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Time To Hit The Wild Blue Yonder
Author: admin, Category: Quick stories
Welcome back to the Skywaybooks.com blog.
Next week I am heading west to enjoy a five day holiday. My destination is Las Vegas. Sin City baby! From where I live it is over 2700 miles so of course I will be flying. I used to enjoy flying and had an overwhelming anticipation of the experience. Nowadays though, I kind of almost regret having to go through the experience.
The industry has changed dramatically since it’s inception about 60 years ago. Actually let’s go back further than that. Airlines actually started out as mail carriers and decided since they were carrying mail, let’s put in some seats, make the planes a little bigger and take on some passengers. You could hop on a plane in the east and be whisked away to a destination all the way across the country in a little over… 4 days. Back then planes could only fly during the day. The air traffic control system didn’t exist and airplanes had little or no navigation equipment. Once the technology improved, planes added beds where customers could sleep once night fell, if you could sleep without getting sick. Pilots had very limited resources for navigating around stormy weather so often planes were forced to fly through the weather, making for some bumpy flights.
In the 1950’s, Boeing introduced the 707, a four engine jet that could take you across the country or over to Europe in hours and not days. At first it was mostly reserved for the elite because it was very expensive and still considered risky by many. If you were fortunate enough to afford it, the service was usually top of the line, with gourmet food, the finest wines and all the extras. I can remember watching an airline documentary that actually showed someone being served a slice of roast beef that was being cut from a full roast right there in the aisle. I had to laugh out loud because I haven’t even been alive long enough to experience that.
Let’s fast forward to today. Due to the rising fuel costs and other economic woes, airlines are cutting out everything. And I mean everything. First they took away free meals. Now you have to pay for snacks. Then they took away blankets and pillows. Now some airlines are charging for not just alcohol, but for soda which used to be free in coach class. You want to check that bag because it’s too big to carry on? Well it’s gonna cost you at least $25. Better hope it’s not overweight too. I saw a commercial in the US once for Southwest airlines where they were poking fun at airlines who charge you for everything. The showed a passenger boarding the plane, arriving at his seat to stow his bag in the overhead bin only to see you need to put in 50 cents in a coin slot to use it. This turned out to be the same for the arm rest, tray table, and window shade. It was a funny commercial, but hopefully not foreshadowing of what is to come. Some airlines are even cutting out movies on some flights because all of a sudden the VCR’s weigh too much. My advice to you is bring a good book, your own snacks, and fasten your seatbelt. It’s gonna be a bumpy flight.
Have a great day and happy reading to everyone!
