Where's the fun in flight?

I can remember when flying was fun. I have always been enthusiastic about airplanes, and taking a trip on one was a big adventure. We went to the airport, made our way to the gate (maybe with some
friends or family to see us off if it was a big trip), walked across the apron, climbed the stairs to the door, boarded, maybe looked in the cockpit, sat down, had a good meal and great service, watched a
movie or took a nap, landed and strolled off, still excited by all the fun. People dressed for travel — men in suits and women in hats and gloves. It wasn’t comfortable but it was classy.

Now, as you know and as the kids would say, not so much. Granted, my memory of those days has been glossed over by time. Many of the aircraft then were prop jobs or turboprops, which vibrated, ran
noisily and were prone to breaking down in flight. The fares were considerably higher because of regulation. The masses did not fly, but all that changed with deregulation when airplanes became more like
buses. Then, of course, 9/11 changed everything about flying.

We went to Atlanta earlier this year and it seemed everything that could go wrong on the flights did go wrong. There was an accident on Va. 28 so we got to the

airport too late for our 9 a.m. flight. We had to wait three hours for the next one. The TSA folks were, to put it charitably, grumpy. I breeze through security after partially disrobing, but my wife, who has a
hip replacement, gets pulled aside and wanded down every time. She does not look much like a terrorist, but more like the church musician she is. She’s told me all her musician friends get the extra
treatment. Maybe there’s something about them we don’t know.

Coming back, we found our flight was delayed for four hours, although it showed up as being on time when I checked before we left. We got something to eat, looked around and ambled down to the gate.
There the agent told us she could put us on another flight leaving sooner if we could make it to that gate in 15 minutes. Of course the gate was three concourses away. We hoofed it down there and found
the agent had no record of the change. After a few minutes it came through and we were on our way.

I know, I need to stop whining. There are people who have it much worse, like the poor souls who board and then sit on the tarmac for seven or eight hours with no air conditioning, no food, no water,
screaming babies and overflowing toilets. Or the people whose luggage is lost in a huge backlog caused by a computer problem. And the security folks are doing their best to keep us all safe. For my
money, they can strip search me if it would help. Not an image you want to hold in your mind for very long, I know.

All this is to say that our last flight a few weeks ago to Florida to visit friends was a delight. We used an airline whose name includes “Jet” and a primary color. We got to the airport in plenty of time and
found the flight was delayed an hour because of weather. That gave us time to have breakfast. The security people were jovial and helpful. I don’t know what happened with them, but I hope it continues.

The flight down was smooth and uneventful, and because I hadn’t been able to select seats beforehand, we were put in the extra legroom section for free (a $10 value!). The flight back was on time and
went well with the exception of a woman in the seat behind us who prattled on mindlessly in a piercing voice about a variety of inconsequential topics. I should have bought the headset for $1; I still would
have been $9 ahead.

I was not looking forward to flying after some of our earlier experiences, but this time it was fine. Maybe I have lower expectations, or maybe the system is less crowded with fewer people flying. Or maybe
some things have changed for the better. I hope the airline industry can continue and prosper, and I hope for all of us clear skies and smooth flights. Just remember to buy the headset.

Dan Verner is a longtime Manassas resident. He contributes to these pages every week.