We encountered very severe turbulence climbing out of Reno on a 737. There was a girls’ gymnastics team aboard and a sweetly pretty fourteen year old next to me. She, it developed, was on a plane for the third time in her life and utterly terrified. While easily old enough to be her grandfather, I work out daily and can bench press 275. This did me no good. As the plane bucked up and down she buried her face in my neck and did her damnedest to rip my arm out of the socket. I swear to God I thought this sobbing child was going to dismember me. Her fingertips actually tore the skin until I bled and I had a ring of bruise to the bone for a month. God help any pedophile that messes with a 100 pound gymnast.
Obviously, I can’t blame the airline or the child, but it illustrates that if it ain’t sumthin’ its sumthin’ else…
That made me chuckle!
I am the mother of a former 100lb gymnast and Boy, is that true! You can get hurt messing with those little girls. In fact…I wonder if my daughter was on your flight. She was about that age when she attended a meet in Reno. I don’t recall any mention of a rough flight but who knows.
It’s been discussed before in other threads, but getting you there alive is really the first and foremost mission of the airlines.
As GusNSpot points out, the government will not airlines alfoat indefinitely. I wouldn’t be surprised if United winds up on that list soon.
Finally, aviation is a strange business because sometimes it is in the best interests of the customer not to get what he wants. There are some conditions under which it is just not safe to fly, at which point even the most insistant, “but I gotta be there!” customer must be told no. True, the customer may not return, but the the customer is killed in an aviation accident they won’t be coming back either. No matter how well-run and customer-oriented an airline is, there will always be occassions when the customer will be disappointed
Which is not say service can’t be improved. But when you come down to it I’d prefer to have a reliable oxygen supply at 30,000 feet and wobbly food service than vice versa. I think it has long been a problem that airlines are not forthcoming to customers as to what is wrong, which needlessly erodes trust.
>sigh<
*Some * OTC cold meds can make you dizzy and sick in the air - Sudafed and counsins be known for that. You might wish to avoid that one, especially since it tends to increase alertness. Benadryl can make you drowsy - but it can also dry out your mucus membranes, which are already taking a beating from dry air on board and the germs of past and present fellow passengers.
Just from observation, alcohol seems a popular choice.
I am not a doctor, this is not a medical recommendation, and what you do or don’t do is your responsibility.
If your anxiety about flying is bad, it’s worth the trip to the doctor to get something which will work well. Unless you have a documented substance abuse problem, most docs will give you a limited script for a tranquilizer or sleeping pill.