Americans at Work: Airline Workers (ca. 1963)

[Music] the Roar of the jet is the voice of Americans at work maintaining and repairing today's commercial aircraft The Voice is not a soft or a gentle one but rather one that speaks of speed strength and safety in the air the nation's 7,000 airports are busy places teaming with people returning home people preparing to leave people in a hurry somewhere speed is what the airlines offer travelers to whom time saved is important with the new Jets New York to Chicago under 2 hours Coast to Coast Baltimore to San Francisco under 5 hours 100 years ago the trip West by covered wagon was measured not in hours not even in days but in months [Music] runways for jets must be at least a mile and a half to 2 m long the pilot needs room to land the aircraft and then to bring the 100 tons of jet liner to a smooth and carefully controlled stop [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] the arrival of a plane brings the airline's ground servicemen into immediate action they secure an enclosed ramp to permit passengers to enter the terminal directly from the plane a jet in Flight requires a crew of at least seven including stewards and stewardesses a jet on the ground requires seven times seven people loading and unloading it selling tickets for its flights preparing meals for its passengers cleaning it and most important of all maintaining and repairing it to make it safe and comfortable for the next [Music] flight as soon as the plane is unloaded qualified line mechanics taxi or tow it to the maintenance area it is now the charge of the machinists who comprise the largest Union of all the organized workers in the airlines industry before the next flight aircraft cleaners washed the plane and put the interior in readiness today's clean comfortable seats contrast sharply with the seating arrangement in the forerunners of today's airliners in the air mail planes of the 20s a passenger sat between sacks of letters holding a bag of mail in his lap he thought he was lucky at that like an automobile a jet needs lubrication a mechanic works by hand on the landing gear which must bear the load of the plane at landing and support the fully fueled aircraft at takeoff the mighty turbo jet engines that have revolutionized Aviation these are the responsibility of the power plant mechanic lighter and in many ways less complex than the piston engine the jet Burns a mixture of kerosene and air exhaust gases rushing backward through turbin at the rear push the plane forward with Incredible Force four jet engines can lift a giant aircraft nearly 8 Miles up to smoother air and send it streaking across the sky at 600 [Music] mph as jet travel increases so grows the need for more and more mechanics who can service these potent power plants The Machinist Union trains apprentices in the best maintenance techniques for ever safer air travel the very power of the jet creates one of its biggest problems noise the lion must Roar but mechanics tame the Blast by carefully adjusting the sound suppressor known in maintenance circles as a daisy by rotating a clam shell the pilot can reverse the engine's thrust to slow down the plane on Landing [Music] careful servicing is needed for the blades of the turbine through which Rush the hot exhaust gases an aircraft instrument panel to the Layman a bewildering maze to the crew a reassuring up to the second picture of the flight's progress to the instrument technician a fascinating electronic challenge to his ingenuity technicians regularly move equipment into the instrument repair shop for testing servicing and periodically extensive overhaul they check out fuel flow and the instrument Landing system in bad weather Pilots land under instrument flight rules which help them through Cloud layers into the clearer air above the airport technicians must keep up to date with the latest radar systems standard equipment on the jetliner today one of the pilots of the 20s on a regular Air Mail Route used a cigar as a navigational instrument in Cloudy weather at takeoff he lighted it then climbed above the cloud cover when the cigar burned to a specified length he knew it was time to let down through the clouds and look for his Landing field from cigar to radar The Stride forward has been a long one [Music] careful adjustment of radar in the nose of the jet is essential the antenna produces a map-like picture of cloud and Rain formations on a screen in the cockpit the pilot then can fly around storms or climb above them [Music] inside the terminal air Travelers make last minute preparations some like to read in Flight others like to sleep still others to look down at the world from a new Viewpoint all have one thing in common they like to fly we'll take the high road they say a feature air Travelers always look forward to is Meal Time a tray of tasty freshly prepared food served by a pretty stess there's a combination hard to beat the jet age has increased the work of the cooks and Bakers of the flight kitchen the jet carries more passengers and they are hungrier because the ride relatively free of vibration is smoother when passengers took their chances in open cockpit planes tossed about by air currents no food was served no one felt like eating as flights became less rough Airlines served those hearty Pioneer passengers with apples sandwiches and coffee from a thermos the next step forward was a box lunch including such Staples as Fried Chicken and a piece of cake it was not until the mid-30s that flight kitchens were established at airports these made possible the hot meal served today the flight kitchen crew takes particular pride in arranging trays that are attractive to the eye as well as to The Taste Food must be interesting but Cooks find it best to avoid highly seasoned foods for Air Service [Music] before a pilot is ready to file his flight plan he studies all available weather information if he feels the weather is not safe for flight there is no flight in 1919 the air male Pilots held out for and were awarded the right to make the decision to fly or not to fly the pilot is the captain of a ship that may be carrying 150 persons reservations are picked up baggage is checked Travelers ask themselves what did I [Music] forget no jet takes off until a flight crew member has made his final walk around inspection to make sure everything is in order just before takeoff the ramp area becomes a study in movement the servicemen are busy fitting luggage into baggage baskets they must load Air Cargo and mail a jet can handle up to 4 tons of Freight in addition to the passenger bags there's always excitement in taking a trip but there's a special excitement about an airport about the very idea of flight itself the jet is squeezing the globe into an Ever smaller ball bringing any Airfield in the world as close as one day's flight [Music] a signal from the control tower starts the pilot on his way to the [Music] runway all clear for a swift comfortable safe flight seven workers on the ground backing up each worker in the air maintenance people servicemen cooks and Bakers pilot all organized members of the airline unions of AFL CIO Americans at work for you [Music] Americans at work presented as a public service by the AFL [Music] CIO next week another story of Americans at work Americans whose skill and effort help keep our country great and strong [Music]