Observations on Air Travel
Posted in Air Travel | By admin | Tags: Phoenix, Raleigh Durham, US Airways
On a recent trip from Phoenix to Raleigh Durham International Airport via US Airways, things went surprisingly well! Beginning with parking, it may have been Friday the 13th, but everything seemed to fall into place smoothly.
We found a spot in the economy surface lot ($8 per day), traipsed over to the bus stop and were able to board a bus quickly to the terminal. When our otherwise silent bus driver made announcements as we neared the terminal, he thanked us for joining them and commented that the last two days had seen the most traffic he’d seen in three months.
As we neared the usually scary long lines at the security area, we had only about three people waiting ahead of us. The TSA “greeter” reviewed my boarding pass and license, looked up with a smile and offered, “Happy birthday. I see your birthday was last week.”
Wow, personable and observant, too! What’s happening to air travel? The last time I flew, the lines were long, the officials especially officious and the effort to get to the gate on time difficult.
Our almost full plane left the gate close to the scheduled time, but had to wait a while before we could take off. About a half hour. Our non-stop flight proceeded pleasantly with several attendant services. The snack box offered by US Airways for $5 was a fairly edible tuna salad with somewhat healthful ingredients, tiny Oreo cookies, a cheese spread, some crackers, a sweetened apple/berry sauce and plastic utensils – no fork – but a plastic toothpick that could be far more lethal than a fork. Air security measures are far from making any sense.
It appears we’re about to land soon – on time, I may add! – so I must stow this.
Amazing! The new world of travel appears to be here. And, I never removed my belt with the heavy metal buckle and still passed muster at the security gate.
Hmm. We’ll see if the situation is the same on our return flight.
Tags: Phoenix, Raleigh Durham, US Airways