Plane pain
Social Notes.
Why do we put up with the wretchedness of air travel? Forget jet lag; I’m emotionally wiped and physically spent by the time I’m just boarding an airplane. That’s because air travel, something that should inspire and exhilarate, has become something most of us dread in our bones.
I’m not talking about the destinations, the cities we visit for play or work. A vacation abroad? A winter getaway in a tropical haven? A weekend in New York, or a week in Edinburgh? Sounds heavenly.
No, I’m talking about the stress factory that is the modern airport, and I don’t mean just the one in St. John’s so much as every one in every city.
I travel a fair bit in my work as a selfemployed consultant, and I’ve been fortunate enough that our family can afford to take vacations that require a boarding pass. I know that flying is a means of transportation that can be beyond the reach of many.
To make some trips happen, I use all means necessary: I scout for bargains, I collect and redeem points, and I’m willing (reluctantly, I admit) to put up with abysmal schedules and connections if it means I can afford a ticket.
Even without having to get up and/or get home in the middle of the night, however, I have really come to loathe what we have to go through to get away. Every journey comes with a cost that goes way beyond the basic fare.
Speaking of which, why do we put up with so many extra fees and costs beyond our basic fare? I’m sure I’m not the only one to have a heart race over an advertised special, only to find out the final cost is so much more. I think I’d rather have the final cost advertised mandatorily than go through that letdown again.
More than anything, it’s the airports themselves that get me down, as well as the hoops we have to jump through. Travel may be a service industry, but good service while you’re on the move is, more often than not, unusual.
It’s the little things I miss. Take fresh air. After several hours trapped in a metal can, held for what seems like ages, we enter another, larger metal cylinder, to be greeted with more recycled air.
Or how about airport food? The best thing one can say is that it’s slightly better than hospital food, and if you find anything decent, you fear having to take out a second mortgage in some places to nourish yourself.
Then there are the waits. Getting through security in larger cities and making international connections are stressful ventures. Even though I appreciate the importance of security, there are times when I wonder if anyone reads the guidelines, there are so many different interpretations of what’s allowed.
The fact is, discomfort is the order of the day. The chairs are stiff, harsh and unwelcoming, both inside and outside the plane. For those who have means, there’s always the preferential passenger lounge, but really, would it be such a problem to make everyone feel somewhat comfortable?
There have been improvements, of course. I was so grateful when St. John’s International Airport added a great deal more natural light. I’ve also appreciated the amenities I’ve seen on the road, little things that make an airport feel more like a community square than an illdesigned holding pen. In fact, when faced with a stressful wait, I often make a beeline for the rocking chairs in some airports just to relax without resorting to the bar.
We all know things could be different, and in fact, once upon a time, they were. Last year, we caught a few episodes of the TV series Pan Am, set during the early 1960s, when air travel was exotic and the world was opening up like never before because of the jet engine.
Back then, seating was comfortable; the lounge in the airport seemed like an actual lounge; the airline element of the journey seemed to be something you would anticipate as much as the destination itself.
As I write this, I’m preparing for a trip abroad, and while I can’t wait to see my relatives and enjoy the sights, I know that I will have to get through the ordeal of simply getting there.
It’s remarkable how the fantasy of those halcyon days has given way to the purgatory of today.