Flying the friendly skies, again!

Last week I wrote about how kind and generous my in-flight neighbor was to me. I'm happy to report that this wasn't just a one-in-a-million interaction! On today's flight I was lucky again to be seated next to a friendly neighbor.

Today I sat next to a young woman from Nebraska. She literally said, "yeah!" when she found her seat on the plane. Naturally, I was surpirsed by her excitement to find her seat as we boarded a flight for 5 hours. After she sat down and we greeted one another (yes, I greeted her this time, pretty openly, thanks to my interaction last week) she pointed out her sister was sitting right across the aisle of us. Got it, the excitement was for being seated so close to her sister and 16-month-old nephew, not for finding her seat on the plane.

As we chatted she told me a bit about their story. She, along with her sister, nephew, and family, just spent the past week vacationing on Kaua'i. They had a wonderful, relaxing vacation! Then she said they were scheduled to fly home last night. They boarded their Honolulu to Phoenix plane without a hitch. Then they were told there was a mechanical problem. They waited for an update and ended up sitting on the plane 3 hours! Now, let me not forget the detail that they were on a red eye flight, so they sat on the plane from 11 pm - 2 am! The crew then informed them that they had to test something that they were fixing on the plane and everyone would need to deplane. But, leave your things, they said, you'll get on board after they run the test. So they deplane. Then they get word that things didn't go as planned and their flight was going to be cancelled. Madness ensued as all 250+ passengers on the flight had to get back on the plane only to grab their carry on items to then get off the plane. They said that they were in the airport until 4 am to get re-routed to Nebraska and get their hotel vouchers for the evening/morning.

So today, at 12 pm, a mere 8 hours after leaving the airport, they were back at the airport waiting to board the first leg of their flight. While yesterday they were just stopping in Phoenix, their new route took them to LA today, Minnesota overnight, then to Omaha in the morning. And she continued, she lands at 8 am then is scheduled to work at 2 pm that afternoon!

Needless to say, 365 reconizes this friendly family from Nebraska who, in the midst of travel madness, still have the energy and spirit to be friendly to others. Especially those who are still learning to trust the friendliness of flying the high skies!

Check back tomorrow for another fun travel post!