Pilot Hits On Air Traffic Controller, Gets Rejected: “Sir, I’m Married”

As an aviation geek, I love listening to air traffic control audio, and always enjoy the VASAviation YouTube channel, which does a great job covering noteworthy air traffic control interactions. Here’s one of the most interesting conversations I’ve heard on frequency in a long time, and it has a very different vibe than the interactions typically covered (which usually involve either yelling or someone making a mistake)…

Breeze pilot asks air traffic controller for her number

Air traffic controllers in New York are sometimes known for their lack of friendliness and general attitude. However, there seems to be a super friendly female controller at New York Center. I’ve gotta say, it’s really nice to listen to her, as she has a pleasant voice and a positive attitude.

In this particular instance, the pilot of Breeze Airways flight 516 (which uses the callsign “Moxy”) seems to have taken a liking to the air traffic controller. After a few interactions, he’s told to switch frequencies, and that communication is pretty straightforward:

Controller: “Moxy 516, Cleveland Center, 132.12, have a good night!”
Breeze pilot: “Cleveland Center on 32.12, Moxy 516.”

But then he reappears a few moments later, and that conversation goes as follows:

Breeze pilot: “New York, Moxy 516.”
Controller: “Yeah?”
Breeze pilot: “Hey there! I pulled you up on my number two radio and I was like… hey, is it inappropriate to ask for a controller’s number?”
Controller: “Wait, say it one more time?”
Breeze pilot: “Moxy 516, you wanna send me a text sometime?”
Controller: “Sir, I’m married.”
Breeze pilot: “No, sincere, I’m not interested like that, but figured you had a personality, it’s kind of rare.”
Controller: “Oh! Well, thank you, ha ha.”

The reactions from the other pilots on frequency are hilarious, ranging from “cheerio,” to “wowwwww,” to “what just happened tonight.” She responds to those pilots by saying “I don’t know, I think I was a little too nice to that guy.”

You can listen to the interaction for yourself below…

I don’t even know what to make of this interaction

I’m not sure where on the scale of kind of adorable to creepy this falls, but the whole dialogue couldn’t help but give me a laugh. A few thoughts:

• I’m a gay dude, but I’d want to hang out with this controller, because she seems like a great vibe!
• In an era that’s so superficial, it’s kind of refreshing to see someone (maybe) hitting on someone else for their personality, rather than based on how they look
• When you then go back and listen to the air traffic control audio, it’s funny how excited the Moxy pilot got when the controller asked him for a ride report
• Usually pilots hate when they get phone numbers from air traffic controllers, since it’s usually due to a possible pilot deviation; so there’s a certain irony to a pilot asking an air traffic controller for their number
• I’m curious what the other pilot on the Breeze plane was thinking as this guy switched back to the previous frequency on his radio to ask the controller for her number

Bottom line

New York Center has a friendly female controller, who has a pleasant voice and a good attitude. This got one pilot interested, who ended up coming back on the frequency to ask for her number. When she rejected him and said she’s married, he responded by saying that he didn’t mean it like that.

What do you make of this interaction — sort of endearing, creepy, both, or…?