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AOG (Aircraft On Ground): Or, as I like to call it, the not so grounded life of an AOG Controller
Paperback
Adventurers & ExplorersAviation & Nautical
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Publisher: Independently Published
Pages: 422
Weight: 1.24
Height: 0.94 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
What if the job that keeps the world's planes flying could also send you around the globe-and change your life forever?
Chris Cochran didn't start out dreaming of aviation. He started out as a stock clerk in a hangar at Midway Airlines, counting bolts and shelving parts for a small carrier that most people had never heard of. But from that first day on the tarmac, something clicked. What began as a job became a calling-one that would span nearly three decades, multiple airlines, and more countries than he could have pointed to on a map.
AOG (Aircraft On Ground): Or, as I like to call it, the not so grounded life of an AOG Controller is the true story of a kid from Orlando who talked his way into the airline industry, survived its most turbulent era, and found himself at the center of one of the most specialized roles in commercial aviation: the AOG Controller-the person who gets a broken airplane back in the air when everything is on the line.
From the haunted hangar at Midway Airlines with its hidden sub-levels, to the smoke-filled skies of 9/11 and the layoffs that followed, to the AOG Conference in Coconut Grove where a chance encounter with a stranger would change the trajectory of his career-this is a story about showing up, making impressions, and trusting the escalator of life to carry you somewhere worth going.
Along the way, Chris's career took him to places few people ever see:
- The brutal winters of Minneapolis and a lifelong friendship forged with a charismatic Iranian roommate named Ken
- A worldwide non-rev scavenger hunt that turned into an unforgettable solo adventure through Japan
- A consulting trip to Shanghai with Benny, working as a consultant for a Canadian company
- The Fokker factory in Amsterdam and the night he nearly ended up in the wrong country
- A life-changing journey to the Philippines to meet the woman who would become his wife
- The FBI Citizens Academy and the InfraGard program
- The Boeing plant in Seattle and a 737 MAX simulator ride with his family
- And the mysterious Midway hangar-a story so strange it has to be read to be believed
This is not a technical manual. It's not a corporate history. It's a deeply personal, often funny, sometimes heartbreaking account of one man's life in an industry most people only experience as passengers. It's about missed flights and missed opportunities; about the people you meet and the doors that open when you least expect them-and about the realization that the road you're actually traveling usually looks nothing like the one you imagined.
For anyone who has ever looked up at a plane and wondered what it takes to keep the world moving, this is your boarding pass.
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