No More Planes

Several weeks ago I went to Chicago to see some friends and judge my law school's Moot Court competition. I don't typically take flights at 6 a.m., but the ticket was only $40, so I went for it. My night-person ass managed to get up at 4 a.m. and drive to the airport. There was nothing remarkable about security or boarding at that hour. Next stop: Chicago!

Unfortunately, fog in Chicago prevented us from landing. We held around Midway airport for an hour or so, and then had to divert to Columbus, OH to refuel. By now it was noonish, so I just hung out at the wine bar with soup and champagne while awaiting further instructions.

The flight ended up getting cancelled, and immediately a gigantic line formed as every person on that flight had to rebook through the single agent available at the gate.

I don't do lines. I stayed at the wine bar waiting for the line to diminish. Meanwhile, I also used the telephone - what a concept - in hopes that I could get my situation fixed without having to deal with the gate agent at all.

Well, it turns out that in this particular situation, the folks on the phone were unable to help. I was told that the only option was to rebook through a gate agent at Columbus airport.

Please put children and animals in the overhead bin

I’ve seen some outrage over a story headlined with various incarnations of, “Boy removed from plane over allergies, passengers applaud.” The soundbite version of the story is that a seven-year-old boy, along with his mother and terminally ill, cancer-stricken father, were thrown off a plane because the boy was allergic to dogs. When he was thrown off, people clapped.

It’s a little more subtle than that, but those are the basic facts. I’m not sure the outrage is warranted; I’m actually impressed with the airline, from the perspective of an animal rights activist, for not automatically valuing the boy over the dogs.