Mission Impossible Approach to Airline Travel Unacceptable
Posted: Friday, November 12, 2010
by Gerry Charbonneau
http://nibblednews.typepad.com
"You should definitely have a travel agent. Why go through all the hassle of dealing with airlines, hotels, and rental-car agencies yourself, only to see the arrangements get all screwed up, when with just a single phone call you can have a trained professional screw them up for you? " ~~ Dave Berry
So here you are at last sitting comfortably in the screened and cleared passenger lounge waiting for your flight to be announced over the public address system. You booked this Los Angeles to New York flight well in advance and look forward to the change of scenery air travel offers .
You mentally smile to yourself and try to maintain a low public profile. You don't want to attract attention to yourself or create a stir and hope your flight will depart on time without unnecessary delay. You dread flying but want a change of scenery for your annual two week vacation.
You arrived at the air terminal a few hours early, had both your luggage and yourself thoroughly checked and scanned by airport security personnel.
You take a well deserved deep breath and pat yourself on the back for being such a conscientious and seasoned air traveller.
Your flight is finally announced and you make your way easily towards your flight gate ticket in hand. You have no carry on luggage. The on board attendant greets you amicably, verifies your ticket and welcomes you aboard the plane which she tells you will be departing on time. You walk down the ramp and enter the cabin of the plane.
You get comfortable in your seat and fasten your seatbelt. You look about the cabin and try to allow your eyes to get accustomed to the lower light level the cabin lights offer. You try to convince yourself that air travel is safe and that you will enjoy the flight and the change of scenery.
More passengers are filing into the cabin. A grandmother, a business man with his brief case, a soldier returning home and a man you judge to be in his mid to early 50's. He must be a grandparent en route to visit his family in New York.
He sits down in the aisle seat next to you. You exchange a few verbal pleasantries and then return to your New York Times puzzle. He appears to be a quiet individual, a man who wishes to keep to himself. So be it you tell yourself.
As the cabin continues to fill with passengers you notice that the man's hands do not appear to be the hands of a man of this particular age group. His face and neck are wrinkled and have a plastic texture to it. His hands smooth and youthful. This causes you some concern.
You leave your seat and tell a flight attendant that you have a feeling that the man beside you is not who he appears to be. His skin has a strange hue and his hands appear youngish looking.
The attendant tells you that perhaps the man has a special medical condition and that there is nothing to be concerned about. Go back to your seat and relax you are told.
This immediate dismissal disturbs you and so as you make your way back to your seat you encounter another flight attendant. You explain your concerns and are politely told there is nothing to be concerned about but thank you for the observation.
Finally in desperation you find a third attendant and explain your concerns a third time. Again your concern is dismissed . You are told that a passenger's privacy is paramount and that passengers want to enjoy their flight undisturbed.
You return quietly to your seat feeling foolish yet still wary of the passenger sitting next to you. You keep your cell phone at the ready should anything untoward happen .
The above scenario was of course a fabrication of a recent reality. As we all know now from the Air Canafa fiasco that recently occurred this situation did happen on one of their international flights and the perpetrator is now being held in custody pending an investigation. He is also seeking asylum in that country.
It's irritating to many passengers that airport security could be that lax and that this Mission Impossible approach to reach a new country and seek asylum there could endanger passengers and flight crew. The act was daring. The results are still yet to be determined by perplexed and bewildered Canadian officials.
It can only be hoped that observant passenger concerns and warnings will be given a lot more credence than they were on this flight. Company policy and passenger safety must rule the code of safety when a plane is in the air as well as on the tarmac waiting to depart.
Perpetrators of this type should be prosecuted and not pampered. What will their actions be when they are granted the sought after asylum? Will they continue with more clandestine activities or will they become exemplary citizens? Only time will tell.
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