Earning their stripes: Launch directors keep balloon festivities calm and cool

Among the colorful globes at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta you will find Zebras strategically sprinkled throughout the field.

Launch directors, who are known as Zebras because of their black and white attire, play a vital role in getting hot air balloons off the ground cautiously.

“The launch directors, as they’re preparing to launch a balloon, they’re looking around for any safety issues,” said Chris Padilla, assistant chief launch director. “They want to make sure that the crowd is protected. We want to make sure when we launch our balloons that it’s classified as a safe, coordinated launch. And with that in mind, we’re looking for any overhead traffic from balloons coming from behind us or other directions to ensure that when we launch that balloon, it’s in a safe manner, and we’re not launching balloons into the space where another balloon is already up where they would run into each other.”

It takes plenty of coordination to get more than 500 hot air balloons off the ground. Zebras work in coordination with the Fiesta’s safety group, which has about 15 officials, to look out for issues that present a potential danger to hot air balloon pilots, chase crews, and spectators.

Launch directors undergo a few years of training before they can become a Zebra.

Earning their stripes: Launch directors keep balloon festivities calm and cool

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“Our launch directors are coming into a situation where on weekends, a mass ascension could have up to 100,000 people, and that’s pretty overwhelming to work around,” Padilla said. “And so, we give them that opportunity, at least for a year, to get adjusted to learning what we do, being around a large crowd, and getting their feet on the ground and feeling comfortable that they’re going to be able to launch those balloons.”

Zebras in training are referred to as ZITS.

“They have a three-year probationary period while they’re going through their training,” Padilla said. “When we have individuals apply with us, to become a Zebra, they know well in advance that they have to commit for at least three years and that’s their probationary period.”

In their first year, ZITS shadow an experienced launch director. They are not involved with launching balloons and are in their learning period.

“For the second year, after the first couple days, which are mass ascension days, they are moving to a position where they start launching balloons under the guidance of an experienced launch director,” Padilla explained. “They’re paired up with a launch director, who’s got the experience, who has volunteered to be a mentor, and that we’ve selected to be a mentor. They take that ZIT to watch over them while they launch balloons. And then in the third year, they get their own assignment.”

More intense training for Zebras has been developed over the past 12 years.

“It wasn’t as extensive before and in due time we’ve just seen the need to do a formalized training program,” Padilla said. “We learn something every year that we incorporate into our training when we need to improve.”

Currently, there are a total of 55 Zebras and ZITS.

“In those numbers, we actually have nine new launch directors that were trained this year,” Padilla said. “They’re brand new. We have seven that are in their second year. And then we have 39, that have three or more years of experience.”

The Zebra program was expanded a few years ago to allow for people who live outside of New Mexico to participate.

“We have people that come from as far away as Wisconsin, Nebraska and Michigan,” Padilla said. “We’ve expanded it to where people from across the country are eligible to apply for flight director. We have these individuals coming to visit our Balloon Fiesta every year. As you know, people come from other countries. When they see the launch directors, they have this interest in volunteering. They want to be a part of the Balloon Fiesta … We have probably at least eight to 10 (launch directors) that come from out of town every year.”