One of the great things about flying for an airline that is taking delivery of new aircraft is that you occasionally have the opportunity to fly “right out of the box” a brand, spanking new jet.
That was the case one morning when, as a relatively new first officer still in my probationary first year with my company, I reported for duty at Tampa International after a short night’s layover. It looked to be an easy day, with just one leg from Tampa back to our home base in Philadelphia to wind up three days of criss-crossing the country. Skies were clear at both departure and destination, with high pressure dominating the eastern half of the United States making for some beautiful late fall weather. And adding to the pleasant scenario, I arrived at the airport along with Rob, who was the captain, and our four cabin crewmembers, to find that we had been provided with a shiny new Airbus A-320 with which to complete our mission. In fact, the morning’s flight was to be its very first in passenger service. The airplane had recently been ferried from its birthplace in Europe to our maintenance facility in Tampa, where it was given a final check and stamp of approval before being towed over to the terminal to begin its life as an airliner.
