Trust the Pilot

Recently my husband and I were blessed with the opportunity to go out west with two other couples we are really good friends with. The trip was incredible. Seeing the Grand Canyon in person was indescribable and to do it all while having complete sentences (did I mention we’re all young parents?) was such a gift. 

4 out of the 6 of us live in the same area so we traveled together via airplane and now have the same sentence rehearsed when someone asks us about our trip. “It was great! Minus the last 12 hours.” 

You see, our flight had a layover and before we even got to our said layover, we sat on the tarmac for a little over an hour due to some airplane congestion happening outside. At that time, we didn’t know the reasons why there was a delay or a pileup of Southwest planes out of our windows we just knew what our pilot was telling us. 

During the hour we found out that we were being moved to a runway they had closed down just for the congestion. We also found out that several pilots were starting to time out of their shifts causing more craziness. But again, all we knew was what our pilot was telling us. 

A lady behind my husband and I awoke from her nap to observe the situation for a few minutes and then began to tell her boys (ages 6 and 9 if I had to guess) about how they were never flying with our airline again or using the airport we had flown into again (there are 2 in our layover city). Her aggravation at her lack of control came out in full force as the minutes ticked by. What could have been a great teachable moment for those kiddos turned into a no-filter bad mouthing fright train of words.    

What would I have told my son? 

Well, as my own temptation to be angry and justified in my own lack of understanding about the situation mounted, I had to start talking to myself so I would like to hope I would have told him what I was telling myself. Trust the pilot.  

I knew and know nothing about pilots’ schedules or the actual reasons why we were sitting on the tarmac at that moment (we did find out later… 6 hours later). I knew we had a connecting flight to catch in an hour. I knew I had to use the restroom and find some kind of food that wasn’t made single-serve and could be found in a grocery store snack aisle. But I, like all my other fellow passengers, had a choice. Trust the pilot. Lean not on your own understanding. 

Getting to our gate our cabin cheered until we connected to WiFi. For many of us, we had connecting flights. Some, like us, got notice as our phones pinged that our connections were delayed. 

I got those text messages for the next 5 ½ hours. 

The tarmac became the pre-season for the actual game of waiting. And waiting. And waiting. And waiting. 

Trust the pilot. 

We found out much later that there was a small hail storm that required all planes (even those just about to take off) to be emptied so paperwork could be filed which caused delays. Then there was the issue with pilots’ timing out. Then there was an issue with missing crew members. These dominios caused our connecting flight (one that was only 45 minutes in the air) to be delayed 7 times, for over 7 hours. 

Trust the pilot. 

No rental cars were available. 

Trust the pilot. 

Checked luggage could take hours to get if we did find a rental car.

Trust the pilot.

As I mentioned in my previous blog, we all have a choice about how to prepare for situations like this. We all have a responsibility for our reactions. And with what we let speak over those around us, especially the more impressionable. 

None of us knew what was happening. None of us knew the full picture. Why we were waiting. Why we were being rejected by air traffic control. Why things just weren’t going the way we wanted them to. And when we wanted them to. But we all did have a choice that day. We all had a decision. 

To trust the pilot. 

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.