Les Abend

On a cool, pastel-gray morning that was typical for the city of Syracuse, New York, a wide-eyed 6-year-old boy clambered up the stairs that led to the entry door of a Lockheed Electra. With Mom at his side, the boy was given a tour of the cockpit by the crew. At the completion of the […]

I glanced out the windows in JFK International Operations. The white stuff had already started to fall. Although the intensity was adding only a dashed contrast to the darkening sky, the snow was beginning to swirl around the airplanes parked at the gate. The silver fuselages gave the impression that the airplanes would shiver if […]

Our crew began to assemble in the lobby of the Barcelona hotel. Outside on the street, pilots and flight attendants from the arriving flight collected their bags from behind the jitney bus that had driven them from the airport. They shuffled into the hotel. One of the arriving flight attendants murmured something about the electronic […]

I always look forward to flying with pilots new to the 767/757. These individuals are usually fresh from simulator training at our flight academy. They have suffered the lacerations of being whipped to proficiency. They have spent over a month in the stale and frigid climate of our classrooms and simulators. They are eager to […]

I intended for this month’s column to be a summary of my experience at the world’s most highly acclaimed airshow, but circumstances dictated another perspective. Much to my disappointment, the circumstances weren’t what I anticipated. After all my Paris layovers, I would finally be in town for the Paris Air Show. Instead of wearing my […]

The flying public will never witness a white-haired captain shuffling a walker through the terminal, but the improbable image seems closer to reality now that airline pilots can fly to the age of 65. My colleagues who fought the new legislation are probably not laughing, however. Statistics indicate that medical issues, mostly cardiac, increase as […]

One of the best resources that I can access in the cockpit is available without a three-ring binder. This resource does not involve a red warning light, an electronic siren or a SATCOM radio. The best resource that I have is by far the guy or gal who’s seated to my right. At no other […]

The year was 1979. I walked into a gray and sterile office below the gates of the relatively new Dallas-Fort Worth Airport. Less than a year earlier, President Jimmy Carter had signed the Airline Deregulation Act. Before the ink was dry on the document, Braniff Airlines was already expanding its route system. Before the ink […]

At first glance, my schedule for the month of January indicated that I was to give a line check for the captain named on a particular date. I was wrong. The named captain was actually the one giving me the line check. I had forgotten that my check airman requirement was every 12 months as […]

After writing the title for this month’s Jumpseat column, I chuckled to myself. I hadn’t meant to create a tongue twister. But the title summarized the trip. I’ll explain why. In February Carol and I had planned our annual ski vacation to Park City. Prior to our departure, we had been entertaining guests nonstop in […]