The plain truth about planes and commercial air travel as it is right now? I dread it, and it’s not the flying part. No, this daughter of a Boeing (and Learjet) engineer still loves the actually flying, but hates the uncertainty of the scheduling and the docile herd social structure that is in place, not to mention the shrinking seats and minimal leg room, even for someone who’s 5’1″. Delays and cancellations are the norm now, so here’s hoping for what used to be normal instead: a safe flight that leaves on time and a connection that is also on time and that does not get cancelled. Small hopes, but they are my own.
p.s. Going to DMAC was worth flying through this weather.
*Update* My bad luck held, and a two-hour delay out of Columbus meant that I missed my connecting flight and was automatically rebooked on the next flight out, which was 9:50 the next morning. American Airlines put me up in the Hyatt Regency O’Hare, which was fairly posh, but it needed the discreet earplugs left at bedside to block the takeoff and landing noise. They worked though, and I had two food vouchers for in the morning which I used at Wolfgang Puck. Apart from the arriving a day later part, not too bad. I also traced down the source of at least two-thirds of my leg pain and swelling. It is those awful sling chairs. I am too short for them and they cut off the circulation in my legs. If I sit in the handicapped seats, they are lower and shaped to fit an actual body. Good to know. Here is a photo of the Hyatt atrium. Apparently they still like open walkways.
Lanette Cadle 