[nagdu] Latest Airline Adventure

[Peter Donahue]

Good Saturday evening everyone,

    Just so no one thinks Johnny and I fell off of the face of the Earth, or 
that we gave up on flying after that horrendous experience I had with 
Southwest Airlines last summer I thought I would share our latest flight 
adventures with everyone.

    Before I get in to that shortly before we left for Kansas to broadcast 
their 2009 State Convention I discovered to my horror that some of my 
recording equipment was damaged by Southwest Airlines in addition to all of 
the other junk we put up with them last summer. I wish I had discovered it 
sooner. Those people would be paying me for a second seat refund and 
more!Now on to the latest high-flying adventure. This time around we flew on 
Delta and were treated far better than we were on Southwest. We left on the 
morning of Thursday November 5 and boarded our flight to Wichita at 6 a.m. 
Since our flights weren't full Delta sat Mary across from me and allowed me 
to have an entire row in coach for Johnny and myself. On this particular 
aircraft the rows are only two across which made it necessary for them to 
sit us across from each other. The entire area under the seat in front of us 
was vary roomy so Johnny had lots of space in which to make himself 
comfortable. As it turned out the gate agent we saw who I believe is also a 
Delta Supervisor said she knew us from previous trips and assisted us on to 
the plane to be sure neither of us had seating-related issues. Delta's way 
of dealing with customers of size is far better than those of other carriers 
praise God. For them to charge a large passenger for a second seat would be 
ludicrous as on some of their aircraft such as the CRJ-9000 all seat arms 
are fixed in place. There's no way passengers seated in a row can infringe 
on each others seat space. Some of the flight attendants I told my Southwest 
experience to were as disgusted about their treatment of me as I was. As for 
Johnny he made himself comfortable wherever he was in the aircraft cabin.

    We had a wonderful time visiting our Kansas Affiliate and we'll be 
posting recordings of their 2009 State Convention by the end of the month.

    Because we stopped for lunch on our way back to Wichita from Salina we 
missed our flight home last Sunday evening but Delta did not disappoint. 
They booked us on a flight last Monday without charging us a change fee 
although they did mess up a little on the information for our flight 
connection in Memphis which was close and the connecting flight was on the 
other end of the airport you know how those things go. None the less the 
Delta folks did their best to insure we didn't miss our flight home and went 
out of their way to get us on that flight. When I received my Coke it was 
brought to me in a glass. It was then I discovered they had slipped Johnny 
and I in to First Class though Mary sat in coach. But we really didn't care. 
We were on our way home and neither one of us was ready to discuss class 
distinctions.

    As for my equipment I kept it all with me and allowed any bags that 
would not fit in the overhead bin to be valet checked. This means I was able 
to hand them over before we boarded the plane and pick them up once we got 
off rather than retrieving all of our baggage in the baggage area. It 
worked. All of my recording equipment arrived home intact ready for the next 
job.

    There's a funny incident that happened before we left last Monday 
morning. Due to having missed our flight on Sunday Donna Wood, the NFB of 
Kansas President put us up for the night at her lovely home.  She has 
several planters in her back yard one of which did not have anything growing 
in it. When I took Johnny out to relieve himself he pulled me towards the 
planter and hopped in to it to do his business. My theory is that he 
probably figured that we were at a national convention and that Donna's 
planter was a sandbox. He knows that when we're at national convention I 
expect him to go in the sandbox. I later told this to Donna and she got a 
good laugh. "I'll look forward to growing some good-tasting vegetables next 
year and will have Johnny to thank for it. He picked the right place to do 
his business" she said in our phone conversation after we arrived home.

    There was at least one other guide dog team at the convention and a 
support dog. All dogs behaved well and everyone picked up During the 
convention. During the convention we discussed flying. Some of their members 
are also exploring the possibility of using air charters in the future as 
scheduled airline service in that state has become quite a hassle. One must 
often fly way out of their way to reach another part of the state. One 
individual told me that he once had to fly to Kansas City from Wichita via 
Memphis. Greyhound bus service isn't much better. Mary and I are keeping 
that dream alive for ourselves, but it's good to know that there is at least 
one airline Johnny and I can fly on without having to get in to it over 
seating. We had a great time and look forward to future federation 
adventures in 2010.

Peter Donahue