First there is inconvenience. Not only the long lines to check the shanks in our shoes and our toiletries, but the wiring failures that have grounded many airlines for days, leaving people stranded. Ha! One form of suffering I'm spared by going local.
Next there's the cost. Since it first occurred to me to undertake this fast, the price of a barrel of oil has gone up $40 - a 50% increase in 6 months. Some flights are simply more expensive now.
Finally there's those runway incursions... beep beep beep, news flash...
WASHINGTON — The recent groundings of thousands of flights have raised flags about skipped airplane inspections and botched repairs to wiring.
But what really worries aviation specialists? Runway collisions.
“Where we are most vulnerable at this moment is on the ground,” the chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, Mark V. Rosenker, said. “To me, this is the most dangerous aspect of flying.”
For the six-month period that ended March 30, there were 15 serious “runway incursions,” compared with 8 in the period a year earlier. Another occurred at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on April 6 when a tug operator pulling a Boeing 777 along a taxiway failed to stop at a runway as another plane was landing, missing the tug by about 25 feet.
I am slowly adapting to the limitation I set. I am slowly discovering little pathways and pleasures accessible by foot or car. I am slowly getting used to the idea that if I want to go further afield than a few hundred miles, I may be spending a few days on a train - and liking it. So I look on the madness of travel with some remove - and yes, a bit of immature disdain. These signs of decline in our air travel infrastructure aren't good, and I do feel for the inconvenienced travelers. But I can't help being glad I'm not someone whose plans are in a tizzy because I am subject to the airline industry.
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