Up in the Air

Just wrote this article for my company blog. Wanted to share it here too.

When was the last time you had an amazing airline experience? Mine happened exactly one month and seven days ago on an Air New Zealand non-stop 13-hour flight from LAX to AUK on the best flight of my 30 frequent-flyer years. Having traveled overseas several times, I was expecting the usual sub-par treatment: two incredible movie selections such as Alvin and the Chipmunks 3 or a shortened 4-hour edition of Avatar on a 12 inch screen sitting 25 feet from my seat, and a mildly improved version of Lean Cuisine’s Chicken Marsala for dinner with a 3-month old chocolate cake for dessert.

I also came prepared to endure the unavoidable boredom. At times like these, I thank the technology gods for my beautiful and unfailingly reliable gadgets. I had my iPod Classic fully equipped with 30GB of hand-selected music; an iPod Touch with 3 of my favorite movies and a handful of mind-numbing, brain-draining games; a Microsoft Zune with 2 months of podcasts; 3 books on paper plus my HTC EVO Kindle App ready with one extra book; and of course, the up-to-3-charges external battery pack.

To my astonishment, what I experienced showed me that perhaps hope is not completely lost. Picture this: smiling crew members, gourmet dinners with ice cream for dessert, 75 movies and over 250 TV show episodes to choose from on a 9 inch personal screen, 180 music albums, free leather covered headphones and an on-board concierge that could help me with everything from currency exchange rates to city maps. All this flying non other than coach. My gadget-filled carry-on was untouched from take-off to landing.

But although my fantastic transpacific experience brought back a slight glimmer of optimism, I’m slowly succumbing to negativity and despair. And recent highly publicized airline merges just add more fuel to my skepticism. Reality set in when I boarded a crowded Delta Airlines flight from Salt Lake City to Indianapolis shortly after my New Zealand trip. Why are they turning my premium mode of transportation into nothing more than Greyhound with wings? Do they really think that stale peanuts, 28 inches of leg room and extra-baggage fees will keep me coming for more? The sad answer is yes, they do. When your options are limited to Mediocre Airlines and SadFlight USA, make sure your stomach is full, your batteries are charged and your Dramamine is handy.