On March 23, 2020, a Delta First Officer named Chris Dennis had the unenviable task of ferrying an Airbus A321 to Victorville, California, for storage. It was the same task that many pilots had performed across the entire world, the aftermath of which I saw during my They Will Fly Again project.
Delta jets parked at Kansas City International Airport
As the A321 was guided to its storage place by a Follow Me car, the gravity of the moment began to hit Dennis, who posted the following to Facebook afterward.
Image courtesy of Delta Airlines
Dennis didn’t seeing all of these jets from a helicopter like I did. He saw them up close and personal.
Image courtesy of Delta Airlines
Wanting to keep spirits up, and maybe just to crystalize his own thoughts, Dennis penned a note for whoever flew the plane next and placed it in the tray table.
Image courtesy of Delta Airlines
Hey pilots –
It’s March 23 and we just arrived from MSP. Very chilling to see so much of our fleet here in the desert.
If you are here to pick it up then the light must be at the end of the tunnel.
Amazing how fast it changed. Have a safe flight bringing it out of storage!
I remember seeing Dennis’s Facebook post last year, but I saw the note for the first time when perusing Reddit (it turns out that Delta did a story about the note recently as well) the other day.
This jet is now flying again.
I don’t think First Officer Dennis knew how long it would be before another pilot would come for his note. It was not 14 days like we all hoped. It was not 100 days. It was not a year. 435 days later, First Officer Nick Perez came to Victorville’s Southern California Logistics Airport to ferry a Delta A321 back to MSP on June 1, 2021.
As Perez was preparing for the mission, TechOps mechanic Tom Trenda reviewed the steps taken to prepare the jet for flight once again. He mentioned something quixotic: Perez should check the tray table in the flight deck.
As Perez prepared to bring Delta’s last stored A321 back into service, he found Dennis’s note.
Delta First Officer Nick Perez, courtesy of Delta Airlines
Perez realized the gravity of what he was doing. “I kept thinking about my mindset now compared to his when he left this note,” Perez remembers. “[Back then], we were getting good at landing empty airplanes, now we’re going in the right direction. I’m in good spirits. I’m very optimistic. I feel like how I felt in 2017 again – ready to get going.”
This Delta jet is finally flying again.
Great article, Andy! How about one on the ridiculous mask regulations on planes? When we flew to FL inJan, I got a glare and reprimand for not having it over my nose as the attendant was handing me my drink, after which I immediately took it off to drink. Absurd. I’ve started reading Fauci’s emails released. There are over 3,000 so I doubt I’ll read them all, but it’s clear that non-N95 masks are not helpful. The virus is too small. Known from the beginning, early March in his emails. I did the math again last week, 1% die of only the known cases of which I know personally more than that that were not known. And how many of the reported deaths, Covid was NOT the primary cause? I’m not going to take the vaccine and I will keep standing up for freedom and standing against cancel culture and the powers that took away our freedoms during this pandemic!
First Officer Chris Dennis what became of him? Does anyone know?
I believe he is still flying for Delta