Elf Buck Sanchez is the director of Flight Operations at the North Pole. He coordinates all the support activity and flights behind Santa every Christmas Eve. He joined us in Santa Tracker Chat and we had a very interesting conversation about how sleigh flight works at the North Pole. Here is the transcript:
| Elf Frank Myrrh | Hello everyone. I’m Elf Frank Myrrh of North Pole Radio News. |
| Elf Ulan | Hello, Elf Buck, nice to meet you! |
| Elf Frank Myrrh | We continue with our series of Christmas in July chats, this time with Elf Buck Sanchez |
| Elf Frank Myrrh | Elf Buck is Director of Flight Operations at North Pole Flight Command |
| Elf Frank Myrrh | He is not seen much here on [link src=”SantaTrackers.net”] but we have had him on the radio during the Tracking Santa Around the World Radio Show |
| Elf Frank Myrrh | He is a very busy elf with a big job. |
| Elf Frank Myrrh | Today we hope to have him explain what he job is and to answer questions about sleigh flight at the North Pole |
| Elf Frank Myrrh | Buck, welcome to Santa Tracker Chat and thanks for being here with us. |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | Thank you, it is an honor to be here. |
| Elf Frank Myrrh | What exactly is your job, Buck? |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | I oversee the Sleigh port at the North Pole, I direct flight operations for all aircraft coming to and leaving from the North Pole |
| Elf Frank Myrrh | How many elves work at the sleighport? |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | Between ground crew, reindeer handlers, freight personnel and flight controllers roughly 3,000 elves are actually stationed at the sleighport |
| Elf Frank Myrrh | And how many work at North Pole Flight Command? |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | Oh boy, I’m not really sure. That’s likely a better question for Elf Roger. Thousands and thousands of elves |
| Elf Frank Myrrh | So your job and the teams at the sleighport are a part of North Pole Flight Command? |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | Yes, that is correct. We are just one small part of what North Pole Flight Command does |
| Elf Max | Okay, so Elf Roger is your boss? |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | Yes, Elf Max. That is right. |
| Elf Frank Myrrh | How did you end up the elf in charge at the sleighport? |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | I ask that question almost every day |
| Elf Frank Myrrh | Hahaha – seriously, how did your elf career begin? |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | I worked on the ground crew as a teenager, almost as soon as they let me work there |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | I love sleigh flight and I always have. |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | When I was old enough, I joined the North Pole Airforce and trained to become a pilot |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | I became a freighter and worked at that for many years. Then I passed all the certifications and became a test pilot |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | When an injury affected my vision I had to stop flying and took courses to become a sleigh traffic controller |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | And I just moved up from there over the years. |
| Elf Frank Myrrh | How were you injured, Buck. Did you have a sleigh crash? |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | No, it had nothing do with flying. I was playing basketball with some friends and hit my head when I tripped. It gave me a concussion. |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | The doctors tested everything on me when I struggled to recover and that was when it was discovered that I had vision issues. |
| Elf Frank Myrrh | So you had to give up flying sleighs? |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | I had to give up being a test pilot. I still fly sleighs. Just not like I did. |
| Elf Frank Myrrh | I see. So, in your day to day job now, what do you do? |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | I work with my team to coordinate all sleigh flight at the North Pole. |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | Our biggest effort, and busiest day, of course, is the day that Santa launches. |
| Elf Frank Myrrh | Talk to us about Santa’s flight. Just what do you do for that? |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | When Santa leaves the North Pole he is beginning a worldwide journey |
| Elf Frank Myrrh | Yes |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | That’s a long, 30+ hour flight |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | And given his job and what he does there are needs he has that we support him with |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | He can’t take everything needed with him on his sleigh, obviously. |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | He has to be continuously supplied as he flies. |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | It takes thousands of additional sleighs, pilots and reindeer |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | We coordinate and manage all of that. Thousands and thousands of sleigh flights on Christmas Eve. |
| Elf Frank Myrrh | How do you organize something like that? |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | We break things down into segments. That’s where things like sectors come from. |
| Elf Frank Myrrh | Oh really? So the whole sector thing came from Santa’s flight? |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | Yes, we don’t really look at the world as countries. We look at the world by sector. |
| Elf Max | Interesting! |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | Yes, we have to tell departments like Wrapping and the Workshop and the Post Office how we will be sending things out to support Santa |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | Someone, I think it was Elf Ed Zachary, once called us the metronome of the North Pole – meaning we set the rhythm of Operation Merry Christmas |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | They all fill the pipeline, and we deliver |
| Elf Frank Myrrh | That all sounds very complicated, Buck |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | It is. There are thousands and thousands of elves who work all year to pull off Santa’s flight |
| Elf Ulan | Wow, great! |
| Elf Frank Myrrh | Speaking of Santa, how does he affect your job? |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | Santa is very involved in our processes. He understands them thoroughly |
| Elf Frank Myrrh | Do you ever tell him what to do? |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | Hahaha, not exactly. |
| Elf Frank Myrrh | Well, how does that work? If he’s somewhere delivering on Christmas Eve and he doesn’t have the stuff that he wants, what happens? |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | That actually happens a great deal. Every Christmas. |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | Despite all of our planning and the lists we keep and the elves we have working, sometimes Santa doesn’t have what he needs when he needs it |
| Elf Frank Myrrh | So…what happens? |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | Santa is constantly talking to us and we are constantly talking to him as he delivers. |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | When something does not come together we react to what Santa tells us toot sweet |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | We have learned over the years to keep sleighs and elves at the ready to respond in situations like that. We fix things as fast as we can |
| Elf Frank Myrrh | So does Santa sometimes have to backtrack and go somewhere he already was to get something covered? |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | Yes, that happens. We try very hard for it not to happen. And when it does happen we log it so we can study what we get wrong and so that we can avoid those problems on a future flight |
| Elf Frank Myrrh | I know for Santa it remains his goal to one day complete his flight in under 30 hours. Has that always been his goal? |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | I can remember when getting it done in under 40 hours was a big goal. Then it was under 38 hours. Then under 35. Santa has always been trying to improve on that. |
| Elf Frank Myrrh | So doing this year after year Santa and all your flight operations have gotten better? |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | Oh yes. We have worked hard to improve not only speed but also accuracy. There are books kept on this stuff, we operate by all kinds of numbers |
| Elf Frank Myrrh | Wow, I had no idea. |
| Elf Frank Myrrh | Has the number of presents Santa delivers gone up, gone down or stayed steady? |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | It has only ever gone up, Frank. |
| Elf Frank Myrrh | Wow. |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | Yes, more and more people believe in Santa every year. We have to adjust for that in every way |
| Elf Max | Does weather fall under your responsibilities too as part of flight operations? |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | Yes, it does. North Pole Flight Command has Elf Seymour Snow, but we also have our own weather team in flight operations. |
| Elf Max | How does that work? |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | Elf Seymour Snow is the big picture guy and he and his team kind of deal with weather as it relates to Santa. Our weather team works on weather as it relates to all the support flights. They are frequently different issues entirely that they deal with |
| Elf Frank Myrrh | BY the way, if you have questions feel free to post them |
| Elf Ulan | (How our reports effect or help you and Santa’s flight?) |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | Tracker Elf reports are REALLY important to us |
| Elf Ulan | Oh, this is Elf Ulan! Lol |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | They are valuable because they tend to be very timely in specific ways |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | They are local and they are immediate. The weather reports we get from trackers have become vital to all of us supporting Santa |
| Elf Frank Myrrh | Buck, Santa’s sleigh lands and takes off all day and night on Christmas Eve. But do the support sleighs do that too? |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | Not as much, but many do land if there is space for them somewhere and if we know Santa will be on the ground in a certain place |
| Elf Ulan | Do you think weather reports are very important for Santa? |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | We’d much rather re-fill Santa’s sleigh on the ground, but we don’t get the chance to do that much in very populated areas |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | Yes, the weather reports are very important to Santa. He wants to know what he is dealing with |
| Elf Max | How often does Santa’s sleigh have to be refilled? |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | Refilling Santa’s sleigh is a constant. He can only carry enough stuff for about 10,000 homes. So we are always behind him ready to give him more. |
| Elf Ulan | Okay, I’ll send it in more detail next time, |
| Elf Frank Myrrh | So when Santa is out there there are lots of sleighs behind him? |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | They aren’t all behind him, so to speak. But they aren’t far away. Only one sleigh and team gets close to Santa at a time. It’s like a dance. We try to keep order to it in order to keep things safe |
| Elf Max | Golly |
| Elf Ulan | Do you know where the test flights were in yesterday? |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | Yes Elf Max. When you think about it the things that have to happen in order for Santa to do what he does is kind of staggering |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | The test flights I think are over the Pacific right now. I believe the map will be going live the first part of next week |
| Elf Frank Myrrh | Are you part of the test flights much? |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | Yes, the test flights are partly for us and what we do. If you recall, Mrs. Claus rejected the first sleigh design because she felt it would be too difficult with that design to reload Santa. |
| Elf Frank Myrrh | Yes, I recall that |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | She felt that way after talking to us. We are very much involved in all things to do with the test flights. We get up there with them and work out that sleigh for months before Santa actually ever flies it. |
| Elf Max | Holy smokes this is interesting. |
| Elf Frank Myrrh | It is, but unfortunately we’re out of time. Any last questions for Elf Buck? |
| Elf Ulan | Wow, our sector! Thank you! And Do you think the test pilots can pick up Santa at a place where he wants for his walkabout? |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | If Santa were to call for a ride, Elf Ulan, we could have a sleigh there within 30 minutes. Anywhere in the world, yes. |
| Elf Ulan | And What is your favorite Christmas song to sing, lol |
| Elf Frank Myrrh | Is that how he will get home when the time comes? |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | Probably not, Frank. He’ll likely walk home, because that’s just what he does. |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | My favorite Christmas song? Santa Claus is Coming to Town, of course. |
| Elf Frank Myrrh | Of course! |
| Elf Frank Myrrh | Buck, thank you for being with us today |
| Elf Max | Yes, great chat! Thank you! |
| Elf Ulan | Wow, within 30 minutes! Faster! So Santa is safe! |
| Elf Buck Sanchez | It has been a pleasure! |
Fascinating discussion. I think we should talk with Elf Buck more. I learned a great deal from reading this!
Thank you, Elf Max! Thank you, Elf Buch! Yes, it was fascinating. Thanks to Elves Frank and Max, I learned how he and the elves work for Santa, so details. I’m sorry for his eyes; I feel relieved to hear he can still fly. Okay, I’ll send the reports for Santa and his department too. That’s great the flight can pick up Santa soon where he is. It sounds stay safe. Elf Buck, please stay healthier, safe, and I pray for all the flights can go successfully! (I wish I would sing the song to you someday if I could do for you to cheer, lol)