The unfriendly skies Stories are increasing on the nightly news about the hassles of flying: having to check in two hours prior to takeoff, endless lines, frequent delays, overbooking by airlines, flights behind schedule. Still, it takes two days to drive to L.A., and just two hours to fly there.
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Jon Pletsch
Patty Jewett
Contractor/courier Do you fly much? Less than I used to because it's gotten so annoying, but I still fly two or three times a year.
Describe your worst flying experience. Being stranded overnight in the Philadelphia airport.
What's the biggest hassle with flying? All the delays. The airlines can't stay on schedule. They don't have their act together.
Your pet peeve? Being packed like sardines into a metal tube with a bunch of people on cell phones. All that fake air circulating, and all those crying babies.
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Megan Prahl
Mountain Shadows
Teacher How often do you fly? Maybe twice a year.
What's the most annoying thing about flying? Waiting in lines due to airport security. Also, all the delays.
What's your worst flying experience? Every year when I go home at Christmas, I run into delay after delay at Chicago O'Hare. I'm always left feeling I should be compensated for all that lost time after having forked out all that money for a ticket.
Is flying getting better or worse? I used to think it was this great luxury, but the more I do it, the more I feel like livestock.
Which job is most stressful: air traffic controller, teacher or lawyer? Probably air traffic controller, simply because lives are at stake. But I promise, teaching can be stressful, too.
Do you have a pet peeve about flying? I'm tall, so I always feel crammed into a small space for a prolonged period.
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Andy Lee
Cheyenne Mountain
Filmmaker Does flying make you nervous? A little. There's always that statistical possibility, and my personal paranoia.
Name your worst flying experience. The time they sat me right next to the bathroom the door constantly opening and closing, the toilet constantly flushing, the stench, all those butts in my face.
What pushes your button when you fly? The complaining, the attitudes, the incivility. Everyone thinking it's all about them.
Are any other jobs as stressful as air traffic controller? Being in the military. Being a 911 operator in New York City. If that movie Pushing Tin, with John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton is accurate, it's too high pressure a job.
Is flying getting better or worse? It's gotten more crowded, but it's improved in terms of air flow, comfort of the cabins and ease of ticket purchase.
Bob Campbell
