Transatlantic Travel

It’s been three years since I last flew to Russia. Delta Airlines has made the trip daily, with incremental changes along the way. I found that passenger electronics are better than three years ago. Food is not.

Instead of having a featured movie that starts after dinner, all passengers have touchscreens that can order up a menu of movies for their viewing pleasure. I found time for two – the pleasant comedy “Date Night,” with Tina Fey and Steve Carell, and the inspirational “Invictus” starring Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela.

We used to have a number of music channels, like radio stations. Now we can put together our own playlists. It’s much more fun.

But, ah, the food. I looked for the printed menu of our dinner choices; the write ups always sounded good, even if the plates didn’t live up to their promise. Today there’s no need for a printed menu. Our choice, we were told, was “with chicken or without chicken.” I chose “with chicken,” and got a small plate with a calorie content suitable to the dwarf for which the seating was designed. For most of the men on the flight, I can’t imagine this being a happy experience.

After 8 hours of flying – just shortly before landing -- we got breakfast. It was shaped like a hockey puck and thrown by the flight attendant going down the aisle. Luckily the thing was wrapped in plastic, so it was okay if it dropped to the floor. After unwrapping and eating it I guessed that it was something like an English muffin with a scrambled egg white. The flight attendant made a second toss going down the aisle, and that time we got bananas.

What will transatlantic travel be like in another five years? I have no idea. I am grateful that the airline industry continues to have a good safety record, and in spite of my complaining, I’m glad that airlines try to keep costs down.