I’m sitting here in my crew lounge wondering where the past six months have gone. It feels like yesterday I was heading home to start my vacation wondering what was going to happen to the world with COVID-19. Never could I imagine all that has happened. I am so grateful I was able to take the time off from flying and be there for my family. Not surprisingly, I didn’t sleep well last night before my first trip back flying. After thirty years of flying, I was extremely nervous about going to work. When I pulled into the employee parking lot I was shocked. There were very few cars. Usually, I have to park all the way at the end of an aisle. Today I parked next to the bus stop. There were only two other cars in the aisle with me. Happily, the shuttle driver still welcomed me aboard and then told me to have a safe flight as I left to go inside the airport. My St. Louis gate agents were still manning their posts…and as friendly as ever. I learned 20 St. Louis agents took the retirement package. I wasn’t shocked to hear this, but, it still made me sad. I admit, I did listen to all the PA’s the gate agents made in the gatehouse. We are now boarding from the back of the plane to the front of the plane. Once on the plane I listened intently to the PA’s the Skytresses made. So much has changed since I last flew. On deplaning passengers stay seated until the row ahead of them has retrieved their bags and are six feet ahead in the aisle. Amazingly, passengers adhered to this new deplaning procedure.
When I arrived in the crew lounge I saw boxes of face masks at the duty desk. One of the conference rooms is now a mandatory temperature check room. The health room where our on-site physical therapist treats Skytresses and Skyters is now a rapid COVID-19 test center for all employees. In 15 minutes any employee can find out if they have the virus. Our airline wants to continuously check the employees for the virus. Employees are also being tested for the COVID-19 antibodies. I, myself, go on Monday for this test. Our company is working in tandem with the Mayo Clinic to keep statistics on all the employees during COVID-19. After seeing all the changes in the lounge, I did spy several friends. Boy, it’s hard to recognize people with their face masks on and everyone in the same uniform. Almost everyone I encountered was returning to work for the first time, too. Many have vacation this month like me. We all decided flying only a couple trips this month would be a great way to ease back into flying. Looking around the crew lounge I dearly miss my friends that have retired. Many of my other friends are off on an extended company leave. I can’t wait until they come back to fly, too.
As, I write this,….I still have yet to work one of my flights. Yes, I’m sitting in the crew lounge a few hours before my trip. This part of my commute definitely hasn’t changed. I’m praying I have a good crew. Both of my Skytresses have the same first name. It can’t get much easier than that! Hopefully, at least one of them has flown a trip with the new protocols. As Ron would say, I feel discombobulated today. I feel like a new-hire Skytress. Tomorrow I’m sure I’ll feel like my old self. I’m not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing. I’ll let you know in the next paragraph.
So,….I made it through my first day of flying. My crew has been fabulous. Actually, fabulous is an understatement. These Skytresses have been flying all through COVID-19. Shockingly, they are both commuters. They earned my respect for getting to the airport when there were hardly any flights to commute on. These ladies are a wee bit senior to me. They have been beyond gracious showing me the new ropes. I struggled a wee bit trying to incorporate the old ways with the new ways. Even though the new ways are exceedingly easier than the old ways.
I definitely made a few observations my first day back flying. First, the airport had a lot more people than I expected. This is great news for our ailing airline industry. My fellow Skytresses told me they saw more business people flying on Tuesday. I like to think the passengers have come back flying because I am finally back flying. However, I’m sure many are like me and feel it’s time to get down to business and get flying again. I’ve found the airports are very quiet. There are definitely less passengers. I guess face masks are another reason there is less noise, too. I know many of us have discovered these past few months that face masks muffle even the loudest of talkers. I noticed many airport shops and eateries are not open, yet. This is adding to the lack of noise. Also the constant beeping of the electric carts is missing. I don’t miss that noise at all! Wheel chair attendants also aren’t bustling from gate to gate. It is evident people with health issues are staying home. I completely understand. Social distancing is keeping the once lively banter of fellow travelers to a minimum….both in the airport and on the airplane. Seats are blocked in the gate house areas, as well as, on our airplanes. Even the banter between employees is missing. The pilots give a friendly briefing and then head to the cockpit. I am very cognizant they are in tight quarters in the cockpit. So, I haven’t spoken to them much. Even our interactions with the passengers has been altered. I no longer have to repeat our snack selection to each passenger. I simply ask them if they would like a snack bag. The ziplock snack bag contains a bottle of water, several snacks and a hand sanitizer. Our in-flight service only takes four minutes to complete. Passengers are gracious to get the snack bag….then are happy to see me move along. Everyone is concerned about social distancing. They are rightly concerned about their health and safety. They are also concerned about our health and safety, too. I truly appreciate their concern. Another missing familiar sound is the constant clanging of beverage carts and supply carriers. Most carriers are no longer boarded since we currently don’t need them. We no longer have coffee or coffee pots. Basically, there is nothing to set up. The awful sound of ice being pounded in the galley is also missing. There isn’t the rustling of ice being scooped into glasses either. There isn’t a cane of soda or a can of juice to pop open. Ice, soda and juice cans have been removed from the aircraft.
To my amazement, there isn’t a rush to board the airplanes. Cleanliness is our number one priority. The agents and crew have to be happy with the cleanliness of the airplane before anyone boards. If there is any issue, the cleaning team comes back before one passenger steps on the plane. This is why so many people are flying our airline. They know we have strict policies in place. Airplanes get sanitized before every flight with a fogging machine that kills COVID-19. In addition to the hand sanitizer in the snack bags, passengers are handed a sanitizing wipe as they board. Everyone on my flights has been compliant with the face mask and face covering requirements. The crew’s are also wearing masks and gloves for protection. Like many people, I’ve learned wearing a mask from 5:30 am to 9:30 pm makes the back of your ears hurt. I’ve also learned, rather quickly, that the plastic gloves impede with typing and swiping on our company issued electronic devices. Needless to say, I’ve washed, wiped and sanitized more things than I ever had in one day at work. When I got to my hotel room I repeated the process.
The second day of my trip went much better. I actually felt like a rested thirty- year Skytress! It helped that I got to sleep in after my first day of flying. Eventually, I was woken to a text from my friend telling me to look at my seniority number. I jumped almost 2900 numbers with all the retirements. I was pleasantly shocked. In the grand scheme of things I am still in the middle of Skytress seniority. Now I just have to figure out how the new seniority numbers coincide with everyone’s hire date. The most junior person jumped 4000 numbers. But, they are still the most junior person who graduated in March. ….Which I learned yesterday is called “the COVID Class”.
Okay, you are now reading a new paragraph. But, a lot has happened. I flew home to St. Louis between my two trips. I’m on a new trip with a new crew of Skytresses. I have another great crew. But, I’m starting to wonder if after COVID -19 I will recognize my fellow crew members without their masks. Times are sure mixed up right now. I did watch the Clemson football team deplane next to us when we were in Greensboro. Their players were all wearing nice suits. They all had face masks on and clear face shields. As I watched the players through the cockpit window, I was talking with our first officer. He told me he would be furloughed starting October 1st. He was former military and was hired by our airline last year. He hopes he won’t be furloughed too long. He is very optimistic. I am going to be optimistic, too.
Another new paragraph…another new day. Yesterday was 9-11. I watched an incredibly moving video in my hotel room late at night when I couldn’t sleep. A Skytress friend posted the video on Facebook about the Flight 93 National Memorial located just outside of Shanksville, Pennsylvania. I encourage everyone to watch it. It was informative and extremely touching. I am determined one day to visit the museum and pay my respect to those heroes. After I watched the video, I saw another 9-11 post from another Skytress friend. This post was about the thirty- three crew members that died on 9-11. I learned so many lovely personal details about each person. When I started to read the comments I broke down crying. Below the pictures of each crew member, were comments from their friends at American Airlines and United Airlines. As I read the comments, I could feel how they dearly missed their friends. Their hearts were broken. My heart broke for them.
It’s Sunday evening now. Boy, we have been on such a journey in this blog post! I am so relieved these past two trips went well. I’m now officially on vacation again. I will not fly until October. I am glad I went back flying this week. I faced a fear and I am glad I did. It was great to get back to my Skytress life. However, I haven’t forgotten I had six months off from flying, either. After six days of flying, I miss that life, too. I wanted to come back to fly and show myself that COVID-19 didn’t beat me. COVID-19 changed my Skytress life, but, it didn’t rob me of my Skytress career. But, by coming back to fly this week, I also learned I could peacefully walk away from flying, too. I had a taste of life outside of flying. It tasted good. I’m not sure how COVID-19 will continue to affect my world in the coming months. But, I am at peace. I’ve decided after flying these past six days …. I have nothing but blue skies whether that be on the ground or at 35,000 feet.
