The Skies Really Are Friendly, No Matter Who Is Flying In Them

I have the same discussion with my mother every time she decides she "might" want to fly somewhere. I always help her look for good fares and flight times and when I get back to her with the information, our conversations usually go a little something like this:

"I found a great flight into JFK for $100 less than the one you found."
"I don't like JFK."
"Why?"
"I just don't."

This goes back and forth for at least twenty minutes. It could be JFK or LaGuardia, doesn't matter, she just doesn't like them. She wants to fly into Newark in New Jersey or Stewart, which is in upstate New York. I don't really understand why she doesn't like those airports, she's doing the same thing at both of them; getting off the plane and being picked up by a family member. She doesn't have to rent a car, she doesn't have to take a taxi, she doesn't have to get on a bus. Just walk to luggage claim, like you'd be doing for any flight, and the person who picks you up meets you there and whisks you off to vacation land. Easy.

The second discussion she has always involves who the airline is.

"I found a great flight into JFK for $100 less than the one you found."
"What airline is it?"
"What difference does it make?"

I don't know what difference it makes what airline it is. She doesn't fly enough to reap the benefits of any frequent flier program, she's never dated a pilot so it's not like she has an emotional connection to one particular airline, they all offer basically the same fares and the planes are all made my the same three companies. I half expect, when I say "Delta", for her to say, "Oh no, we only fly American/United/Continental/Etc."

It's not like one of the choices is going to be Uncle Jack's Discount Airline where you're not even sure if the guy has a pilot's license. A plane is a plane is a plane. Granted, the little turbo-props are unsettling to some people, but that's not the case here. She'd be flying clear across the country and those flights are typically on your larger aircraft and always on a major carrier.

It makes the already aggravating job of scoring a good airfare even more harrowing. Maybe if I promise to get her a pair of those pin-on wings she'll be a little more excited and a little less worried who is doing the flying or where she's landing.

Because that is really something she has no control over; remember Sully?


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