Why must the flights be so short?


Yes, I am really so strange as to actually enjoy the time I spend in airplanes, so much so that I want to do more of it. But that’s not what this particular post is about. Having just come off another transatlantic redeye flight from New York City to Milan I am legitimately lamenting just how quickly one can fly from the USA to Europe. I love that the quick flights mean a quick weekend (or even a day trip) is possible, but the morning of arrival is always a bit of a challenge. It is doubly so today because of a relatively long layover in Milan before our next flight to Brindisi. Such is life.

The flight over was actually rather uneventful. Since my last TATL redeye on Continental the dinner service seems to have improved a tiny bit. The ravioli was a decent option and the chicken was surprisingly moist. The salad has improved dramatically from a couple years ago, though the fruit in the morning is about the same.

IMG00779-20110210-1955IMG00780-20110210-1955

The flight offered, like always, the opportunity to brush up on my foreign language skills via the in-flight announcements and the AirShow maps. Those are always fun. I can now properly say tailwind in Italian, for example, as vento a favore.

IMG00773-20110210-1948IMG00778-20110210-1951

 

 

 

 

 

 

But the flights are to darn short. Only 7 hours en route last night meant that, after climb out, beverage service and dinner we only had about 5.5 hours left before landing. With the breakfast service starting a hour prior that leaves only about 4 hours for sleeping. That’s rough on the body.

On the plus side, we got to see this awesome sunrise over the Italian Alps as well as an Iran Air and El Al plane at adjacent gates on the ground here. Plus, we’re in Italy for what looks to be an awesome weekend. I’ll stop complaining, but it really would be nice to get a bit more sleep on those TATL flights.

IMG00785-20110211-0141

Related Posts:

Never miss another post: Sign up for email alerts and get only the content you want direct to your inbox.


Seth Miller

I'm Seth, also known as the Wandering Aramean. I was bit by the travel bug 30 years ago and there's no sign of a cure. I fly ~200,000 miles annually; these are my stories. You can connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

2 Comments

Comments are closed.