Ever since I was in my twenties, I have had to fly at least twice a year for some reason. When I was in the military, it was when I would come home on leave.
Once I got into my thirties, it ended up being mostly for work purposes. I’ve come to find out in recent years that about seventy-five percent of the occasions where I would have flown it actually ends up being cheaper to drive.
I mean why the heck not? You control your own pace, I can stop and take a break if I need to, I’m pretty much in control of my environment.
The few times in the past five years that I have had to fly have definitely gotten more annoying. It almost seems that the TSA is trying to goad you into saying or doing something that keeps you from getting on the plane.
That being said, I still end up preparing for a flight the same way I always have. Phone to watch movies and TV shows on, extra set of headphones, earplugs, ibuprofen, fire retardant suit, extra sweater, candy, oh….what was that?
Oh yeah, the fire suit. As part of my carry-on luggage, I have one of those flash hoods that the race car drivers wear while they are on the track. You’ve seen them, it looks like one of those things skiers wear.
I normally bring it if I am going somewhere cold, but with what’s been happening with some airplanes lately you almost need to bring a fire suit with you.
Recently, a United Airlines flight from Texas to Florida was forced to return to the departure airport shortly after takeoff after one of the engines caught fire.
It’s not totally clear at the moment what exactly caused the engine to burst into flames, but video recorded by passengers of the burning engine provided a good sense of what the passengers were seeing.
I can only imagine the horror going through those people’s minds, especially given the fact that the plane was flying at night. Night flights, at least for me, are more generally relaxed than flights in the daytime.
Grateful to be safely on the ground @united flight 1118 left jet fire over the Gulf of Mexico pic.twitter.com/gy8coL8pjZ
— Jonathan Boulahanis (@jboulah) March 5, 2024
Imagine falling asleep at the beginning of the flight only to see big balls of flame coming out of the engine.
I’m not going to say that this is me engaging in advocacy to drive wherever you want to go, but it’s proof that there’s something wrong with the airlines on the whole if these types of things keep happening over and over.
It’s not gonna be too much longer until the wings just fall off an airplane in the middle of a flight.
