Jumpseat: The Easy Part — Flying the Airplane

Les Abend

Friday, June 03, 2011 at 07:34 PM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

The flight experienced a rushed start due to the captain's misremembered departure time, immediately followed by a weather concern that was quickly resolved by the crew.
Numerous pre-flight challenges arose, including a dispute over a passenger's service dog, several maintenance-related Minimum Equipment List (MEL) items, and the unexpected discovery of ice in the engine nacelles.
Despite these varied issues and the need for extensive multitasking, the flight departed with only a minor delay, largely credited to the proactive problem-solving and teamwork of the co-pilots.
The captain concludes that managing the complex administrative, passenger, and maintenance issues on the ground was significantly more challenging than the actual act of flying the airplane.

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(May 2011) I HAD COMMUTED INTO JFK from my home in Florida with plenty of time to spare before my late evening trip to São Paulo. As I opened the door to Operations and walked past the revision room, Rocco Zavaglia was engaged in the mundane chore of wrestling Jeppesen paper in and out of a three-ring binder. He looked up, grinned and offered a greeting. Rocco would be my relief pilot — the third crew member for the trip.

I stopped by the crew mailbox room anticipating that after eight days away from work I would also have to participate in the revision ritual. I was right. My mail slot was stacked. Gray, blue, orange and tan packets filled the space. Not one geographic division was absent. Europe, South America, Domestic and the Far East all needed my attention. I sighed. The sampling of the airport’s fine dining would be delayed. I opened my flight kit bag and removed most of the contents, depositing the Jepp binders on a tabletop.