Segregated Skies by Michael H. Cottman

Author:Michael H. Cottman [Cottman, Michael H.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Disney Book Group
Published: 2021-12-21T00:00:00+00:00

Walking into Flight Operations, the room where pilots and flight attendants gathered before and after their flights to check their schedules, rest, and catch up with one another, David once again felt like the new kid at school. This was his first official workday as a first officer for American Airlines.

Everyone seemed busy doing something, and for a minute he couldn’t decide what he should do. Then the chief pilot called out to him, “David, your captain’s over there,” using his pen to point to one corner of the room where a tall, lanky man with a bushy mustache seemed to be telling a funny story. Assuming this was the right man, David walked over, ready to introduce himself. Without breaking his rhythm, Captain Herb Macy turned to David, smiled, and said, “You like to fish?” Taken by surprise by the odd question, David hesitated and then said, “I think so.”

Herb laughed and said, “I’ll see you after the preflight.” And with that greeting, David knew exactly what to do next: Go out to the plane and make sure it was ready to fly. After the exterior preflight, he walked up the stairs and into a new world. A steady stream of men, women, and a few children were chatting, looking for their seats, and greeting the flight attendants. Back then, they were called stewardesses, and were only women. Some glanced at David standing in the door of the cockpit. He wondered what they saw when they looked at him, but a few smiles put him at ease.

Herb joined him in the cockpit, and together they did the final preflight checks, closed the door, and got ready to roll. Barely airborne, Herb traded his captain’s hat for a fishing cap and asked if David had ever had steamers.

“What are steamers?” David asked.

“Clams,” Herb said. “Clams in a shell. They are very tasty. We’ll eat some soon.”

From that first flight onward, Herb invited David out for coffee, lunch, or dinner. They’d get together to talk about airplanes and aviation. Herb was older and soon became much more than a flight mentor.

“He took me under his wing,” David said of Herb. “He became my friend.”

Lyn said it was no coincidence that Herb ended up in the cockpit with David and became his mentor. David was taking a chance on American Airlines. But American Airlines was also taking a chance on David, and it didn’t want any problems by teaming David with a pilot who was uncomfortable flying with a Black man. They had to work together as a team. The very safety of the passengers on board depended on it. The company knew Herb would be a great fit.

American Airlines got that right.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.