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| Credit: DepositPhotos/Monkey Business |
A few days ago, Jim Kilpatrick wrote Part I of this two-part
piece in which we discuss the changes in the flying experience over the last
few decades. I thought that it would be
a good idea to supplement his recount of his first experience flying with my
most recent flight to Hawai’i, just a couple of weeks ago. As you will see, and should expect, much has
changed over the last few decades. I
believe that it is true that the golden days of flying have gone, indeed.
To begin our trip, I first had to wake up at 3:30, do some
last minute packing, and get my reluctant sons out of bed. My older son, by the way, wasn’t too excited
about going to Hawai’i because it would take too long to get there. He thought that Sea World in Florida was a
much better option (and a much shorter flight).
However, seeing that we also had some personal business to attend to on
the islands, we really didn’t have much of a choice. Sorry Josh!
During the rush to pack and get out the door, I missed my routine
morning coffee and wasn’t really enjoying the 45-minute-drive to the airport on
just a couple of hours of sleep. We
found parking at the airport, caught the shuttle to the terminal, and proceeded
to fight the urge to collapse right there on the shuttle.
We got through ticketing without too many problems. Luckily our large bag was less than the 50-lb
limit. Security was as usual. I felt like I was undressing as I took off my
shoes, belt, and watch, and then I emptied the contents of my pockets into a
compartment of my backpack to go through the x-ray machine. Then I felt like we were unpacking as we took
out two laptops, a Nook and DVD player to go through the machine
separately. My more knowledgeable,
world-travelled, wife politely told me that the DVD and Nook didn’t need to be
separate. (Now she tells me!). We’re doing all of this while we’re trying to
keep track of the two restless kids who,
I am sure, were enjoying the post-9-11 security procedures even less than us
(although thankfully they no longer had to take their shoes off).
After we re-packed and re-dressed ourselves, we breathed a
sigh of relief for having successfully gone through Security. That sigh was not for long, though. They were going to start boarding for our
plane in about 10 minutes.
Unfortunately, we couldn’t get a direct flight from Houston
to Honolulu. We had to stop off in Los
Angeles first. Since the flight was a
“short” 3 hours, we didn’t get offered any kind of meal. (Never mind that I was starving and sleep
deprived.) At least I got to have some
coffee to push me through to the next flight.
Also, since the plane seemed to be fairly new or refurbished, there were
multi-media screens in the head rest of each seat to keep us busy.
The flight in LA was booked with only a 45-minute
layover. So, of course, we didn’t have
time to grab a bite or drink before getting on the next plane. At least this flight, about 5 to 5-1/2 hours,
was going to have some food options. For
the low price of $8, I was able to get a cheeseburger! It was better than McDonalds, but I wouldn’t
say by much. By the way, this wasn’t
just any cheeseburger…It was the last cheese burger on the plane! In just my row and the row behind me, I heard
about four people ask for that coveted cheeseburger and get denied! I felt a little bit of guilt, but certainly
not enough to give up the highly-priced cheeseburger that I waited literally
hours to receive.
For the kids, the food options weren’t as good. Neither of them really likes cheeseburgers,
and the only other kid friendly options that we saw were Pringles, M&Ms, and
other small snacks, which can sustain you for only so long. The larger lunch items, like the Thai chicken
wrap and the Asian noodle salad, weren’t things that they would eat. (If only they had chicken nuggets!)
My kids finally fell asleep during the last couple hours of
the flight. I guess that they got tired
of playing Angry Birds and looking at nothing but ocean and birds. (The plane for this leg of the trip was older
and did not have the in head-rest multi-media screens, so there were no movies
to keep them occupied or entertained.)
When we landed and departed the plane, we noticed someone
holding up a sign that said “Hilton Vacations”.
“Look, Honey. Someone else did
the Hilton Vacation deal too! I guess
they needed a shuttle or limo to pick them up,” my wife says. “Good thing that we got our own car,” I
reply. As we’re picking up our baggage
claim, we hear someone calling “Is there a Steve Lee down here?” I can’t help but think that we’ve forgotten
something or that maybe there is some problem.
I respond, “Ummm….I’m Steve Lee.”
An older woman comes up to us and greets us with a pikake lei and a kiss
on the cheek. I said mahalo and that we
weren’t expecting this. It was kind of a
neat surprise. The lady welcomes us to
the islands and asks if we need a shuttle to the hotel. I tell her that we didn’t need one since we
have the car. She says ok and leaves,
obviously not interested in talking story, which, to be honest, was ok with us
because we were exhausted and looking forward to a nice soft bed.
If you’ve read Jim’s article, you’ll notice that there’s a
great difference between flights now and those of the past. It’s a shame that flights now are more like
taking a bus ride and a lot less enjoyable.
The flight attendants (no longer stewardesses) are usually nice enough,
but the airlines themselves don’t exactly go out of their way to make your
flight a fun and enjoyable experience.
Your flight is a means to get you from point A to point B, and that’s
it. You pay extra for baggage, pay extra
for food, and I believe that they are trying to cram more and more people into
the airplanes. It’s all good from their
immediate bottom line perspective, but what about the customer experience and
customer satisfaction? The little kids don’t even get the first flight pins
anymore. Even a lei greeting is a rare
occurrence, and it usually comes from someone other than the airline.
Oh well. Those were
the good ol’ days!
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