#ThrowbackThursday with Annika Klint, KAI

I’m trying to think of the year – I think it was around 1990 because I had just left Wardair and I was working for Scandinavian Airlines (SAS).Those were the days where we all had green cards when you worked at the airport, so you could go anywhere, you could jump on any airplane, take the jump-seat – when you were an airline employee, it was just easy to travel. Life was just easier.

I was working for Scandinavian Airlines in their Toronto sales office and I decided to take a vacation to visit my family in Copenhagen. There was nothing available out of Toronto so I decided to fly out of Newark to catch the SAS plane from there, but the only way I could get to Newark was to fly Toronto to Rochester, then Rochester – Newark. I tracked the legs to see what the load factor was – the Toronto-Rochester flight was solidly booked but the Rochester-Newark was wide-open.

I decided to take my chances. It was the 23rd of December, I wanted to get home for Christmas on the 24th and it was all going to work if I could only get on the Toronto-Rochester flight.

I was at the airport and I asked the check-in ladies, “Is there any chance of me getting on? Standby, of course.” And they looked at me and said, “No problem! We’ll get you down to Rochester.”

It was great – I thought if I got to Rochester, Rochester-Newark was wide open and then I could get on the SAS flight.

But I got to Rochester and it was a two-hour layover – I was sitting there and suddenly there were 50 people, then 100, then 200…and I started to worry that I’d be spending Christmas in Rochester. So I went up to the check-in, told them I was with Scandinavian Airlines and asked if there was any chance of getting on this flight.

“Oh lovey, we’re totally overbooked. There’s almost no chance,” they told me.

And I’m thinking, “Oh, crap.”

I put my little green card back on and I saw the pilots milling around and a flight attendant. I walked up to them as they waited to board the plane, told them who I was, explained I was aware the flight was overbooked and asked if I could sit in the jump seat.

The pilot looked at me and in a real Texas drawl said, “Honey, no worries. You come with me.”

And so I trotted along behind him – no ticket, no nothing – I got on the airplane, walked into the cockpit, and he looked at me and said, “Honey, there’s the jump seat. You know what to do.”

Then, another pilot came walking in and said, “Hi Captain So-and-So.”

The Captain looked at him, then looked at me, shook his head and said, “I totally forgot. I promised the jump seat to this other captain. You don’t mind sitting on the loo, do you?”

“Excuse me?”

“You don’t mind sitting on the loo, do you?”

“No! I don’t mind at all! I just want to get to Newark!”

So, I sat on that toilet for the take-off and landing. I was sitting there and thinking, “No one is going to believe this.”

I moved to the flight attendant’s jump seat during the flight, and went back to the bathroom for landing. I got to Newark, caught the SAS flight and I was home.