Short Final: Pay Grade

Overheard over South Carolina, with the busy Atlanta arrivals streaming overhead:

Delta 1234: “Center, Delta 1234 flight level 230.”

Atlanta Center: “Delta 1234, welcome. Cross OZZI at 12,000 and 250 knots.”

Delta 1234: “Cross OZZI at 12,000 and 250 knots. And what runway can we expect?”

Atlanta Center: “You’ll have to ask Approach on the next frequency. That’s above my pay grade ... even though I actually make quite a lot more than they do.”

Unknown airplane: “So it happens to you, too?”

John Zimmerman
Cincinnati, Ohio