lrd@drusd.UUCP (L. R. DuBroff) (06/25/85)
Some further thoughts on this subject, or, why not beat a dead horse? I'm not enthusiastic about airlines. I have never been to Lebanon, and I don't really want to go there. I have been to Cuba, and I didn't like it very much. I don't want to dodge pieces of ice in the Potomac. I'm glad I wasn't aboard the Air India flight that splashed into the Atlantic, in pieces. My arrival at O'Hare a few years ago was delayed by several hours due to American Airlines flight 291's departure problems. Sure, I have had tight moments (any pilot who denies this is probably a liar), but I maintain that all other things being equal (pilot proficiency in type being one of the equal things) I have a lot better chance for survival in a general aviation aircraft than in a multi-thousand ton behemoth. You may not agree -- that's your privilege, but don't tell me not to do my own flying! I don't worry too much about weapons or explosives aboard a plane that I'm flying, although during the 1960's, not too long after Castro's takeover in Cuba, I did screen some of my air taxi/charter passengers. I was living in Puerto Rico at the time -- not too far from Cuba. I had cause recently to plan a flight from Denver to Columbus, Ohio. Both served by major airlines. No way to do it without two or more intervening landings, or a change of planes with at least an hour sitting around an extra airport, wondering if luggage really will get transferred. The route goes hundreds of miles out of any reasonably direct route. Times like this, I regret selling my 210; it would have been perfect for this flight; maybe not as fast as the airlines (providing I don't miss a connection), but not that much slower, a lot more convenient (the best airline connection departs Denver at 5:15 a.m.), and even allowed me the flexibility of an intermediate stop where I want to make it in order to deal with additional business or see an old friend. The point can be argued forever. The bottom line is that I have no right to demand that anyone else fly via general aviation for business travel, but I do not accept any one else's right to deny that choice to me. My perception of the original article that sparked the debate was that the author would, if I worked for him, deny that choice.