There are two eternal truths about flying: one, people will fight to get on a plane; two, the same people will fight to get off of the plane once it has arrived at its destination. Lining up to get on a plane is chaotic at best, and a mad free-for-all at worst. Don’t get me wrong, I love airplanes and the long-distance travel service that they provide. Service, however, with all airlines has declined over the years, and what was once a fairly glamorous event, is now akin to getting on a bus–lots of jostling for space, too many large carry-ons (no one wants to check a bag anymore and what now passes for a “carry-on” was just a regular large suitcase in the past), packed to the gills planes, no food in tourist class (unless you are willing to pay enormous amounts for chips and a stale sandwich), and perpetually late take-offs and landings. The world of flying has become a mass-market phenomenon which is often to be endured with large doses of stoicism and patience. The airlines are all under-manned, which means those who do have jobs are over-worked and stressed, unwilling or unable to help in any case. Overbooking is a constant problem which allows no room for correcting other sorts of problems such as delayed or missed flights, although airline employees do their best to solve lost flight problems, no one pays them enough to really care that much. Corporate boards and stockholders demand bigger and better profits while they juggle labor costs, fuel costs, new equipment costs, food costs, all of which are demanding, none of which is simple.  In the meantime, an intelligent flyer has taken their layover time to heart and has gotten some food before getting on the plane. Flying is still worth it for most people because most of us don’t have enough time to drive enormous stretches of flyover country to get to our destinations. Case in point: I am going to Peru for a seven day tour of pre-columbian sites in and around Machu Picchu, but if I did not have a nice big airplane, I could never get there in the time I have off from teaching this week to do it. With the airplane, I can get there in less than eight hours with a cute little stop-over in Miami International. So we flyers grin and bear it. Reading this you would think that the experience is absolutely horrible, but that isn’t really the case either. I’m on a new 757, I have pretty good leg space, I have enough room for my Ipad and keyboard, and enough elbow room to work comfortably with other passengers on either side of me. The plane is pretty comfortable, not too loud, and the ride is smooth. We don’t get any in-cabin service, but for this short jaunt from Dallas to Miami, one really doesn’t need too much in-cabin service. In a little while, I’ll bet the flight attendants will be by with an offer of soda or other beverages. In the meantime, I have time to think about flying, why I do it, how handy it is for an interesting trip to Peru, and I have a great view of a beautiful burnt orange sunset out the window to my right. One must live in the moment, appreciate all these good gifts, and not focus on the inconveniences of a crowded cabin. I understand the complex economics of running an airline, the different objectives and motivations of a diverse set of passengers, traveling all of us together for a multitude of different reasons–vacation, health, education, family, emergency, work, tragedy. I am going to Peru (thanks Millennium Travel of Texas!), a place to which I have never been, so even at 53 I have lots of places, events, and people on my bucket list, and Machu Picchu is one of them. I have never looked up at the Southern Cross, I have never visited the homeland of Ricardo Palma, I have never been able to speak Spanish in that country. I look forward to a host of new experiences, all because of this big, shining machine, called an airplane, and the magic of flight, crossing thousands of miles in just a few hours. Postscript: this particular flight to Peru landed about ten minutes before its scheduled arrival, and the crew on the plane couldn’t have been nicer.