Work

Okay, I know I've spoken briefly about my job at Southwest Airlines in the past.  But today I just had to share a couple of photos I took while on the job. 

Even though it's the end of January, the temperature this week has been unseasonably warm; highs in the 40's and lows in the 20's.  I'll take it!  Today was no exception.  As the sun was rising and the daily ritual of our flights being loaded, deiced and sent off continued, I was totally enjoying the weather.  The wind was calm and the sun made it feel like a spring morning. 
My job today included deicing the morning frost off the airplanes before departure.  After they were pushed off the gates, we sprayed them.  Here is a photo I found online of exactly what I had to do.  It was taken in Manchester, New Hampshire.  Anyway, today I happened to be in the bucket of the deicing truck while someone else drove and as I raised myself up to the level of the aircraft's tail, I just couldn't resist getting a picture.  Being high up in the air (even with the aircraft's wings and tail) I prayed that I wouldn't drop my cell phone!  We were right in between one airplane parked at the gate and another airplane being pushed back from another gate.  So I took a picture of both! 

 Just about ready to deice the morning frost off the airplane and loving the sunrise from my bird's eye view!



Parked at the gate and almost ready to be loaded up for departure.



Inside the truck, there is a control panel used to run a separate engine on the truck that heats the two different types of fluid used to deice the airplanes.  There are also controls on the panel used to maneuver the bucket in the event the controls up on the bucket themselves quit working for some reason.  (the person in the bucket moves the bucket around as needed to spray the aircraft)  The driver and the sprayer each wear a headphone and can speak to each other.  The driver uses a different radio to speak to the pilots of the airplanes to coordinate the deicing procedures. 

 All the ramp employees are trained to do both; drive the truck and be the sprayer in the bucket.  Depending on our job duty for the day determines who does what job.  We all do all the jobs. 
So, as you can see....sometimes I have the best view!  Early morning sun rises can be quite beautiful and in all the years I've been doing this job, today was the nicest one yet!