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Welcome to an aviation podcast that caters to all aviation enthusiasts, ranging from pilots to airplane spotters. Our show covers a wide range of topics, including private pilot training, airline operations, and the latest aviation news. Our knowledgeable host, an experienced airline pilot with eight years of flying under his belt, is thrilled to share his own experiences and offer valuable advice to help you pursue your aviation dreams. We are here to support you on your journey, constantly wishing you Tailwinds & Sunshine!
How's it going, everyone? Welcome back to the show. Today's episode is part 1 of a 2 part series with my friend, Micah. We recently sat down and had a little chat over some coffee. Well, at least I did, and we just kinda caught up with life.
Manny:We haven't talked since last October with, we've just been busy. Both of us have been really busy. Micah is a lead ramp agent at Alaska Airlines. He is based in Salt Lake City, and he's also a student pilot. He is also an aviation photographer.
Manny:He is also an avid simmer, and honestly, I am jealous of him because he is only 19 years old, and I wish I was as focused as he was when, when I was his age. But I had a lot of fun talking with him. We had, we talked about, just catching up and about his job, and, also we did some aviation hot takes. One of one of our listeners actually submitted some questions, and I thought it was a really fun idea, so I included it within this episode. Anyways, I'm gonna stop talking.
Manny:Let's get the show on the road. From the Baltimore Studios in Colorado Springs, Colorado, this is the Tailwinds and Sunshine podcast. You know, I don't know if that's your intent and just kinda start the conversation from there, you know, because I found out that sometimes when you communicate that, the person was not even aware they were doing that, and they'll back off a little bit. Possible pilot aviation. I have a number for you.
Daniel:Adviser to 8. Copy. Dude, this 777 has been really fun to fly. It's honestly just a bigger Embraer 175. But the fact that they were sitting on that runway knowing there was a heavy coming their way, unacceptable.
Rachel:I'm from the central part, so I'm from a town. We have more cows than people where I come from. Very country.
Micah:The aches I have, I can go on. Number 1, when the jet bridge is pulled back and we're ready to push and you guys don't have your headsets on.
Manny:Plan has to be perfect because you can't turn left. You can't turn right. The only way out of that, if the pilot gets into a bad spot or if there's something that's, like, happened at the airport that shuts down a runway, the only way out is up. And now he always forgets the code to the jet bridge. Yours truly, Manny Ramirez.
Manny:Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the show. This is episode 24. Let's get it on. No option but to get it on, mandate get it on, as Adam Carla likes to say.
Manny:Today, I have a special guest with me today. Micah is a ramp agent for Alaska Airlines in Salt Lake, and we've been trying to get this episode going just as long as Patrick's episode because we didn't like the product that we put out last time, and I think we were doing a, were doing an Instagram live, and I think Micah had, like, the side of his face. And we're like, no. That's I didn't like that. Let's do it again.
Manny:So we decided to just, you know what? Let's scrap it and let's start from scratch and here we are to get here we are again. Micah, welcome to the show.
Micah:Oh, thank you for having me, man. I appreciate it again. I'm glad you're here. What have you been up to, I got promoted to a ramp lead. So I'm a ramp lead.
Micah:Now, I'm the one, you know, you know, running everything on the ramp and coordinating between us and, you know, upstairs with the gate agents and everything. I've also gone on a couple trips, too. I got on a I got on a non rev trip, and I got kicked off at the end. So that was that was fun. And,
Manny:You got what at the end?
Micah:I got kicked off. Well, I guess I guess more like
Manny:Oh, you got kicked off?
Micah:And then I got stuck in Seattle for a little bit. So that was that was kinda fun. But
Manny:Right. So now for those that don't know about that, you you know, you're getting bumped off meaning that your seniority could not hold a seat in that particular flight and you got asked to, to either deplane, which is the worst case scenario, but sometimes, I don't know how it works at Alaska because I I've actually only non revved at Alaska once Mhmm. But it wasn't at SkyWest. It was when I used to work for ATS for airport terminal services back when I was, like, 19. And, we used to service Frontier Alaska in Aloha.
Manny:And yeah. Anyways, that's the only time, and I only know where it once. But in recent history, I've never flown, but typically it's good. You see the list of people that are on standby above you, and before you get on the plane, you'll know if you're not gonna make it. But did you literally get bumped off the plane or did you just not make it down the list
Micah:or up the list? Well, okay. So I got my boarding pass and everything. And I went up to the gate agent. She scanned my boarding pass and she didn't see, like, a a paid ticket on there.
Micah:And she's like, oh, step to the side for a second. I'm like, okay. So we're at the d counter. It's like, it's like d 20 at this point. We still got 20 minutes left.
Micah:There's 80 seats open. I'm like, oh, this is this is gonna be no problem. And Yeah. And, she's like, I don't see a, a paid, reservation on your ticket. And I'm like, oh, well, I don't need one because I'm flying out an ID90.
Micah:I don't, you know, flying standby. And she's like, oh, okay. Right. And she's on the phone with her supervisor for like a few minutes. And she's asking me some other questions about my company and what I I co work for and stuff like that.
Micah:And I'm like, oh, yeah. I'm a ramp agent. I do ramp for Alaska. And so, like, they're like, oh, okay. And d 10 rolls around.
Micah:And she's like, oh, I can't put you on this flight. And I'm like, what? Why? There's 80 seats open. And she's like, oh, I don't see a reservation.
Micah:Or I'm like, but I'm like, what? I don't need both.
Manny:Oh, no.
Micah:And so I I just Right. Get bumped off. I go to the CSA help desk. And, the lady I talked to there said, Oh, I don't know why she couldn't have put you on. You're flying on a 90 90.
Micah:I'm like, That's what I was saying. Wow. So that was the last That's
Manny:what I was saying.
Micah:Yeah. That was the last flight for the night, unfortunately, to Salt Lake. So
Manny:Where were you trying where were you trying to come back? So where were you at? Where were you I'm I'm assuming you're trying to get back to Salt Lake. Where were you at?
Micah:Yeah. So I had non revved up to Sitka, and it was actually just like a one day trip.
Manny:Where is that?
Micah:I guess, 2 week trip. It's up in, it's up in, like, the kind of little panhandle, like, by Ketchikan, you know, like in the, the south east. No. Alaska.
Manny:Oh, shoot. I have no idea. I'm really bad at it. I have never heard of that before. But then when you that just the the sound of it sounded like Canadian.
Manny:Oh. It sounded really Canadian south of Canada.
Micah:Biggest city
Manny:by land area. Gotcha.
Micah:Biggest city by land area. Oh. And I didn't know that till
Manny:the week
Micah:here. So so the way after I went there, but
Manny:Missed opportunity waiting there,
Micah:I had I had went up there for, like, like, kind of a day and a half trip. I went there and I spent the night and whatever. I was supposed to be on, the well, connecting through Seattle. I was supposed to get on the flight to Ketchikan then to Sitka, but the flight to Ketchikan was overbooked by, like, 7 people. So I decided to take the flight about 5 hours later, to Juneau then to Sitka.
Micah:So I was in Seattle for, like, 10 hours. Damn. Yeah. And so You
Manny:see, guys Yeah. You see, this was this what this is what can happen if you're really trying to get to a destination. If it if something's gonna go wrong, it's gonna go wrong. Right? You're gonna get bumped off a flight.
Manny:You're not gonna make it. You're gonna be stuck at an airport for 10 hours. Right? So if you follow my non red footprint, that'll help you kind of use your benefits a little bit more. But definitely when you're trying to get to a location, it's gonna be a little bit difficult.
Manny:You're gonna have to be super flexible. Right?
Micah:Yeah.
Manny:You know, you're gonna end up like Micah stuck, you know, you know, at an airport for 10 hours. But that's the reality of non rev. Right? But, you know, going back to the gate agent for those new to the non rev game, you are gonna get an inexperienced gate agents. Right?
Manny:And this is just, I think, either inexperienced or does not no proper training or maybe cross because some of these gate agents are cross trained to do several things. Right? So you may get someone that doesn't know, so they might have to call a supervisor to actually get that done because, like, the CSA agent told you is, like, I don't see why they weren't able to put you on that flight. Right? So now there's an empty plane, and you didn't get on it.
Manny:So that that's that's that that really sucks, man.
Micah:I'm sorry. No.
Manny:It's okay. No. Something similar happened to me to I didn't get bumped off though, but, recently, I I, listed for the jump seat on Delta, and there was, like, 80 seats open in the plane. Wow. And I went to the gate agent, and she started she's like I showed her my employee badge.
Manny:She's like, okay. What's your employee number? She put it into the computer, and it's kind of both it was both our faults because I didn't know the the proper employee number to give her, and she didn't know what employee number to ask of me. So I gave her my SkyWest employee number, and she's putting it in there and said, no. It's not letting me.
Manny:It's not letting me. It's letting me. So she called a red coat. The red coats are delta r, just kinda like the supervisors. And then she came, and she's like, oh, I don't know what.
Manny:She was also unaware, but then I I realized maybe it's my, like, designated Delta employee number because SkyWest, you have to list at the gate for the jump seat
Micah:Mhmm.
Manny:Or not, for for the jump seat. So I went there and I gave her gave her my SkyWest, they give you, like, a dedicated Delta employee number.
Micah:Right.
Manny:And I gave them that, and they worked. But it took some kind of, like, investigative process, kind of like head scratching a little bit to get it done. So if you get to the gate and the gate agent doesn't know how to list you for the jump seat, just ask for a supervisor. Don't, you know, try something else so that way you don't get left behind. And what else?
Manny:I know the last time I saw you, your story, you posted, you shared the podcast and your story. You were going to Arches National Park.
Micah:Oh, yeah.
Manny:When was that?
Micah:That was oh, that was a that was a few weeks ago. Me and my buddy, Jackson, we just decided to, well, the week before, we're like, we should just go on a road trip somewhere. And and we're like, okay. Yeah. So we found the date that we both had off, and we're like, let's drive down.
Micah:Well, we were thinking about driving down to maybe Vegas, or Boise, or Denver, but we didn't want to go to Boise because it's probably cold up there, and I don't think the weather going along the trip looked good either, And then the trip to Denver, it kinda looked iffy going through the mountains on I 70 and stuff like that.
Manny:Mhmm.
Micah:And then Vegas.
Manny:Yep.
Micah:I mean, there's a lot to do in Vegas, but I don't know what we would do in Vegas, honestly. There I mean, we can't gamble or anything. How old are you? So I'm I'm 19.
Manny:You see? Yeah. Definitely, Vegas would have been you know, there's still stuff to do. There's plenty to, you know, eat and everything, but Yeah. When you think Vegas, you think gambling.
Manny:Yeah. Right? You think going to casinos. But being underage and if you get asked to leave, then you, you know, you got to leave.
Micah:Right?
Manny:But, yeah, look at you planning, like a true pilot, you know, just like, let's do a cross country trip. Let's go check the weather. How long is how long is the drive between Salt Lake and Arches National Park?
Micah:It's about 4 hours. It's about 4 hour drive.
Manny:4 hours?
Micah:Yeah.
Manny:So, it's about the same distance between well, actually, Salt Lake in Vegas is about 5. I think it's a little 5 or something like that. I think it is.
Micah:Yeah. It's about 5. Yeah. 56 hours. Like 8.
Micah:Depending on how how much you wanna stop. But yeah.
Manny:And Denver is right. Right. And I and I'm talking about minimal stopping. I usually do these trips because I have to move cars around or I'm doing, like, reposition stuff, like, after training. But at the last time, it took me about 5 hours between Salt Lake and Vegas, and I literally stopped twice.
Manny:Like Wow. Restroom, gas, let's go. So it so if you're stopping more because your passenger princess wants to or prince that you wanna stop because I wanna get a snack or something, it's gonna take you it's gonna take you a hot minute. And I'm so tired of driving now when I was younger in my twenties. I was like, yeah.
Manny:Road trips. But now I'm like, no. I turned a 14 hour drive into a 2 day trip because I stay at a hotel and just rest. Now I'm thinking it more of, like, am I fit to drive? You know, am I fit to actually do this drive?
Manny:And I decided just kind of break up those really long drives into 2 days so that way I can get some get some rest. So this is the only time you've used your non rev benefits to go to, to go to Alaska?
Micah:That was the second time actually. And the first time I had Okay.
Manny:How the how the first time go?
Micah:You know, it was actually a lot better than than the last time I went, but, I still got bumped off one of the flights. One of the passengers shows up for their seats. So they got Oh. We got bumped off. And we had to take the the next flight.
Micah:I think it was like, I think it was like 3 and a half, 4 hours later. There were like 6 seats open, so we got it. We got our own window seats and everything, and Okay. We got out of there. And what's funny is that the the plane that's it was the plane that we were supposed to originally take to Salt Lake was a mainline and or the 737.
Micah:And it got stuck in Salt Lake for the night, because, on its return leg back to Seattle, it had flap issues. And then it came back to the gate, and it was stuck there overnight.
Manny:Oh, wow. Was it a max?
Micah:No. It was actually a 900 ER. So but surprising.
Manny:When you're a nonrefer and you're waiting and you're just super tight and you know there's only enough seats available for you and whoever you're traveling with, and you're just pacing the gate hoping that that passenger doesn't doesn't show up. And when that gate agent is calling the rushing through security to get through their flight. Right? So, it's happened to me a couple of times and I've I've made it luckily. I remember the trip I went.
Manny:We're supposed to go to Sydney. We ended up going to Hawaii then to Guam, but we literally got the last two seats. Last two seats, and they were kept calling these people, and I was like, please just shut up. Stop calling their names because I wanna get on this plane.
Micah:Just fill this out. Getting on.
Manny:So it worked out for us, but it's it it can be really nerve wrecking. Right?
Micah:Oh, yeah.
Manny:If you live for it, hey, more power to you. If you live for that kind of adrenaline rush of, maybe not making it to your destination because in retrospect, But at the moment, you're just stressing out. You're like, I just wanna get home. Like, I just wanna But at the moment, you're just stressing out. You're like, I just wanna get home.
Manny:Like, I just wanna be able to go back to work or something. I don't wanna get in trouble with work because I didn't show up because I missed a flight because I got bumped off, you know, from from a from a flight. But it's still fun, and it's a really good perk to have with, with the airline that you're working for. So definitely take advantage of it, but know that you may have to end up somewhere else that you don't wanna be or getting bumped off and, you know, like Mike, all of a sudden, passenger shows up, and now guess what? We're not going.
Micah:Yep.
Manny:We're not going. So let's switch gears. So Micah is a pilot. He is on his way to being a professional aviator.
Micah:So I'm working on doing my, my nighttime cross country right now. Honestly, the the kinda whole thing going through it up until now has been, really cool because, I'm going through, part 61 so that means I could just kinda do it on my own pace. And, I'm also not limited to when I do my cross country. I'm not limited to kinda what airports I can fly to. So that means I've been able to fly into these really cool pretty airports and, like, really small ones that are kinda, you know, a little challenged a little challenging to fly into.
Micah:So far, I've been fly I've been able to fly into Malad, which, is actually just got repaved. But it's got like a a 50 foot wide runway. It's like 4,000 feet long. And it's got this little shack for an FBO. And then, also, Afton.
Micah:Mulad.
Manny:Is that VOR? There's a a a Milad VOR. Right? MLD?
Micah:Yeah. Is
Manny:it? Yeah. Is it that is it the same one I'm talking about? Yep. Milad?
Micah:In Idaho.
Manny:M l d? Nice.
Micah:Yeah. Yeah. It's just on the border of, of Idaho and and Utah. I think the I think the VOR is a little farther away from the airport. I think it's on top of a mountain somewhere, which makes sense.
Micah:But, afton to afton, Wyoming was really cool. I mean, going there, you go over all of the mountains, and trying to trying to get over there. And I got I got rocked a little bit by the mountain wave surveillance, that's for sure. Mhmm. But, I mean, going in there was really pretty because it's set in this little, this really tiny valley.
Micah:And the mountains right next to the airport, are like right there. And so you only got one way to go if if you're if you're climbing out or coming in, and it's, like, left, going north and right going south. So, That's that's really cool.
Manny:Right. Because we you talked about 61 or par 141. Right. So what did you have was 141 an option for you? Or what made you choose par 61?
Micah:Yeah. Initially, 141, I thought about it. I went to, the University of Utah, and I kinda looked at their, their flight training program. And I talked to, it was it was one of the one of the heads for the flight training program. And I was talking to her about it, and she mentioned that in order to get accepted, you have to, be a junior.
Micah:And they only accept about 40, 40 students a year. So I'm like Wow. Oh, I don't I don't know if that's, you know, really for me because, you know, that's a really low number, to get accepted, especially being in your junior year too. You know, you're halfway through your degree already. So, I decided to just do part 61.
Micah:They can be a lot cheaper. And I can just, do it, you know, however I want to essentially. You know, I can work with my busy work schedule, and, also, I don't have to take out a loan for it. So that's what I've been doing. I've just been paying out of pocket so far.
Manny:Part 61 is definitely more flexible. You can do it at your own pace. It's not as accelerated as a 141 because 141 has a lot of restrictions. And as you mentioned, 141 also restricts the airports you can go to. So they have a list of airports you're only approved to fly into.
Manny:So you can just decide to go to this airport, and I guess it's just for insurance purposes for the for the school. But BARD 61 for me as an instructor, it was easier because it just a lot it it gives you the freedom and and more flexibility to deal with students that for example, let's say that a student is struggling with their landings. Right? So I am not gonna hold them in the stage 1 of of, of flight training just because they're not, you know, nailing their landings. I can move forward as a par 61 and include landing training at other airports.
Manny:So when we're doing our cross country somewhere else, we can if you cannot pass a stage one check, you cannot move forward to the other fun stuff of cross, cross country flight planning and going to other airports. So it's restrictive in that sense. There are some pros to 141 that it's more requires a little bit less time when you're going into your commercial and stuff, but it's really flexibility. Like Micah said, it's like for him, the choice was, kind of a no brainer to go to Part 61 just because it was harder to get into that program at the University of Utah. 141 is very accelerated, so you can get it done like super quick.
Manny:And they often require in a very hefty financial investment also to be able to do that. So if you're not in that situation, then part 60 one's more for you because you can kind of work and pay as you go. You know, what's what has been the most challenging thing for you in flight training?
Micah:Honestly, it's probably just studying ground, honestly. Going through all my notes over and over again, that's that's really been the hard part because, you know, you like, you're the one who likes flying all the time, you know. Flying is the fun part and reading all the regulations and everything is is is the boring part. But I mean Yeah. I kind I find it I find it kinda fun to learn new regulations.
Micah:But I mean, all the ones that you kinda read over and over again just to get locked in your mind, it just kinda gets annoying after a while. But, I mean Right. I I took my, I took my written actually not too long after I talked to you the last time. And, I passed that. I got an 8080 87, I believe.
Micah:So Nice. Yeah. I passed that. Very good. And, I haven't really studied much since then.
Micah:So I I gotta kinda get back into the rhythm of that. But,
Manny:Yeah. Once you pass a validation or something, you just brain dump everything. You're just like, let's do the fun stuff. Let's go fly. Yeah.
Manny:You know, so but, yeah. There's times you have to get in the books. I have to force myself to get back in the books. Right? So when I when I just went up through upgrade training, I had to go through all the ops spec stuff that we don't like to talk about because it's boring.
Manny:But, you have to force yourself to go into it and talk about all these things that you don't usually talk about, like deriving alternate minimums and exemptions for weather for a second alternates and stuff like that. And you're like, you know, bang bang bang bang click click click reload bang bang bang, you know. It's like it's so boring, but you gotta do it. But when you start digging a little bit more deeper and and I, okay. Hot take on this one.
Manny:I think you find it boring because you don't understand it. What do you think about that?
Micah:Oh, I think I agree with that on some aspects, but I think the I think some other parts of that is you find it boring because you already understand it, and maybe maybe the, the book is trying to teach you something different than you understand. So I guess it's kinda it kinda correlates, but you just don't wanna learn the, I guess, the new parts about it.
Manny:The way that I see see it is is kinda like math. Right? Like, a lot of people are just like, I hate math. I hate math. I hate math.
Manny:Why? Because they don't understand it. And the people that really love math are the ones that are really good because they understand the concept of it, and they really like it. They're really they're really good at math because they understand and the people that hate it is because they're like me. I'm lazy.
Manny:I don't wanna learn math. Right? So I don't like math. To a certain degree, I do, but even, like, simple top of my head fuel calculations, like, I always have to, like, remember what those fuel calculations are so I can kinda do them in my head. But I think that once you understand a topic and you it doesn't become boring anymore.
Manny:You're actually like, oh, okay. I get it. And you're like, start teaching it to others. So, but I can see when and here's the thing, and I kind of agree with you with like you already know it, but then you you read somewhere or a manual or someone tells you and they tell you a different version of it. You're like, now I have to go back and read it again, make sure that I'm right or that I understood it correctly so that way I don't get it wrong in a test or something.
Manny:So I found myself doing that. You know, I'm teaching something and they say, well, I thought it was this or or we start a discussion about how they think it's that way or how they interpret it and how we interpret it. So now we start digging back into the SOPM, and you start looking into it, and you're like, I have to go dig into it. So I can get I wouldn't say boring, but maybe more like annoying.
Micah:Yeah. Definitely. To
Manny:actually go in there and start looking for that kind of stuff. So as far as so that's the most difficult part for you. What's the most fun you've had in the plane?
Micah:Probably, my step brother, he used to take me up every once in a while. He's a pilot SkyWest now but when he was a CFI he would, he took me up a couple times and, we used to do a bunch of like, 0 g maneuvers. That's really fun. That Yeah. I like to I like to hold my phone in my hand and just let it fly around the cockpit.
Micah:That's really that's that's really probably the funniest thing you could probably do in an airplane. I don't know about a 175. Yes.
Manny:I don't know.
Micah:You could try it in one of that maybe but, the ones
Manny:You can do it in the sim.
Micah:You can do it in the sim. You can do it
Manny:in the you can do it in the sim. We don't do that out in the line, but, I mean, I've gotten I've had pilots that I've seen that either if you press depending on the mode that you wanna descend on, you'll definitely feel like lighter in your seat just because you selected the wrong flight the the wrong vertical profile or, what do you call it? The wrong and I wouldn't say wrong, but maybe not the optimal way to descend an airplane. Right. And typically, if you're like in the flight level, like in the thirties, and you hit flight level change, you that plane is gonna pitch forward and you're gonna be doing 5,000, 6000 feet a minute.
Micah:Oh, yeah. You're gonna
Manny:be like, woah. You're gonna feel it. So you can do that to a certain extent, but in sim, we do everything. Right? They roll us, you know, inverted, and we do barrel rolls and all that stuff.
Manny:It's really fun. Speaking of 0 g maneuvers, I saw a video, last night. I think it was an Instagram reel and someone, they were doing spins. And the spins are fun getting into the spin, but recovering from it because of all the additional g's you're putting on your body, it made me sick. So every time I do spins, I get nauseous.
Manny:So I don't like I don't like doing spins because of the recovery. ERJ?
Micah:He's flying the Embraer.
Manny:Oh, really? Where is he based?
Micah:He's based here in Salt Lake. He was based in South Did
Manny:he just finished IOE?
Micah:He he, Okay. Finished oh, I think he finished IOE back in either September. No. October. I think October November.
Micah:Somewhere around there.
Manny:Okay. He was
Micah:based in Seattle for a little bit, and then he got, he got, approved to transfer down here. But he lives up in Pullman, Washington. So he has a little bit of a commute. And sometimes, he'll commute on, our flights. And so, he'll mess with me from up in the cabin or, like, from the gate and stuff, sending me videos Yeah.
Micah:Or pictures of me. I look at my phone afterwards. I'm like, oh my god.
Manny:So wait. If he lives if he lives in Washington, does he just wanna be based in Salt Lake? Is that where he wanted to be based?
Micah:Yeah. He want he just wanna be based in Salt Lake. Okay.
Manny:So but he doesn't mind commuting,
Micah:Uh-uh. I guess not.
Manny:I guess not. I'm like, why would you do that to yourself? Because you got Seattle, man. I mean, that's a junior base. Seattle tends to be right now a, tends to be a junior base for SkyWest.
Manny:But oh, on the news, actually, this is probably not in the news, but we've actually SkyWest is opening in Austin base.
Micah:Really?
Manny:That was announced yesterday. Yeah. We are opening in Austin base. We're gonna be doing supporting Delta operations out of Austin, so SkyWest is growing.
Micah:That's crazy.
Manny:And, we got 20 new planes coming from, we're actually taking these planes from Mesa. We're getting a bunch of Mesa airplanes, ERJs.
Micah:Wow.
Manny:And so we're gonna be using those for, United operations. So Mesa can't fly them, so we're gonna go fly them, for United. So, yeah, that's the news. I was looking yesterday. I was in the training department.
Manny:I was looking at my phone, and, I saw our website, and it says, hey. Yeah. We, if you wanna bid for the Austin, I think there's gonna be 30 lines available, in Austin, so we're gonna be doing that out of there. So it's pretty exciting. The student that was validating yesterday, he actually lives in Austin, and we were doing some target training afterwards, and they said, hey.
Manny:You heard the good news? He's like, no. What happened? He's like, we're opening an Austin base. He's like, no way.
Manny:He's like, yep. We're opening an Austin base, and he's like, oh my god. I'm so he was so happy. He was happier that we're opening in Austin based to the fact that he passed his validation. That's why he was, he was that stoked about it.
Manny:He's like, yeah. I'm really excited for that. I have some hot takes. Some of you sent me emails, and there's one of them right here that I really like. There's a few hot takes that I for aviation, and I wanna talk about this and see what you think.
Manny:Manny, hey. Good job on the show. I appreciate the input on some of these aviation hot takes, Paul. Hey, Paul. Thank you for reaching out.
Manny:So I have one. The first one, the window seat is the best seat. What do you think?
Micah:Yeah. He's right. Why wouldn't he be right?
Manny:Really? I disagree. And I'll tell you why. Okay. As an af geek, solely an app geek.
Manny:Okay?
Micah:Okay.
Manny:The window seat is awesome. Right? You get to see the views. You get to see the, the the wings, the engines. You get to take cool videos.
Manny:Right? As a commuter and as a dead header, that is the worst that you can possibly have. Why? Because I personally wanna have the freedom of being able to move my leg a little bit out to the aisle or I wanna be able to get up and use the bathroom if, you know, I don't have to wake up anybody. Right?
Manny:Or also, if you are, this is more, specific to Southwest. Southwest doesn't have any assigned seating, so I like to take the aisle seat. So if I get called to the jump seat, I can just get up without inconveniencing any customers. So for me, that's more important, and I think maybe the novelty of me looking out the window for me is kinda gone because this is what I do for a living. So I'm like, I don't care to look outside.
Manny:So for me, aisle seat all all all the time. Every day, 247 aisle seat. However, we I think you and I can agree that the middle seat's the worst seat.
Micah:Oh, yeah. I don't know why anyone would choose that, honestly.
Manny:You know, it's I I don't I don't know. I hate you know, fun story. I've heard that, some airlines will pay their pilots when they when they, I think they're non revving or something. They will pay them extra if they get a if they get a middle seat. Wow.
Manny:Like, they will pay them extra if they if they get the middle seat. Yeah. I know. Isn't that funny? Isn't that great?
Manny:So I just, I guess, ease the blow of having to sit between 2 people. Here's my spicy take. I'll give you one.
Micah:A little extreme, but, no. I agree with that. I I don't I don't know why you would sit by the window and close it. It.
Manny:Oh, okay.
Micah:Just switch.
Manny:Right. But here's the thing. If if you're watching a movie if you're watching a movie, okay, I get it in flight. But I was just talking about this with my FO the other, the other day. I said, because they deadheaded us and we were just I had the ILC.
Manny:Thank god. It will it was a CRJ 200, so whatever. Right? It's a super gray home bus. I don't like that plane.
Manny:So I got the ILC, thankfully. So I was, we were deadheading. The guy next to me was playing on his iPad. He was playing some video games, but he kept the window closed the entire flight. I get spooked every time I can't have any reference of outside when we're landing.
Manny:So I like to at least I don't know why. There's just something about me that I need to be looking outside somewhere when we're that close to the surface to the ground. Right? I I like to just open the window, look outside, even for, like, the last 15 minutes and then land and then, okay. You're good to go.
Manny:You can close the window. But people that keep the window shades closed, I it it makes me feel even more, like, there's this feeling of cluster phobia that comes over me because I can't see outside. Just open your window
Micah:Yeah.
Manny:And and your window shade and leave it open just for at least for taxi takeoff and and landing. Yeah. It's not even as and and some airlines encourage you to keep your window shades open for taxi taxi, takeoff, and landing, but it's only for the emergency exit roast. Just do us all a favor and keep your windows open. If you wanna watch your movie later on, absolutely.
Manny:Here's another one. Another, he, Paul says another hot take is, like, people that wear open toe shoes should be banned from flying ever. It's like sometimes their dogs are out and they and they'd be barking.
Micah:In suits and ties and, you know, polished shoes on airplanes to now wearing Right. Sandals and short shorts and a t shirt, you know, or a or a tank top, you know.
Manny:Or you're literally wearing your pajamas.
Micah:Yeah.
Manny:And you're wearing your pajamas and you're I've seen people wearing, like, their their slide not their slides. They're literally, like, fluffy overnight sandals or whatever they they're wearing. And they're just I think they're just gotten too too comfortable. And I think it's, you know, people will be as well. I paid for my ticket.
Manny:You know, I'm like, I'm not gonna worry about, you know, what I look like. And I understand, but you see, because people's, my god. I've seen the grossest things ever, people putting up their bare feet on the armrest of the other you know, the person in front. I've seen people put their feet on the on the bulkhead, you know, wall, whatever become over society, ladies and gentlemen. We are now traveling because we wanna be comfortable.
Manny:We're gonna be nasty. Did your parents not grow raise you upright or what? What's going on? I don't know. But I I think open toe shoes are okay.
Manny:However, I think a flight attendant, that I work with a few months ago said, your open toe shoes are not only nasty, but can be dangerous to you because now you're gonna get your toes run over by roller boards. You're if we have an emergency, you're gonna get your feet injured, and people that usually wear open toe shoes, they take them off and they walk barefoot everywhere in the plane including the bathroom, and that's just nasty. And then they go put their feet on top of someone else. Oh, ew. Gross.
Manny:So definitely, I don't think it's necessarily bad, but just be, as a whole, I think you should just be more conscious of how you dress to go to the airport. It's just an opinion.
Micah:If you
Manny:do it, whatever. Just, but I'm just I look at it and I just go, I'm just looking at these people. You know, I was like, oh my god. This is
Micah:Just to clarify.
Manny:So that was it.
Micah:I don't I don't go wearing suits and ties on airplanes. But
Manny:Yeah.
Micah:I'm not I'm not the one going out there, you know, with with a bathing suit on. You know, I I get you're going to San Diego, but holy cow, you know, maybe Yeah.
Manny:Just a little bit. That's true. Listen, I I'm also not the best dresser. I'm wearing a hoodie that I've had for, like, over 10 years. Okay?
Manny:So I'm not the best dresser Yeah. But I try to at least wear pants, you know, or somewhat, you know, closed toe shoes, tennis shoes, or whatever. But, typically, now I have to force myself to go in business casual in case I have have to take the jump seat. So that's another thing for us pilots is that if that is an option or you feel like it's gonna be, the only option for you to commute somewhere or non reverse somewhere and you have to go take the jump seat. You have to look professional.
Manny:Right? So you have to be some khakis, some, you know, some dress shoes, a polo, or a a button up shirt, shaven also. Right? And I think a lot of people don't understand that. I think the definition of what professional image is is also has kind of erased a little bit.
Manny:I think the image of professionalism, I see people that I've, in the training, I've had to correct and say, hey. Can you fix yourself? In a in a more nicer way. You know? It's like I try to ask them, like, what's going on?
Manny:But I think that image of professionalism that we or my generation, at the very least, thought is kind of slipped away a little bit and is going towards a place where because we want to encourage individualism. Right? So we want to have be inclusive. We're also kind of, letting that image kind of veer into different directions, and we can't say anything in, you know, in kind of in, that we're gonna get, you know, gonna get in trouble with HR. It's like, well, you told them that this is not professional looking, and that's their that's their culture.
Manny:That's how they're dread. You know, that's how they dress. I'm like, okay. But, be cognizant about your fellow travelers, guys. Okay?
Manny:Be presentable. Show up dressed properly for also your destination. Now, like you mentioned, you might be going to San Diego, but don't go in your bathing suit. Okay? And I know we were probably Do you have any hot takes on Oh, you know,
Micah:my hot takes. You know you know you know my take with the hardstands.
Manny:Oh, really?
Micah:Yeah. So
Manny:you you say like, yeah. Yeah.
Micah:Give us the hardstands.
Manny:So you say it's different.
Micah:Yeah. Yeah. And if we don't have
Manny:you know So are we talking hardstands like in Salt Lake? Because they don't have them anymore. Right? They don't have well, I think they might have a few left. They don't have But I think it's
Micah:Okay. And some cases, they can be a lot easier on ramp than the normal gate. For 1, everything is down stairs, you know, you know, you don't have to go upstairs. Everything upstairs kinda comes down to you. So you don't have to send people upstairs or go up stairs to get, you know, claim gate bags or check bags.
Micah:They literally just set them right there,
Manny:and you
Micah:pick them up, you take them right there. Also, you don't have to deal with the CSAs and annoying you. I I I'm kidding. But sometimes. But
Manny:Just kidding, but not really.
Micah:I mean, yeah. That's kinda how it is, but, also the the pushes out the hardstands are kinda fun because it's a little it's a tighter space, so you get a little bit more of a challenge pushing back that airplane. I mean it's it's it's all it's kind of a different, area of ramping, but, the hardstands have a special place in my heart. I mean, I I don't think I could do them all the time, but, you know, every once in a while, it's pretty fun.
Manny:I can see, especially with the whole, you know, gate check bags and stuff, for me, that's way easier. Yes. Because instead of having to go up to Jetbridge and go give them their bags or or it's a little bit harder. It's a lot more work. So I can see that from a from a ramper perspective being a good thing, but as a traveler and as a pilot, it's a pain in the ass because now you have to get on the bus, now you have to go all the way over there, and then you have to and it's like Salt Lake is huge already.
Manny:Right? So, I remember when and when I used to commute into Salt Lake, that walk was so long that my watch was like, are you working out? You know, it's like, and I had to say, yeah. Let's record an outdoor walk. Why not?
Manny:Right? So it was like but as a pilot and pat we're glad those hard stands for Delta are gone. And so the trips that I've done at at Salt Lake now are like, okay. Cool. Not no more hard stands, but for a ramp agent, I can see that.
Manny:What's up, nerds? Before I let you go, I have a task for you. I have a challenge. If you can go to the platform where you're listening, this is podcasting, and then go ahead and leave a review. Just tap that star.
Manny:Whether it's a 5 star, I like that very much, or a 4 or a 3 or a 2 or a 1. It doesn't matter as as long as you leave a review and some criticism so I can improve this podcast because I want the Tailwinds and Sunshine podcast to be your podcast. So go ahead and leave that review now. I also wanna give a huge shout out to my friends and coworkers for sharing the podcast with their friends and family. That means the world to me.
Manny:Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart. Also, if you wanna be part of the show, go ahead and hit me up. And it doesn't matter where you are in the world, we'll make that show happen. We'll make you a friend of the show. Until next time, wishing you tailwinds and sunshine.
Manny:See you. You. The statements made on the show are my own opinion and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.