It may sound clich�d but one of the best parts of my job as an airline pilot is the office view. This is also true for my recreational flying. I'm continually amazed at the sights out the window. As a commuting pilot from Washington, D.C., I'm amazed to see how many passengers completely ignore the incredible view that slides by the windows after taking off from Runway 1 at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
Regardless of how many times I've seen the view, you'll always find my face plastered against the window drinking it in. There's my old house, there's my elementary school, my high school, et cetera. Am I one of few who enjoy looking out the window?
On a deadhead flight out of Las Vegas recently, I was fortunate enough to be sitting in first class (a rare treat, indeed) and our flight flew right over the Grand Canyon. As usual, I was sideways in my seat looking out the window hoping one of the pilots would make an announcement to the others ignorant of the view outside. Finally, the captain mentioned the majestic view out the window. I expected the 19 others in first class to throw open their shades and steal a glance. To my surprise, only one couple did.
What's wrong with these people? Do they see the canyon so often that it's become pass�? Most were eyes-up-and-forward watching some awful Ashton Kutcher movie.
I love to see the pictures of early airline passengers dressed in their fancy clothes, smiling while looking out the window. Some can be seen pointing at something fascinating on the ground. Boy, have times changed. For some, flying has become so routine that it's lost its appeal. It doesn't help that the airport experience is getting right up there with a root canal. Security shakedowns, annoying passengers, exhausted employees working for less than they did 10 years ago--they all gang up to make the airport experience more than forgettable.
For me, flying is the least stressful part of my job; getting to and from work is the hard part. Once up there, I can look down and soak in the beauty of the world and leave all the stress somewhere down there.
Perhaps it's the influx of devices that our plugged-in world has embraced; do they provide more entertainment than looking out the window? Sure, on a cloudy day or over an ocean, it makes sense to keep passengers entertained when there's nothing to look at. But to get on board, immediately shut the shade, and blast your iPod in your ears? Not for me, thanks.
My 6-year-old daughter is starting to show signs of being unlike her dad. She would prefer the entertainment choices that Mom packs for her rather than looking out the window. While departing Manteo, North Carolina, and flying over the Outer Banks house where we had just spent a week of fun, she straightened herself up, gave a cursory glance in the vicinity, and sat right back down. Is it because it's hard for her to see out the window? Or maybe she doesn't know which house we stayed in among the hundreds in view? Maybe she's just too young. Anyway, I always offer her the car booster seat so she'll be able to see outside better.
As a young child flying with my dad, I always loved it when he banked his airplane over our house outside Washington, D.C.--back in the day you could do that sort of thing. From my perch atop two pillows on the seat (what's a carseat?), I'd sometimes see my friends playing on the street in our neighborhood and wonder if they'd wave to us. Often, my mom and/or siblings would emerge from the front door to give a wave. I'd then note how fast we got to the airport from our house by air and later by car. This airplane is a time machine, I'd think.
And no matter what or where I fly, the view is still the best part of my job. A shove in the back from tens of thousands of pounds of thrust? Yeah, that's cool, but watching a full lunar eclipse while flying over the equator on a smooth, cloudless night has the acceleration thing beat by a mile. Likewise, breaking out on top to a glorious sun is still one of the coolest things in aviation. Or experiencing thunder snow for the first time and forcing myself to not believe the ground was catching on fire. Amazing stuff. Drink it in.
Pete Bedell is a first officer for a major airline and co-owner of a Cessna 172 and Beechcraft Baron.