Like any 10-year-old, Rocky David likes to go to the
airport and watch the planes take off. But when this youngster
watches a take-off, there's a difference -- one of his customers
might be onboard.
So began a report in this newspaper, 29
years ago, about a kid who was so enamored of airplanes, airlines
and air travel that he started booking airline trips for family and
friends when he was 9 years old. His working tools included a
notebook, a telephone and the Official Airline Guide.
Our report of
this hobbyist travel agent ended with Rocky's description of his
dream job: "I'd like to be the person at the desk who gives you the
ticket; I'd like to be a ticket agent or a travel agent ... or a
steward ... or a pilot."
That was in
November 1977.
Today, Gailen
"Rocky" David is a purser for American Airlines, living the
dream.
Working out of
Miami, he flies mostly on long hauls to the West Coast. He uses
words like "thrill," "lucky" and "passion" to describe his job. He
can state, "I'm still pinching myself" without a hint of irony.
This is a man who loves what he does.
As a teen, he got
summer jobs working for his father's business that required trips
all over the country, and he booked his own travel. "I tried all
the different airlines," he said. When
he was 18, he began working part-time in an agency in suburban
Atlanta (The 
Travel Company, since
closed).
So impressive was
his knowledge of airline routes that he was invited to apply for a
job after he joined a conversation between an agent and a client to
suggest a better itinerary for a trip they were
planning.
In a recent
interview with Travel Weekly, David recalls, "I loved the travel
agency, but the idea of calling an airplane your place of work -- I
couldn't get that out of my mind."
He began applying
for flight attendant jobs at 19. Piedmont flew him to
Winston-Salem, N.C., for an interview, where he fretted that he
would be rejected because of his age. He was rejected, but not
because of his age. "I was over the weight limit!"
Relieved, he went
home, lost the weight, came back and failed again, this time
because Piedmont realized he wasn't 21. He kept at it, and when the
call finally came to report to American for training, "I couldn't
believe it." He got his wings in 1988, 11 years after he was
featured in Travel Weekly.
The story of
Gailen David would be a straightforward story of a dream come true,
except for one thing: Rocky's road became a rocky road.
Losing it
After several
years as a flight attendant and purser, David began to acquire a
reputation for "incidents" with passengers.
In the 1990s,
many airline employees felt they were unappreciated by management
and passengers alike. Airline service was much in the news. There
were frequent reports of what David calls "this surly, bitter
treatment." He confesses, "I became one of those people. I was so
angry."
He finally
snapped in 1998, using the aircraft's PA system to criticize the
behavior of a family in business class, blaming them for slowing
down the meal service and announcing that "we're going to wait for
this family" to settle down.
It's not the sort
of thing pursers are supposed to do with the microphone. "I thought
my job was over."
He took a leave
of absence to get his head straight and checked himself into a
mental health facility for several weeks.
He came back to
American 10 months later with a new, positive attitude that would
make him a star.
The comeback
As David recalls
it, management noticed the change and began to ask him to make
presentations at training workshops for cabin crews and ground
employees. Soon he had a virtual second career as a motivational
speaker, as the airline sent him off to meet with employees and
recount his turnaround from surly steward to proud
purser.
Along the way, he
wrote and starred in "The Video."
The video clip,
"Why I Fly -- Gailen's Story," became a part of his presentation in
2005 and enjoyed some brief notoriety on several Internet sites
earlier this year before American had it yanked, citing copyright
issues.
In the video,
parts of which are hilarious, David reminisces about proud moments
from the beginning of his career and tells how the vim and vigor
quickly deteriorated.
All too soon,
life on the job became a case of "me and the enemy," as if
passengers and management were "working together to make my life
miserable."
The video
demonstrates the vengeful techniques he used to annoy passengers
who had slighted or ignored him, such as telling the rest of the
crew that "this passenger is mine; do not answer any of his
questions or get him anything."
Another technique
is the "fly by," where the attendant deliberately brushes past the
targeted passenger. "Just when he thinks that he's got my
attention, I fly by."
He confesses, "I
wore myself out" torturing passengers and "went off the deep end."
The video shows him being carted off in a straitjacket.
David admits that
some people in management were wary of the candor and the humor of
the video but says it went over well with employees and became part
of customer service retraining sessions.
Core belief
A key message in
the video, and now one of David's core beliefs, is that customer
service workers are more powerful than they realize; they have the
power to shape a customer's perception of a product, a brand, an
entire industry.
"It's a powerful
position but they don't give themselves credit," which is why they
burn out, as he did.
David says the
video also reawakened the performer in him. He landed a bit part in
a movie and in a Royal Caribbean commercial in the early 1990s,
plus a few gigs as a motivational speaker when he had a consumer
products business a few years ago.
After writing and
starring in the seven-minute skit, David posted his mug on
TalentMarch.com, advertising his availability for bit parts,
comedy, voice-overs, etc.
So far, Hollywood
hasn't called, but that's fine by David, who insists, "My passion
is the airline industry."
The headline over
the Travel Weekly story in 1977 said, "At age 10, boy's hobby as
amateur agent may be first step on road to a career in
travel."
True,
that.
To contact News & Opinion editor Bill Poling, send
e-mail to [email protected].