- Image by Pro-Zak via Flickr
In only another week, 2009 will be over. So much has happened this year. Sitting warmly here, thinking of Decembers past, and the holiday travel season, I think to my formative years. When school let out, my family and I would be on a flight out of town till New Years.
This led to years of difficult travel experiences. I say that because the holiday season is full of hardship. People are cranky, both passengers and airline employees, winter weather can become a problem, and flights are full. But I survived, and I outlived TWA, Eastern, Pan Am, and Braniff, to the point I can think with fond nostalgia of them.
I remember an American Airlines crew doing the inflight safety announcement as a modified version of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. It was cheesy, but that cheesiness did bring a smile to my face. For every hardship, for every time I ended up in a city I didn’t want to be in, stuck on the ground, or being given compensation vouchers(I still have some UA ones from the 90s they forget to mark an expiration date on), there were people trying to make the holiday season a little less difficult. These are the same people who work hard every day at their jobs…the shining gems of the airline industry. The rotten apples of the industry too often make the headlines and thus draw our attention away from those who do their jobs with caring, compassion, and dedication.
It was those trips that introduced me to air travel, and gave me the experiences of a variety of different aircraft and airline experiences, and got me to the point I run a blog on the subject. From the Flight Wisdom family to yours, we hope that your year has been fulfilling, and that next year is even more so. We’d like to thank our fellow aviation bloggers, and the Twitter community, who have been so helpful in feeding us stories and engaging in aviation related dialogues.
For those of you traveling this holiday season, stay safe. May your delays be short and may your frequent flyer account runneth over. Enjoy the rest of 2009, and if your New Year’s Resolution is to spend more time in the air…as Motel 6 says, we’ll keep a light on for you.
Flight Wisdom Guru
Editor, Flight Wisdom Blog
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