Souls On Board
March 10, 2026
Just before we push from the gate, a suite of weight-and-balance data is beamed to us. The message is delivered through a communications platform called ACARS. The info is then entered (some we type in manually, some of it uploads automatically) into the flight management system to help us compute our takeoff speeds, flap and trim settings, and whatnot.
The message includes a tally of the plane’s occupants, or “souls on board,” as we call it. This includes everyone: passengers, crew, and lap children. I normally jot this number down on my cheat-sheet. In the event of an emergency, controllers will ask for it to assist with fire and rescue planning.
The other night, departing for Paris, as the message unspooled from the ship’s printer, something caught my eye. The SOB total read 301. This was the first time in my career that I’d pilot a plane carrying three hundred or more people.
With every seat taken and a full complement of crew, our jet doesn’t quite hold that many. It was the lap kids, bless their boisterous hearts, that tipped us over the edge.
No shortage of pilots out there fly planes with room for well over three-hundred, or even four-hundred passengers (some of Emirates’ high-density A380s carry over six-hundred). What such a number means for them, if anything, I can’t say. But for me it felt important. Not for bragging rights, but as a personal point of pride. It was, in a way, a redemption.
My flying career, beleaguered and busted-up as it was at times, had been building to this moment. For decades it had been a struggle. Bankruptcies, furloughs, bounced paychecks. Crappy jobs with crappy airlines flying crappy planes. Now here I was, about to take a widebody jet across the ocean with three-hundred people on it (or souls, if you’d rather, making it sound more lofty).
Pilots measure their progress by different milestones. First solo (I barely remember), first upgrade to captain (it happened in 1991). This seemed, well, heavier.
It took a long damn time, but things had finally paid off. And there was the number that, to me, best quantified it: 301.
I was going to include a photo of the printout with the total circled… until I realized I’d lost it.
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ME AND MY RED SHARPIE
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Photo by Alex Shuper, courtesy of Unsplash.
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19 Responses to “Souls On Board”
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Congratulations Patrick! I too have been a reader since your Salon Mag days.
Would love to read your thoughts on lap children on flights. As ex-flight crew, and a fairly frequent flyer, I’ve always questioned this practice. In severe turbulence, or for in a crash scenario, these wee, non-restrained passengers would seem to be at very high risk for injury, or worse. I’ve always thought that small children, like all pax, should be in their own seat, seated in a proper car seat, with proper restraints.
Fantastic, congrats. Hope to fly with you sometime!
congrats on another milestone, I hope you didn’t bloody you knuckles closing the door
Patrick, I remember those horrible days of your career, since I’ve been following you since “Ask the Pilot” debuted at Salon all those years ago. I am thrilled that your career has reached this point. Congratulations!
Patrick – we emailed back & forth two decades ago about Jazz Butcher (RIP Pat Fish) and other items including important Davis Square related tips and annoyances. So happy to see you reach this milestone. Cheers!
I loved your article Souls On Board.
Although I don’t personally know you, I’m so proud of you.
Congratulations – What an accomplishment to pilot 301 people!
Patrick,
Congratulations are surely in order. Was it a 767-400?
Congratulations, Patrick!
The first time I heard “souls aboard” was while on the tarmac of a departing Hawaiian inter-island flight. The gate attendant (I think) was addressing the pilot through his open window- the plane was small, I was in the front of the cabin. The weightiness of the phrase “[the number of] souls aboard” made me tear up.
Congratulations, a feeling that I will never know as I am not a pilot.
Congratulations! Been enjoying your posts since the late 20th century. Quite a journey.
What a wonderful accomplishment! The climb through a career, and sharing it with us!! Thank you!
Congratulations and thanks for the post (and the site!)
What a lovely reflection — thanks for sharing with us!
Congratulations, Patrick! I really enjoy your thoughtful work — I hope you keep flying and sharing for a long time to come. ❤️
And 200 bags of rancid peanuts.
Congratulations on attaining a significant personal milestone. Any other flight related ones that you have yet to reach?
This is a most remarkable achievement…congratulations Patrick!
Question: If the ACARS message includes SOB, why do you need to jot the number down — don’t airport fire and rescue have access to (or have the ability to access) this information directly from your aircraft (e.g., if you squawk 7700)?
Congrats to you, Patrick, on your latest milestone. That’s a career you can be proud of! Many more people will find themselves ferried by you safely to their destination. I hope one day to be among them.
And by the way, next time I’d like to see a cabin shot from your shiny new A339. 7 or 8 abreast forever. 😉