Mexican Airspace, briefly...

First Leg after Vacation...

Position: 4 mile fix, runway 28, MMGL (Guadalajara, Mexico)

Altitude: 6,200 feet and descending

Airspeed: 172 mph (150 knots)

PAX on board: 150

We are running ten minutes behind schedule. The culprit: extended taxiway delays departing Lost Wages. The turn time at Guadalajara is 41 minutes; that leaves 31 minutes to unload/reload/refuel and blast off. Can we do it? Absolutely, the ground personnel here are motivated. Daylight is fading fast and we have a long ways to go before our night is over.

The Electric Jet has the ability to download airport weather and spit it out via the mini-printer, but the Guadalajara weather report did not come through the magic electron tunnel, so the co-pilot had to do it the old fashioned way... Listen to the weather recording on the radio. Oh, the horror of it all! He is a young kid (who was reared on the Star Trek mode); I have been telling him about flying old 737-100 steamers in snow up to my butt, no shoes, and with geriatric captains. He is polite but I can see the oh please spare me look in his face.

The Guadalajara approach controller clears us for the instrument approach to runway 28; the visibility is about four miles with haze. We can see the runway, barely, but it is getting darker and there is high terrain in all quadrants. Fi-Fi is heavy, barely below maximum landing weight, as we pass over the center of the airport in our descent. I can hear the lead flight attendant hurrying in the forward galley, latching carts and closing aluminum galley doors. The center and aft flight attendants are doing the same plus talking on the PA; the never ending before landing drill.

I took some vacation between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but at this very moment in the time continuum, I feel as if I never left the flight deck. Funny how that happens...

I ask the co-pilot for some flaps and slats as we begin our turn back toward the airport and the radio beam that will lead us to the runway. Looking over my left shoulder, I can see the main hydraulics forcing the leading edge slats into the slip stream. That is so cool! As we turn final approach, the control tower clears us to land. The controller sounds like a young, female newbie and we have to ask her to repeat the clearance. Her ATC english is still a little thick for the Americano pilots. On the second attempt, though, we understand. Cleared to land runway 28, wind 240 at 9.

I turn Fi-Fi into the nearest ramp entrance and we can see our rampers waiting with lighted wands. They are identically dressed in blue coveralls with yellow safety vests, arms fully extended. Behind the tug are seven aircraft service personnel lined abreast; white shirts/black pants/ties/male and female. The fueler is standing beside his truck with clipboard in hand. On our left side are two air-stairs waiting to be pushed up to the front and rear doors. I remark to the co-pilot, "Looks like they are serious about this turn.

The air-stairs contact the fuselage, front and back. The main cabin doors open and within seconds I can see passengers walking toward the terminal building. A well dresed young man enters the flight deck and says, "Welcome to Guadalajara Cap-ee-tan. Here is your new flight plan. How can I help you?"

What a concept...

Life on the Line continues... Christmas in 12 days. Santa's dispatchers are taking a serious look at routing, or at least that is the rumor on the Line.