Fly the Friendly Skies
The good ole days, remember, when flying somewhere was such an exciting, pleasurable adventure? Why you even dressed up for the event.
On my first flight, back when airplanes had propellers and you had to climb a flight of stairs to even get on the plane, well, someone, probably a crew member, took my picture with my Kodak. There I stood in a suit and heels on the stairs waving as if I was some kind of famous person going on a trip instead of a short hop from Atlanta to Memphis.
Flying ain’t what it used to be, times have changed as we have all read and heard, in some case, even before the plane gets off the ground.
Several of us were discussing the current climate of “flying the friendly skies,” “we’re ready when you’re ready,” “bags fly free” airlines.
One more wonderful idea to make everyone happy is to group travelers together, Group 1 being First Class, the ones who get on first and are seated comfortably with wine glass in hand as the rest of the groups try to board. Personally, being frequently in Group 6, one finds the overhead bins full, Groups 1 through 5 standing in the aisle visiting.
And is it an optical allusion the farther back you are in the plane, the narrower the aisle gets? Group 6 folks know they are going to be near the lavatories, seats will be 17 inches wide akin to a wide bicycle seat, no leg room except a small space where their “personal item carry-on” also occupies and if seated in the middle your arms are not going to be resting on any arm rest instead clutched against your side or in a position for prayer which could be useful.
Don’t you love the pre-flight announcements which always ends with “Sit back, relax and enjoy your flight.” This announcement is always made from the front galley and directed at Group 1. Nowadays, an additional announcement states that economy class passengers are not to use the front lavatories and then the flight attendant hurriedly closes a flimsy curtain to keep out the riff-raff.
Frontier Airlines has the best idea for air travel, just don’t do anything except give you a seat. Oh, yes, they do offer a free cup of water.
A close friend has been a flight attendant for an unnamed major airline for nearly all her life and has a plethora of travel tales that would make most question their ability to think should they consider another flight anywhere and yet, we continue to board the flying machine that gets us from point A to point B safer than any other mode of travel sans the occasional fist fight, falling objects from overhead bins or being the chosen overbooked passenger.
Happy travels!