Maybe it was that steward’s piggy nose. Maybe it was those passengers behaving like headless chickens just “to get that window seat”. But going on a plane had never quite felt like such a flying circus before.
Since I was not travelling for work and therefore not trying to get as many bonus miles as possible, I chose to fly Easyjet. While some were on a journey to the shopping mall, I was on a spiritual one. Some were looking for sales; I was looking for salvation. But because religion is increasingly pick-and-choose, this probably amounts to the very same thing: we hope to find something better somewhere else, something that fits us better, whether it’s clothing or religion.
What we already have is simply not enough.
But thanks to low-cost airlines, that can be remediated to now. Shopping in London was not good enough? Easyjet flies to Milano too. You did not find what you were looking for spiritually? Easyjet has just started flying to Israel.
We have become like migratory birds, not able to stay in a place when it gets dark and cold.
At a time when national airlines are near bankruptcy, low-cost ones have hardly been affected: this year, Ryanair reported a substantial increase in profits and while Easyjet suffered losses, these were only due to high fuel costs. As a matter of fact, the total number of passengers has even slightly increased over the past 12 months.
But with low-to-middle income families staying at home and firms having to cut down on their travelling expenses, it was not the usual whale I was sitting next to. This time, it was a fishy business man.
POSTED 26.11.09 BY: admin |
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