Who Are We Becoming?

I was on a flight yesterday.  A simple flight from Dayton, Ohio to Atlanta, Georgia, that on a clear sunny day would take about 100 minutes gate to gate.  Unfortunately it wasn't a clear sunny day in Dayton; it was a cold snowy day.

We pushed back from the gate and taxied out to an area where the airport had the de-icing trucks.  There were three of us there, two commuter airliners and a business jet.  After about five to ten minutes of waiting they began to de-ice the aircraft with the first of two solutions.  About half way through they stopped and the pilots announced the airport had temporarily closed the runway so they could plow it.  He estimated it would be 15 to 20 minutes before they had reopened it, and told us we would stop the de-icing so we didn't have to redo it if the airport took to long to open.  So we waited.  It actually turned out to be closer to 50 minutes and then it took about 20 minutes to de-ice us.  We then taxied out and took off an hour and a half late.

During the whole flight a significant number of passengers complained to the flight attendants about the delays, missing connecting flights, the de-icing process and the nerve of Dayton airport closing just when we wanted to take off.  When we landed and were deplaning they continued to rale about how terrible the flight was, in many cases it was the worst flight they had ever been on.  In each case the individual created stress for themselves, their companions, and the flight attendants.  All of who had exactly the same ability to influence the outcome of the flight.

To all those people I have this to say.  If you think this flight was terrible you should consider what a bad flight really is.  On January 13, 1982, Air Florida, flight 90 departed Washington National (now Reagan National) enroute to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  This Boeing 737-200's flight lasted less than 1 minute before to struck the 14th street bridge and plunged into the Potomac River killing 78 people, including 4 motorist whose timing on the bridge was unfortunate.  Why?  Because they didn't follow proper procedures for operating in icing conditions.

Weather is a fact of life, we don't control it, we learn to live with it.  We were not inhumanly treated or forced to endure 4-6 hours on the ramp.  The rest rooms where not overflowing, the aircraft was kept warm and the pilots advised us of what was happening when they had something to tell us.  We were mildly inconvenienced.  Our airline did precisely as required by the FAA for our safety.  To some, you may have missed your connections and arrived later than you planned, but to the best of my knowledge you did arrive.

We could all benefit if, as a collective, we became just the littlest bit more stoic in our approach to life.  In an aircraft of some 90 passengers and crew it can't be just about you!