One of the most common questions I was asked as a flight attendant:
“Is this your regular route?”
Most people were just being friendly—making small talk at 35,000 feet. But that question says a lot about how people see work: routine, location-based, and familiar.
In contrast, aviation careers are dynamic. Shifting schedules, changing cities, and unpredictable flight plans are all part of the lifestyle. And while it may look chaotic from the outside, for us “air people,” it’s a way of life.
“Everybody has a world, and that world is completely hidden until we begin to inquire…”
— David Guterson
So no—I didn’t have a regular route. What I had was a calling. And from that one question, I’ve realized it sparked deeper truths about why we fly, how we cope, and where we find purpose.
🌴 1. Flexibility Is the Key to Surviving (and Thriving) in Aviation
You often learn your destination, flight crew, and aircraft less than 90 minutes before takeoff. That’s not a bug—it’s a feature of the aviation system.
In training, we were told to be like palm trees: flexible enough to bend in high winds, but rooted deeply enough to not break. That metaphor has stayed with me far beyond the flight deck.
I saw people get crushed when they didn’t get assigned the glamorous 30-hour London layover. They’d fixate on what they didn’t get: the destination, the crew, the aircraft.
But I learned that flexibility equals peace. When I stopped resisting what I couldn’t control and started embracing new opportunities—even if it meant Omaha or Oklahoma City—life got a lot better.
Being flexible opened the door to:
- New friendships with unexpected crewmates
- Fascination with aircraft I didn’t even want to work on
- Memorable experiences in cities I’d never think to visit
👉 Lesson: A flexible mindset in aviation leads to less burnout and more curiosity.
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🌤️ 2. Always Find the Silver Lining
“How did you get to do so much?”
That’s another question I’d hear often. The answer isn’t magic—it’s mindset.
I said yes. To training. To opportunities. To additional duties. To layovers I didn’t expect.
While others grumbled that more training meant being overworked, I saw it as skill-building and a chance to stand out.
Even in less-than-ideal situations, like an 18-hour overnight in a snowy midwestern town, I asked passengers for local restaurant tips and discovered some gems.
Choosing optimism became a habit. And that habit became contagious.
Do I complain? Of course. I’m human. But I try not to live there.
The more we shift from reaction to reflection, the more we can turn any moment into a positive one—for ourselves and for those around us.
👉 Lesson: Find the good. Not because everything is good, but because your focus determines your experience.
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🌍 3. Make Every Trip an Adventure
My favorite part of airline life?
I was always going somewhere.
Even if that “somewhere” was Dayton, Ohio or El Paso, Texas—I treated it as an adventure. I watched others bid the same lines, fly the same cities, and complain about the same things. But here’s the truth:
🔄 You don’t need a new route—you need a new perspective.
Every city holds a story. Every layover is a reset. Every trip has the potential to become your new favorite memory—if you let it.
I didn’t wait to be assigned fun. I created it.
I searched the bid sheet for unusual pairings. I called scheduling proactively. I owned the randomness.
👉 Lesson: When you see every assignment as an adventure, burnout loses its grip.
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🎯 Wrapping It All Together: This Isn’t My Route—It’s My Adventure
I grew up in a small California town with my eyes turned skyward. And now, I’ve lived a life that’s taken me places I never dreamed I’d go.
This post began with a simple question—“Is this your route?”
But it turned into something bigger: a reflection on mindset, growth, and embracing uncertainty.
Let’s recap what aviation taught me:
- 🌴 Flexibility builds endurance and adaptability.
- 🌤️ Optimism helps you find silver linings in unexpected places.
- 🌍 Adventurous thinking transforms the mundane into something magical.
No matter your job or path, you can choose these same tools. Life’s better when you bend, smile, and explore. So the next time someone asks, “Is this your route?” just smile and say:
“No—it’s my adventure.”
JetSetGOConnor 