skytresses and Skyters for the boarding process. Say, what!? You didn’t know we didn’t get paid during the boarding process? Nope. Our pay starts once the airplane door is closed. If you asked the higher-ups at our airline, they will tell you we are getting paid. It just isn’t flight pay. We Skytresses and Skyters have always felt the boarding process is the first part of the flight. Thus, not getting paid for the boarding process never felt right to us. Especially, since it can be the most trying part of the flight. Starting this June this will all change. Yessiree. This pay announcement shocked the airline industry. Heck. It shocked me! I thought I’d be long retired or dead before this day ever came. I know Skytresses and Skyters at other airlines are now very envious of us. It’s been the hot topic of conversation. The pay announcement, also, shocked the general public. I’ve read and heard the comments. People are incredulous we don’t get paid for boarding. After hearing this news, I know some of you are feeling very guilty for making your flight crews work so hard while at the gate. I’m sure some of you are wondering how you right a wrong. Well, Skytresses and Skyters can be very forgiving individuals. Especially, when the path to forgiveness is lined with candy. Well, as far as Skytresses and Skyters are concerned, that is. Yessiree. Candy will do the trick. Of course, we expect the GOOD candy. The path to Skytress and Skyter forgiveness is only lined with the GOOD candy!

I had just arrived in the crew lounge from my commuter flight when I heard about our boarding pay. I was talking to my Skyter friend Kenyon about where we were flying that day. We chatted about this and that. Then Skyter Kenyon mentioned the boarding pay. I was confused. I had no idea what he was talking about. He told me starting June 2nd we were going to get paid for boarding. I was flabbergasted. Kenyon told me there was a company email explaining everything. Ah, a company email. No wonder I hadn’t heard the news. I try not to mess up my off days by reading company emails. Kenyon showed me the email and the pay we would receive. I still couldn’t believe it. I told Kenyon I thought I’d never see this day come to fruition. All airlines have held steadfast with the notion that no one should get flight pay during the boarding process. Heels were dug into the ground on this issue. I did a quick Skytress calculation and this pay is going to really pay off. This pay, along with our pay raise, will enable me to retire a few days earlier than I had anticipated. Oh, yes. We also got a pay raise that went into effect this month. I love when my company gives me money. Lucy from the Peanuts says it best. “How I love the sound of clinking money! That beautiful sound of cold hard cash!”

Obviously, the past couple years have been incredibly hard on the airline industry. Heck. During the height of the pandemic I didn’t know if I would have a job to come back to. I felt extremely blessed this year when our airline gave us all a profit sharing check. For a very long time our airline bled millions of dollars a day. A profit sharing check meant the tide was rolling in our favor again. I am truly blessed that our airline is now in a position to offer us a pay raise and boarding pay. My fingers are crossed that this Valentine’s Day we will receive another profit sharing check. My airline chooses to give us profit sharing checks on Valentine’s Day. Isn’t this sweet? Yessiree. It is!

Of course, a Skytress and Skyters’ life isn’t just about pay raises and profit sharing checks. Nope. It’s also about layovers and flying with sensational people. Fortunately for me, I’ve been winning the jackpot in both of these categories. Yessiree. I’ve been flying with utterly amazing crews. No drama. Just fun. The past few months I’ve flown with several Skytresses I flew with in Cincinnati. It’s been marvelous sharing stories of our Cincinnati days. I even flew with a Skyter that also went to The University of Kansas. Through jumpseat conversations we learned we were in the same dorm our freshman year. We, also, were both in journalism. Even more fascinating….We both took the easiest math course that was required of Journalism students. Ugh, math. Skyter Gavin and I both dreaded math! Obviously, we were destined to be a Skytress and Skyter! Rock Chalk. Jayhawk. K-U!!!

I would have paid good money to see my friend Kristin on my layover. Fortunately, my airline paid me, instead. Did you hear a rimshot, or was it just me?! Badum-Ching! You may remember Kristin and I went through Skytress training together. Then we flew together in Atlanta and in Cincinnati. Kristin may no longer be a Skytress, but, she will always have the heart of Skytress. She was as excited about my Minneapolis layover as I was. It didn’t matter that my layover was short. There was still plenty of time to get together. It, also, didn’t matter that most places were closed by the time we went out. Kristin and I happily headed to Culver’s for some ice cream. As everyone knows, any time of day is the perfect time for ice cream! Especially, Culver’s ice cream. I learned all about Culver’s from Ron. Ron was a Culver’s enthusiast. He would bid the short Milwaukee layover just to satisfy his Culver’s cravings. Yessiree. Culver’s and our layover hotel shared the same parking lot. It couldn’t have been more convenient for Ron. Kristin and I laughed over Ron’s unabashed love for Culver’s. Then we raised our cups of frozen custard and toasted Ron in Heaven. I’m sure Ron had a great chuckle over this gesture. I’m positive he was also a wee bit envious. Heaven is heavenly. But, it doesn’t have Culver’s. At least I don’t think it does!

Now I don’t want you to think this blog post is all about Skytresses and Skyters coming into money, money, money. I do have some fabulous news for you all, too. Yessiree. You, my sweet readers, will also be rolling in the money, money, money. Well, at least if you frequently purchase earbuds on our airline. May 10th we discontinued charging our passengers $2 for earbuds. Hooray! Headsets are now free for everyone. This is not to be confused with the complimentary headsets we gave out during the pandemic. Those headsets were free. Then they weren’t. But, now they are again! Alleluia! Skytresses and Skyters no longer have to whisper to the first-class passengers and Comfort Plus passengers when handing out headsets. I’ll admit. It was always awkward handing out headsets in these sections of the airplane. I tried not to make eye contact with the passengers in the row directly behind Comfort Plus. These passengers would inevitably get excited that I was handing out complimentary headsets. I hated the look of disappointment when I had to explained to these passengers that their headset would cost them $2. Thank goodness. No more looks of disappointment. Now everyone can be happy…..Crew and passengers. Money…money…money in everyone’s pockets. Ah, yes. “The beautiful sound of cold hard cash!”

Alleluia! The day finally came my sweet friends! Tuesday, April 19, 2022, was the first day of my unmasking. Yessiree. For over two years I’ve had to wear a mask in the crew lounge, in the airport, on the plane, and even on the employee shuttle. I’m not going to lie. The unmasking was absolutely exhilarating! More exhilarating than seeing my picture in The New York Times the next day. That was more hysterically funny. However, both things put a huge smile on my face. A smile everyone could finally see!

Ironically, I could have used my face mask on Tuesday. It was cold waiting for the employee shuttle to come. A warm face covering would have come in handy. When I did finally stepped into the employee shuttle, I noticed the driver and two other airport employees were wearing their face masks. In complete contrast, an American Airline pilot and I were not wearing a mask. We sat near each other in solidarity. I noticed the sign in the shuttle now said masks were encouraged…not required. I wondered how quickly that sign had been changed. Just the day before, the Federal Mask Mandate had been overruled. I admired the efficiency of the employee whose job it was to update the sign.

I was curious to see how many passengers and crew would be maskless when I entered the airport. Interestingly, I saw multiple people still wearing masks. So many people were wearing masks that I almost questioned whether we still had to wear one. That was until I saw the TSA agent at the Known Crew Member security lane. He had a huge smile on his face. He was excited to see me without a mask on, too. The psychological heaviness of being required to wear the mask for two years was lifted. We were giddy talking about being able to see everyone’s smiles again at the airport. We, also, knew the mandate could be reinstated at any time. Thus, we relished this moment even more.

I’ll admit. I was a little shocked to see all the Skytresses working my flight to Atlanta still wearing their masks. I almost thought I hadn’t read a required company email stating employees still had to wear face masks on the airplane. But, not one Skytress working my flight said anything to me about not wearing a face mask. So, I headed back to my seat and promptly fell asleep.

The atmosphere in the crew lounge was completely different when I exited the employee elevator. Everywhere I looked I saw smiling faces. It was refreshing to see. I could easily spy all my friends. Everyone was acting like they had just received the best reroute from crew scheduling. Yessiree. No one had to pretend they were still in the process of eating and drinking in order not to have to wear their face masks. As you can see, we are no different than the passengers on the airplane. Heck. I think we all learned this technique from the passengers in the first place. I did observe several Skytresses and Skyters wearing their face masks. They had obviously decided to continue to wear a mask for their own personal reasons. I applaud them. Under other circumstances, I too, may have decided to continue to wear a face mask. After all, my health and my family’s health are why I started wearing a mask in the first place many months ago.

My crew and I briefed before our trip. It was lovely to brief without our masks on. We couldn’t stop smiling at each other. I’ll admit. It was utterly intoxicating. After we briefed, we headed to our gate. Myself and my Skytress In-Charge, Lisa, chose to take the train to our departure concourse. The Skyter on our crew, Kent, decided he would walk to get his steps in. Lisa and I talked while we waited for the train to depart. Just as the doors were closing, I noticed a gentleman taking pictures outside the train. He had multiple cameras dangling around his neck. I thought it was a bit odd he was taking pictures of us all standing inside the train. I wondered if he was a press photographer. This being said, I’ve bared witnessed to more strange things happening at the airport in my career than I can count. Thus, I also thought the man was just an airline passenger taking pictures for whatever peculiar reason he may have had. I’ll admit. The way passengers minds work continuously fascinates me. Heck. It’s one reason I’ve shown up for work these past thirty-two years. Just when I think I have seen it all, I am reminded by some quirky passenger that I haven’t.

As soon as my crew and I stepped on board the airplane, our Captain greeted us by saying, “ It’s great to see all your smiling faces”. Of course, this made us smile even more. The newfound freedom from not having to wear the face mask was evident. It was even more evident as the passengers boarded. Half the passengers wore face masks. However, the half that didn’t, wore smiles that lifted my spirit higher than it has been on a plane in a very long time. I’ll admit, though. It was an adjustment seeing people smiling on the airplane again. I actually had to squelch the urge several times to tell passengers to put their face masks on. Not surprisingly, I haven’t seen this many passengers this happy traveling on an airplane in years. Everyone wanted to talk about seeing everyone’s smiles. It was a beautiful sight to behold.

The second day of our trip I was sitting in the gate area waiting for my crew when I decided to check my Facebook page. My Skyter friend, Joseph, had direct messaged me. He included a photograph with his message. He wrote, “I think your picture is in The New York Times”. Well, Joseph was right. I was gobsmacked. There I was standing inside the airport train with my Skytress In- Charge, Lisa. My first thought was, “He was a press photographer!” I couldn’t wait for my crew to get to the gate to show them the picture. When they arrived and saw the picture, they were as gobsmacked as I was. Skyter Kent was grateful he had walked to the gate. He teased Skytress Lisa and me about our new found fame. Skytress Lisa asked me to text her the picture so she could share it with her family. Yessiree. We were having great fun over the picture. Skytress Lisa told our Captain about the photograph as we introduced ourselves at the agent’s podium. I could tell the Captain wasn’t sure if we were teasing him about the photo or not. When he saw the photo he immediately congratulated us on becoming famous. We joked about the photo while we briefed and set up the airplane for our flight. One silly comment led to another. If nothing else, The New York Times photo was providing us with a lot of entertainment. The next day when we were getting ready to head back to Atlanta, the Captain made a very humorous PA. Well, humorous to us. The passengers had no idea he was mostly amusing our crew. He told the passengers our crew was one of the best at our airline. Thus, we were part of The New York Times expose on flying without the mask mandate. He stated our crew’s photograph was in The New York Times article. He proudly informed the passengers they could ask for autographs any time during the flight. I’m not sure if anyone looked up the photo on their phones or iPads. I am positive not one person asked us for our autographs, though. This was expected. Still it was humbling. For a moment at least. Mostly, we were still having a blast kidding each other about the photo. For weeks my Skytress and Skyter friends have been wondering when flying was going to be fun again. Flying this trip was a huge step in the right direction.

Sadly, for over two years, flying hasn’t been much fun for airlines or for passengers. However, I am extremely proud of the numerous protocols my airline established to insure the health and safety of our employees and passengers. I believe we continue to be industry leaders in this regard. As we all know, Covid is still around. The uncertainty of this virus still has us all on guard. I pray we won’t have another variant that will slow down the world again. I hope we don’t easily forget the millions of people who lost their lives to this virus. Nor forget their families and friends. Covid has shown us all how a virus can change the world in a matter of days. I know the likelihood of having to wear face masks and socially distance again is great. I don’t take for granted the privilege we now have to choose to either wear a mask or not when we fly.

Obviously, I am overjoyed we are no longer required to wear face masks. What you may not know is, I’m over the moon because I can once again wear my earrings while at work. Yessiree. I stopped wearing my earrings while I was flying. Unfortunately, I had one too many earrings get pulled out while I was adjusting my mask. Sorrowfully, it wasn’t worth the effort of putting them on after awhile. Nothing was more irritating than realizing I had lost another earring on the airplane. Okay. There are many more irritating things. But, when I was looking around the lavatory and the galley for a rogue earring, I sort of lost my perspective.

I was wearing my earrings in the New York Times photograph. Although, you can’t see them. I know because I’ve zoomed in on the photo enough times to tell. What can I say? Fame makes you do crazy things! You may be asking yourselves if having our photo in The New York Times made up for having to wear face masks on the airplane for the past two years? Nope. It did not. However, it did make the transition back to flying maskless more enjoyable. Many of you know I love to tell people when things make my Irish eyes smile. Well, my sweet friends….my Irish eyes are smiling these days. Delightfully, I really don’t have to tell you this. No siree. Thanks to my unmasking, I can now happily show you!