Airline travel these days is often a taxing and frequently painful experience. Late flights are common (the usual hollow excuse is “the aircraft is being cleaned”); all the jetways are occupied so the plane has to sit on the tarmac; you arrive, but your suitcase doesn’t; your suitcase arrives, but it’s minus the handle; the list goes on. In the air, as well, the experience is becoming less and less enjoyable. On a recent trip to North America, travelling on four different airlines, I was struck by the widespread deterioration of in-flight services even on international flights. Some services have been curtailed; pillows, formerly easily available, are now rationed (one airline had only 12). Blankets, which are almost a necessity in the frigid aircraft cabins, are also scarce; if you don’t ask early you’re out of luck.
Most regular travellers know that free snacks are almost extinct on domestic flights, but you can get onboard eats – for a fee. Headphones have been either curtailed, or deleted altogether, on four different airlines I use, or are available – for a fee. Flying from New York to Miami recently I told the flight attendant as I boarded, “Soon, we’ll be standing up unless we pay extra for the seat.” (She gave me of those over-the-spectacles cold Frigidaire stares, but as you will see later I was being a prophet.)
Particularly in situations such as the one in Guyana, where we are essentially confined to
