UA Flt. #559

I fly regularly. There has never been any doubt about that. This week has been the first week in quite some time where I haven’t sat down on an airplane. The time at home has been nice. I ended up counting it up and realized I went on 69 flights this year. Lucky for me, my last one was a fun one.

No, there wasn’t any crazy turbulence, or delay, or anything like that–I know I’ve written about these experiences in the past. Quite simply, the pilot seemed to have a good time.

A few minutes before the cabin door closed, the captain stepped out into the aisle and began his standard flight condition announcement, but then he went a little bit further.

“We’ll be flying back to my home state of Arizona? Any Sun Devils on the plane?”

I raised my hand and flashed the standard ASU pitchfork. He smiled. He then went on to quickly tease the major rival in the state. It was something unexpected for a United pilot. I’ve always admired their professionalism and skill, but United pilots aren’t known for their public displays of humor–that’s more for the crew over at Southwest.

When we landed, he did the final announcements and ended the flight with a “Go Devils!”

Perhaps I’m a bit biased because I’m also an Arizona State University alum, but I really enjoyed his style. Quite simply, he seemed to be having fun. He smiled during his announcement, joked a bit, but still demonstrated professionalism citing the Air Force training for the co-pilot and him. He’d make the standard “look out your window and see…” comment, but had just a bit more joy in his voice.

I looked at my fellow passengers as we stepped off the plane and most appeared happy. I can’t prove any correlation, but I’d like to think the attitude in which the pilot approached his job affected those on board.

Times are tough right now, but we can still do great things just in approaching our daily lives and opportunities with a positive outlook (as well as by cheering on my Arizona State Sun Devils)!