What connects two cities? Why do people choose to fly from Bismarck to Phoenix? What kind of demand exists for direct flights from Raleigh to Montreal, or for an airline to use widebody planes on certain routes and regional jets on others?
Those are the questions I think about when I’m bored. (I’m a very fun person.)
Commercial jets and airline routes endlessly fascinate me. I was a plane kid growing up. My mom’s office sat right next to Dulles Airport. I used to regularly fly back and forth to South Carolina to visit family. Diecast airliners were my go-to toys for the longest time.
The idea of flying always thrilled me.
I was also an anxiety-riddled kid growing up. After the attack in 2001, followed by the crash of a GSP-bound flight in 2003, I essentially swore off flying for the rest of my childhood.
Unfounded fears didn’t shake my love of planes, though, and I grew into a Microsoft Flight Simulator enthusiast from middle school onward.
Going to college 500+ miles away in Mobile, Alabama, opened up renewed opportunities to fly, starting with Thanksgiving during my sophomore year. I hadn’t been on a plane in a good eight years at that point.
A Delta Connection CRJ-200 was a…cozy…ride as a larger guy. My nerves spiked once they closed the boarding door and we pushed away from the gate. I held my cheap little video camera up to the window and rolled as we accelerated down the runway.
The video captured the moment my nerves melted away with a giddy chuckle as we lifted off the runway, reigniting my passion for both planes and flight itself.
Every plane ride after that was a full experience. My camera got a workout with each leg of the journey, complete with purposely long layovers to enjoy gateside planespotting.
I flew home from college and back a few times a year, as well as one quick weekend trip to my cousin’s wedding near Philadelphia. (That was my only ride on a Boeing 757-300. What an aircraft.) All the connecting legs come out to something like 20-25 individual flights.
Graduating and coming back home sparked a new fear: what opportunities would I have to fly again? It didn’t take too long. 2014 and 2015 saw quick trips to Atlanta to visit The Weather Channel, followed by a trip to Orlando in 2016.
And then I didn’t get on a plane again for almost 10 years. As it turns out, freelancing and a global pandemic aren’t conducive to the idea of “vacations.” Games like flight simulators and SkyCards could only do so much to fill the not-flying-size gap in my dreams.
A new opportunity opened up for me late last year when I decided to go to California to visit my best friend of 20 years. This was a whole new experience–I had never been farther west than Mobile before.
Last November’s trip was truly a lifetime highlight, not only for the visit with my friend and the sights we saw, but for the journey itself.
Spending almost five hours on an Airbus A321 was an incredible experience on its own. But to see so many different landmarks with my own eyes felt like a gift: the Appalachians, the winding curves of the Mississippi River, endless farm plots across Kansas, the Rocky Mountains, the deserts of Utah and Nevada.
That was something else.
I’ve still got plenty of must-dos on my list. Ride on a widebody. Visit another country. Planespotting at a major airport.
I can’t wait to see what’s next.
