My Editor Miss Avril will be helping me with this one.
“Meow”
(That’s your majesty Queen Avril to you sub-creature! Now let us discuss the matter of my food bowl)
Hauling boxes in the middle of the night can be challenging enough without a pandemic to complicate things, but here we are. This has definitely made our lives more complicated in the freight business.
First off, we’re getting slammed with all the extra e-commerce. Mind you that’s a good problem to have. Normally the weeks before Christmas are our “peak” season but it’s been peak every day since March. We’ve also picked up a lot of the freight that the passenger haulers carry since they’re not flying nearly as much these days.
For me that translates into flight delays waiting for all that extra freight to be sorted. An hour late is pretty standard now and two hours late is not uncommon. I try to take advantage of the extra time for napping since I normally get my sleep on the installment plan.
In addition to flying safety and not getting run over out on the ramp, I have to worry about protecting myself from the virus.
First off I avoid people as much as possible. It helps that I’m a bit of an introvert to begin with. When I’m at the airport I try to find a quiet place to take a nap or keep to myself. On layovers I never go out to bars or restaurants. I get delivery or takeout and eat my meals in my room. DoorDash and GrubHub probably have my picture on the wall by this point.
I can’t decide if people have gotten worse over the years or maybe I’m just getting cranky in my old age.
I’m in a hotel lobby in Miami, patiently waiting for the elevator. A middle-aged guy walks up with his mask down around his neck. I annoyedly say “If you’re not going to cover your face you can have the elevator to yourself”. He gets on the elevator and gives me a dirty look. Because somehow I’m the jerk here.
I wait for the next elevator and right about then a couple shows up. I let them have it because I don’t want to be in there with them. Nothing personal. I just don’t want cooties.
By this point I’d have gladly taken the stairs up to the 10th floor but I got lucky on the third elevator. Some days it’s the little things.
The hotels we stay at are a mixed bag. Usually bigger cities have nicer hotels. International cities even more so. That’s yet another reason I like the 767.
The 757 was a great jet but it mostly went to “the greats and the grands”. Places like Great Falls, Grand Junction, Flint and such.
Great Falls is a long way to fly just to stay in a crappy Holiday Inn next to a car dealership. Seemed more like Sort-of-OK Falls to me. Sorry if you’re one of the fifteen people that live in Great Falls. Not picking on anyone. It just doesn’t pass my flight hours versus payoff at the end ratio.
Exercise can be a problem. A lot of the hotel gyms are closed and I’m not sure I’d be brave enough to use one right now anyway. I don’t want to be next to someone who’s huffing and puffing and spewing who knows what into the air.
Weather permitting I go out for walks. If I have a weekend layover I’ll try to rent a bicycle and get a few rides in. Fortunately I have enough seniority to get my pick of trips.
People sometimes ask where I put the bike when I rent one. The answer is: in the room, of course. I have been doing this for years and have yet to have a hotel make an issue of it. Note that a properly maintained bicycle does not drip oil from the chain. If your bike has that much oil on it you’ve done something horribly wrong. You only want a few drops of lube on your chain (more just attracts dirt).
I do a lot of cycling. This year I have managed to get in 4800 miles, although some of that was due to being out on medical for several months.
I bought this 1977 Raleigh Super Grand Prix from a pilot at work. He was cleaning out his father’s tool shed and found his old bike from high school in there. $250 later it was mine. Other than a new set of tires it’s a time capsule from 1977.
Out for a ride in Boston. I don’t find the mask burdensome unless I’m doing a very hard climb and just need every oxygen molecule I can get. Concord seems like a popular spot for cyclists. Despite Boston having a reputation for aggressive drivers, it seems to be a pretty bike friendly city.
If you’re looking for a nice ride in Boston the Minuteman Bike Path runs from Cambridge north. It can be pretty busy in a weekend but during the week it wasn’t bad.
Out for a ride in San Francisco early morning on Thanksgiving day this year.
Enjoying the novelty of being the only bike on the bridge. Normally the bike lane would be packed.
I was proud of myself for making it to the top of Hawk Hill without stopping. The last time I did it I had to stop 4-5 times to rest.
Looking across the bay from Tiburon.
The hotels are doing their best to deal with the pandemic. Travel is way down and if it weren’t for airline crews some of the hotels would probably be out of business.
When I get to the hotel room the first thing I do is wipe everything down with alcohol wipes. I’ve also started bringing my own pillowcase with me. I would like to think that the housekeepers change the pillowcases but why take chances? I’ve also become very skilled at pushing elevator buttons with my elbow.
I try to seek out Mom and Pop diners and food trucks. The more ethnic the better. Why spend $25 for a boil-in-a-bag meal at Olive Garden when I get something way better and probably cheaper too.
“But I know what I’m getting at Olive Garden!”
Yeah, I know what I’m getting with a kick to the shins too. Doesn’t mean I want one!
Sometimes there’s no other option. The hotel in Detroit (Novi, off of 8 Mile Road) had maybe three food options: the hotel restaurant, a Chilis and a very average Mexican restaurant. I got very familiar with the menus at all three after a while. I got very excited when someone started serving really good Indian food out of the gas station across the road.
So how do we practice social distancing on an airplane? Well, it’s tough. We don’t wear masks when we’re operating the jet because it can make communications difficult. Everything we do in aviation is a form of risk management. In this instance we’re choosing the lesser risk.
Everywhere else we’re wearing masks, including when we’re riding the jumpseat. If I have to sit right next to someone I may wear two masks: one of my precious N95’s with a cloth mask over the top, plus goggles just in case. I find the N95 difficult to wear for more than about an hour. I don’t know how doctors and nurses manage to wear them all day.
I can remember getting towards the end of my military career and thinking “If someone tells me to put a damn gas mask on one more time…...”
I try to avoid deadheads on commercial flights but that’s part of the job and it’s sometimes unavoidable. According to some studies it’s not that risky, maybe a one in 4000 chance of getting infected. If they keep the middle seats open they say it’s closer to one in 7000.
I know we have pilots deadheading all over the world all the time and our positive test rate (according to the union) is roughly the same as the general population.
We’re also tested at a much higher rate than the general population. A lot of international destinations won’t even let us in without a recent negative test.
Would I get on airliner if I didn’t have to? Probably not. Hell, I’d stay home all the time if I could, but working from home isn’t an option in my business.
I’m certainly not telling you to go get on an airliner and take that vacation you’ve been putting off, but if for some reason you need to fly it’s probably not that risky.
Contrary to what you might think, the air in the cabin is (mostly) not recirculated. On some jets a small percentage is recirculated but it’s filtered in the process. Outside air is constantly being pumped into the cabin through the air conditioning packs. It then flows out through the outflow valve(s) which regulate cabin pressure. The cabin air is completely swapped out roughly every two minutes.
I am frequently asked if we’re hauling the Covid vaccines and yes we are. We have special procedures for carrying large quantities of dry ice because we obviously don’t want CO2 building up in the cockpit. Mostly it’s a matter of making sure we keep the air conditioning running even when we’re sitting on the ground. We also have to wear CO2 detectors in the cockpit.
While CO2 isn’t poisonous, you can’t breath it either and you’ll suffocate in it. Take note if you’re trying to simulate a KISS concert with dry ice and a bathtub.
The FAA has approved the vaccine for airline pilots but I have no idea when we’ll be able to actually get it. The sooner the better as far as I’m concerned. I’ll take the Pfizer in my left arm and the Moderna in my right arm. I’ve got a couple of butt cheeks available if they invent any more.
Avril is my little buddy. She’s about an 8-year-old “Torti” that we adopted from the shelter. She’s also a polydactyl, meaning she has six toes instead of the normal five. I know this because I have an extra set of scars on my hands. Beware the polydactyl power paws!
Sometimes she acts more like a dog than a cat. I’m told she sits and waits by the door when I’m on a trip. When I come home she’ll follow me around like a puppy.
Stay safe out there everyone and be nice to your package delivery people.