Now He’s an Airport Official

Stop and think about it for a minute. Many “officials” today wear a hat. Sometimes the hat is tangible and sometimes intangible.

Airports – no matter where or how big or small – have both kinds of officials. Typically, the ones working on the flightline have a “real” hat. Behind-the-scenes officials (think admin personnel) don’t. That’s how it is at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) where I worked for a number of years in Emergency Operations.

I didn’t have a hat. Those who worked out on the flightline and the airfield had hats that said “Airfield Operations.”

I conducted the annual Aircrash Exercise. I worked with airport and local area responders (among others) to test our emergency response plan. One year, Airfield Operations personnel rewarded me with one of their hats. This was symbolic more than useful since I couldn’t wear it while performing my duties.

Now, let’s fast-forward a number of years to my cruise to Panama . . .

One of my stops was Golfito, Costa Rica. My lady, Paula, flew into the very small airfield to join me. While waiting for her plane, I observed a young boy industriously moving some bags and other cargo for the outbound flight. There was no way to identify him with the airport.

When her flight arrived, he ran out to the plane and removed bags. He brought Paula’s bags to the waiting taxi, and we tipped him. Now, I had an idea . . .

We stopped by the airport the next day. The boy was there, and I gifted him with my “Airfield Operations” hat. As you can see from his smile, it made his day and identified him as an airfield official!”