Let me start by saying that, yes, the p.a.'s that pilots give during the flight , are very important and sometimes amusing. For those of you that are unfamiliar with some of the job positions on the ground other than ramp agents or customer service agents, let me tell you my position. I am an operations agent in SMF. Besides taking your boarding pass from you at the gate and giving the capt his loading schedule (numbers paperwork), we also have a job duty called the coordinator. This person often sits downstairs, under the terminal, in an office all day answering phones, but most importantly talking to pilots once they're on the ground via a radio system to confirm their gate assignment or exchange any other pertinent information. As you may or may not know, the pilots' radios have many frequencies depending on who they need to communicate with. In other words, they have a different frequency when talking to the tower, ATC (air traffic control) and the many different stations they may be flying to. Well, here's the part that we get a kick out of. Many, many times, while sitting at the coordinators desk, we will hear the most beautiful, well delivered p.a.'s from a pilot to his on board passengers telling them about the scenary, the arrival time to their destination, the weather, you name it, he's going on and on all the while delivering not to their passengers, but to those of us on the ground. Of course, we can't wait for them to be finished because as soon as they are, we will key the mike and give them a nice round of applause with cheers, whistles and much laughter. They know immediately what they have done and there is either awkward silence or jeering from other pilots who have just listened in on their speech.
Ray, you know I have to know......you've done this before haven't you???!!!
As always, much luv to you Capt. "N"....
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05-01-2007
03:37 AM
2 Loves
Capt "N"... Sure was happy to see that you read my msg to you. Thanks for the wonderful praise....Be careful when in SMF.......paybacks!
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04-28-2007
04:31 PM
8 Loves
Hey Capt. "N" Stark....Looks like you continue to be busy. Y'know a good friend of mine gave me a special copy of your book "This Is Your Capt. Speaking". I, too, have read it and it sits proudly on my shelf. Perhaps you should bid a little West Coast flying and avoid those trouble areas....say perhaps a SMF trip. Take care....be safe...keep your nose up!
T.N.
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