Smithsonian Air & Space Museum, Washington DC

Smithsonian Air & Space Museum, Washington DC

Lighter than air.

Lighter than air.

Powder River Wyoming from the air

Powder River from the air.

Flying to Atlanta

Flying to Atlanta

The Stone Ranch from the air.

The Stone Ranch from the air.

Lex Anteinternet: Air Travel then and now. . .I'm not nostalgic about it, it's gotten better

Air Travel then and now. . .I'm not nostalgic about it, it's gotten better

 

The Missouri River, note the barges.

As noted, I fly quite a bit.  And I have a long history with air travel too. I first boarded a commercial airliner as a baby, and I can recall flying out of Casper on Western Airlines and Frontier Airlines, in jet airliners, as a boy still in grade school.  By the time I was junior high I'd flown on Western, Frontier, Air Canada, and others I can't recall.  I can well recall when you could still get a flight on a 707 from Casper to Billings Montana.

Given that, I have experience with the "glory days" of jet travel that people are nostalgic about now.

I'm not.  Air travel is a lot better now.  Shoot, it's better than it was ten years ago.

The current jets are so fast that a lot of the nostalgia that people place in old time air travel is really misplaced.  I can well recall when you received multiple drinks and food on flights.  That's because those flights were really slow.  Now, they're so much faster it isn't even funny.

This first became apparent to me on a flight some years ago to Oakland.  I'd flown to California before and was amazed when we were boarded on a "regional airliner", probably some sort of Canadair jet.  That jet zipped to the destination so fast I was stunned.  The week before last I flew to Toronto, which I've done before, on a direct connection from Denver.  Sure, it took over three hours, again on a regional jet liner, but that isn't too bad really.  This past week I flew from Tampa to Denver on an airbus that flew so high that we flew over satellites (okay, not really, but it flew high) and it was as smooth as a bus.  Very comfortable, and really nice plane. The Dreamliner is even more comfortable.

These planes are just super, and speedy.  They get you where you need to go very quickly, and if there isn't endless warmed up meals form the galley, well so be it.

Lex Anteinternet: Just because its free, doesn't mean you have to take it (but then there's no harm in doing so).

Just because its free, doesn't mean you have to take it (but then there's no harm in doing so).

More on air travel.

 

It's always been the case that when you fly in a plane, they give you the chance to have something to drink.

They used to also give you something to eat, if only peanuts. Truly.

Of course, flights used to be really long. The air time between Casper and Denver is now 35 minutes. Really short.  When you had to take a prop aircraft, it was at least an hour.   Even Denver to Tampa is just four hours, not really all that long.

Now, on a four hour flight, offering you something to drink makes a lot of sense.  On a 35 minute flight, it really doesn't, but they do it anyhow.  And as an observer of people, I notice that a very large percentage of people take it.  I'm not really sure why, as they attendant barely has time to give you the drink, for you to drink it, and then to pick up the refuse.  Indeed, on at least one occasion I've seen the drink distribution run into the final approach, to be followed, therefore by an immediate pick up.

Surely, you don't really normally need something to drink on a flight that short.  It's really short.  But probably over half the passengers on a plane take something to drink, no matter how short, or rough, the flight is. A person barely has enough time to get their drink, drink it, and have the attendant pick it up.  And on a rough flight, and I've been on a few, more than a few people seem too dazed to notice that their drink is about to go flying on to their neighbor at any one time.

On the other hand, it's harmless too, usually, and probably a remnant of that day when air travel was slower, and you always got something to eat.  Some people look back on that fondly, but frankly I'm so impressed by the modern speed of aircraft its not even funny.  Casper to Denver in 35 minutes?  Wow. And even a trip from Denver to Tampa or Toronto just doesn't take that long anymore.  That's truly amazing.