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Q & A Vyuz aviation expert answers more questions about SAN and CEOs By Rob Potochnik October 24, 2005 Commercial airline pilot and Vyuz aviation expert Rob Potochnik answered some questions between games of Scrabble in the cockpit of a recent flight out of San Diego. What's the most common reason for a delay in flights leaving SAN? Probably WX (weather)…mainly fog, or just foggy spectacles. You know, the roof of some cockpits leak like a sieve. Have you ever met an air traffic controller at SAN (or anywhere else)? Has anyone ever met an air traffic controller? Do air traffic controllers live up in the tower? Yes, I have,…a guy who works in the Anchorage control tower, JAX tower, and a few other people. My uncle was an air traffic controller for 35 years. I know him well, what he does, where he works, how he does it and I don’t know you! Some live in the tower, some on the street, some have nothing to eat. Some eat ham, some are named Sam, and some—just a very few, mind you—eat green eggs and ham! How much space is left between the buildings and approaching planes at Lindburgh? You don’t want to know. It’s not much. But, it depends at what stage of flight. Planes fly over half of downtown. Do you have a specific building in mind? I can try to get you the EXACT answer and maybe a picture next time I’m overhead. How many surfboards do you guys think you carry into and out of SAN? Probably a few hundred. You know, we here in SAN are surfing crazed and rightly and righteously so. We bring dudes from all over the planet to our wonderful WX and friendly people, so the real answer to your question is hope to see you on the crest with a Guinness in your hand! I want to start my own low budget airline and base it out of Lindburgh? How much money do you think I need? What permits do I need to get? A lot of money! And a lot more permits than speeding tickets you’ll get in a lifetime. What's the worst meal you've had on an airline, and why? Hands down the easiest question I have ever been asked. Meals out of Amsterdam, all of them due to their grandmother’s-cooking like appearance. Everything is mixed together—the mayo, peas, carrots, apples—and name me a famous Dutch chef? Can’t, can you! Enough said! To make more money, why don't airlines have you guys drop product pitches into your cabin announcements? For example, "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to sunny San Diego, home of the $8.99 bacon burger, only at TGIFridays in the Gaslamp district, for a short time only." Why? The stupidity of CEO’s and their lack of marketing and sales skills. Airline CEO’s are very good, however, at doing the following:
The mindset among airline CEO’s is: DO NOT FIX THE REAL SYSTEM PROBLEM. Just keep doing what you have been told to do and do more of the same thing over and over again. Okay, I understand "SAN" is for San Diego. But why is Chicago "ORD"? Was the city once named Ordago? NO, and I’ll have to look this up on my fancy typing machine, but here are a few more for you to figure out in the meantime! BOS, LGA, LAX, SEA, MCO, RDU, DFW, TPE, PVG, DEN, MSP, DTW, ATL, MIA, FLL, FXE. Rob Potochnik is a pilot for that airline with the flight attendant who never brought you that glass of water. If you have any questions about aviation or the airline industry, e-mail Rob at aviation@vyuz.com. He’ll try to provide honest answers to difficult questions, or at least pretend the questions were difficult. Suggested Vyuz reading... What pilots look for in airports, women | By Rob Potochnik Why other airlines can't compete with Southwest | By Rob Potochnik
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