Flying the Friendly Skies

By Amy Coward

I like to travel any chance I get. Well, actually, I like to be somewhere else any chance I get. It’s not the getting there that’s the fun part. This especially applies to flying.

It used to be that flying was seen as somewhat glamorous. People actually dressed up to fly if you can believe it. Certainly not anymore. Now it’s people in sweat pants, long lines and grouchy airline attendants. Flying the friendly skies is, well, not really friendly most of the time. Until there’s a problem.

I recently flew to New York for a meeting and even though it was going to be a quick trip, I was looking forward to being there. My flight out of Columbia had a connection (surprise, surprise) and I was scheduled to arrive at LaGuardia at 10:30 a.m. While sitting at my gate in Washington, D.C. waiting for my connecting flight, a woman came up to me and said, “They’re changing our gate to 29. You’re going to LaGuardia, right?” About that time, my phone pinged with a message from the airline confirming that my gate was indeed changing. The next ping confirmed a delay in the flight due to excessive snow and ice in New York. The woman and I commiserated and tried to decide how long to wait before changing our plans.

I was traveling alone. She was traveling alone. But the minute there was a problem with the flight, several of us at the gate became long-lost friends. We checked the internet for news about the weather on the ground. We discussed flying in to another airport. We talked about what awaited us in New York.

Back and forth we went with one gate change after another, one delay after another. One person made other plans and the rest of us waited. About 4 hours later, the flight finally departed. I thought we might all cheer at that point but no one was really in the mood, I guess.

On the return flight the next day, (I said quick trip, remember?) the weather was much warmer and it was the Saturday before the Super Bowl. The airport was empty and I was anticipating an uneventful flight. I flew into Charlotte to connect and there at the gate sat an empty plane. The flight was being delayed due to a “maintenance” issue. Was that a nice way of saying they needed to replace the toilet paper? Or was it something more serious like a new engine? The airline attendants were quite coy.

After multiple delays, those of us at the gate started to talk amongst ourselves as we had the day before. It was the last flight of the night to Columbia and no one wanted to stay overnight at the Econo-motel.

“Anyone want to rent a car with me?” someone asked. “I’m calling my sister to come get us,” stated someone else. Someone else was offering everyone gum. It suddenly became like an episode of “Survivor” (only friendlier) with people bartering and making alliances trying to figure out how to get off the island. Hours went by and eventually those of us remaining loaded the plane and flew to Columbia, chatting along the way. One mom was moving to Columbia with her teen-age son. One couple was returning from a conference. People were actually talking to each other. Wonder why it takes an incident or tragedy for us to interact with other people? We seem to always be in elevator mode, facing forward, not saying a word.

Regardless of the inherent inconveniences, I’ll be flying again soon. You have to if you want to go anywhere these days. I’ll arrive at the gate, scope out the crowd and try to guess who’s going to cause the biggest scene when the flight is delayed, who will wait it out in silence and who might become my friend. I’ll make it a game to pass the time.

Chances are, I’ll have plenty of it.

Amy Coward is a public relations professional in Columbia, SC. When she is not managing the madness of event planning at Palmetto Health Foundation, she is turning her empty nest upside down looking for fun and finding it.

Sign up here to start your free subscription to MidlandsLife!