Houston – Flyin' Brian

Off to Houston

Anyone who has been a loyal reader of “Flyin’ Brian” might remember that I was once based in Houston for a few months in 2016. Having recently completed my initial operating experience on the new jet, I transitioned to a reserve schedule and have yet to be called. Once I had some days off again,…
Day 3 of Southern Road Trip and Houston Makes a Final Stand

Waking up in New Orleans on what turned out to be a relatively calm street, we played tourists and got beignets at the famous Café du Monde. Every employee appeared to be angry and Vietnamese. We asked for four beigets and the lady yelled at us and said, “No! Two! For you two!” and promptly…
Winding Down in Houston

I have entered my final week at the Houston base and things are finally coming to a close. The area has been pounded by storms and heavy rains that resulted in flooding. There was one day of good sunny weather when I took this picture of a 777 with a Star Wars BB-8 livery. We…
Brian Goes to Ikea, Buc-ee Builds a Bookshelf

With some changes going on at our Houston base, our number of reservists has shot up, which has a negative effect on me since I’m at the very bottom of seniority. Basically, I can’t expect many calls to fly over the next month. And as much as I despise going to places like Ikea, it…
A Post for Pops

I have been fortunate enough to have parents who liked to travel. In my youth, my father often did the majority of the planning of our various trips. And because he had a keen interest in art history, we found ourselves schlepping for hours to visit some obscure site that embodied an architectural style that…
First Week in Houston

I’ve just finished my first week at the Houston base. I would have liked to have flown to new destinations, but the farthest I got from the Houston airport was my sister’s house – a 20 minute drive away. Despite there being relatively few reserves (at one point I was the only person on the reserve…
The Beginning of the End of Chapter One

This week did not start off well. I was set to depart on a 6:40am flight out of Los Angeles to be in Minneapolis by 1:00. Problem is — the plane that allegedly had 14 seats available was a bit of a ghost ship. The flight was supposed to be a 757, and paying passengers…
Houston: Attempting to befriend a 3 year old.

When your entire family is spread across three different time zones, getting everyone together in the same spot can prove difficult. An opportunity presented itself this week, so on a whim, I hopped a plane to Houston to see my parents and my sister at the same time. As a package deal with my sister, I…