Flying Pet Peeve

[BobFV1]

So last night I'm on a packed Airbus (they named those planes correctly!) flying from Denver here to Orlando. Every seat is full. I am no play-toy, there is a big old boy in the middle seat, and some guy that looks like a pro wrestler is next to the window. All of a sudden, about 2 hours in to the flight, I smell fish. Like really strong and stinky fish. I look at the guys next to me and they smell it too. Then we see the source - a woman in the middle seat in the row in front of us has opened up one of those blue, aluminum foil packets of Star-Kist and she's wolfing it down with a plastic fork! I can see that the guys on either side of her seem about ready to puke.

Some people!

[jonothan]

Like you, we flew on an Airbus, only with Qatar Airways from London Heathrow via Doha to Male in the Maldives.

On the LHR/DOH sector, Elaine and my daughter Rachel were window/aisle but I was sat in the middle with a very unpleasant gentleman who was, how shall we say, culturally different from myself. The journey was a nightmare. And it got worse.

Arrived in Qatar ten minutes early at 7.45pm local time. We had a three hour wait for the onward Doha-Male flight. About an hour before we were due to leave, we were paged to go to the transfer desk. The flight was overbooked and they had off-loaded us and nine other British holidaymakers. Even though we had boarding passes - issued at Heathrow - and even though flights from both Frankfurt and Rome which departed their respective airports well after we had left LHR - and arrived in Doha just one hour before the Male flight departed - had passengers who all made that connection.

So we were put on the next Male flight which, because it was not direct but went via Colombo in Sri Lanka, arrived in Male at 6.30pm, too late to make the seaplane taxi to the resort.

The end result is that we arrived a day late.

Air travel. Don't ya just love it!

J

[BobFV1]

Ugh - Jonathan, that's a bummer. I avoid all the Middle Eastern airlines when possible. Had a bad flight on GulfAir coming out of Riyadh earlier this year, and we were boarded by armed British commandos when we arrived at LHR! Mostly I don't like the smell of sweat and cheap cologne.

Emirates is about the only one of the bunch I won't go out of my way to avoid. I think I am going back to the Middle East in two weeks but it should be on a corporate jet - otherwise I hope BA has seats!!!

[boxermania]

Actually breaking wind while one is awaiting to taxi away is by far a more sensuous experience, since in such a confined space of the cabin it is very dificult to detect it's origin.

You can call it an all encompasing event......

[yjleesvrr]

I despise air travel. That's why I drive/ride so much to New York, New Jersey, Atlanta, etc. Winters and summers mean delays and cancellations due to weather. Fall & Spring isn't bad, but airlines have a habit of overbooking flights. As far as I'm concerned, the airlines deserve their plight.

[arkline]

You know how they say you would quit eating sausage if you worked in a sausage factory. I worked for Boeing in the late sixties. I absolutely hate flying.

[new2BMW]

You know how they say you would quit eating sausage if you worked in a sausage factory. I worked for Boeing in the late sixties. I absolutely hate flying.

Amen to that.

I've worked in the commercial aircraft maintenance business for the last 17 years. I actually don't mind flying, there are just some airlines that I don't even want to walk past their gate at the airport for safety reasons.

Bob mentioned the Middle Eastern airlines. Those are the first on my list to avoid.

[Boxer]

At least on the middle eastern airlines you can always find a towel.