The joys of modern air travel

We were scheduled to fly from St. John's, at the eastern edge of the continent, to Sacramento, pretty darn close to the western limits. The flight was to leave at 8:50 a.m., connect in Newark and Los Angeles, and arrive in Sacramento by 7:00 p.m.. None of that happened. It seemed like amazing good luck that the plane was ready for us in St. John's, as the previous day's storm had prevented it from flying out the day before. We boarded on time and found that is was a tiny little thing, about 60 passengers, in rows of one person on the left and two on the right side. Only the aisle itself had standing head room, and that only if you weren't much over six feet.

First we were delayed because they could not fit all the baggage into the hold. Then, as they tried to push us back from the boarding gate, it became evident that the plane's brakes were frozen from sitting on the runway in snow and rain for two days. Next, we had to be de-iced once more due to the delay. Finally, we had be be refueled to replace what was consumed in the time spent straightening out the other problems.

My seatmate was a young physician from southwestern Ontario who was lured to Newfoundland after her residency. It sounds as if the situation -- the weather as much as anything -- is not to her liking and the province will lose yet another skilled medical person before long. Our conversation was a reminder that an extended education does not equal maturity in other ways, and that doctors in particular can be isolated from the realities of life for the rest of the world. That's not meant as an indictment, just an observation.

In Newark we had to be rerouted. They were pleasant enough about looking after us, unlike Air Canada has been with thousands of storm-bound travellers over the Christmas season. We flew via Houston-Bush (tried to ignore the airport name) and then into Sacramento. In spite of our 11:30 arrival, C and H, the homeowners, were there to meet us. We recognized each other instantly and seemed to skip the awkward phase of new acquaintances. By the time we got 'home' to their town 45 minutes east of the airport and settled for the night we had been on the go a full 24 hours.