Air Bob

During the PA conference, I had a chance to catch up with a few inter fraternal friends. One of whom was Bob London.

Bob was my first boss out of college. He was the director of chapter services for Lambda Chi Alpha, was a great mentor, and has remained a friend.

During lunch, a few of us were swapping travel stories (which I often do) when Bob came up with a great one that I’d like to share.

On this particular day, there were several flight delays in various airports across the country. One particular airline needed to get a plane and crew to Kansas City to accommodate some flight changes.

Bob was on his way to Kansas City, but was scheduled to get there via connecting flights. He decided to ask a flight attendant if there was room for him to take the newly-created direct flight instead.

The flight attendant laughed a little, said sure, and issued Bob a ticket. Not thinking anything of it, Bob strolled down the walkway expecting to be the last passenger to board the plane. Instead, he was the only passenger.

When he boarded the plane, a 737, he was greeted by the captain, “Hi, I’m Captain Smith.” “I’m Bob,” Bob replied. “Welcome to your flight, Bob. Have a seat anywhere you like; we’ll be departing in a few minutes.”

To Bob’s pleasant surprise, he was in fact, the only passenger. Sure, there was a crew on board, who had a lot of fun catering to just Bob, but he was it.

Bob, maybe someday you will make it big and will truly have your own plane and crew. Until that day comes, I’ll get a good laugh thinking about the day you flew Air Bob. Good seeing you pal.