June 28, 2002

James Lileks' problem is that

James Lileks' problem is that he booked with Northwest. The last time I flew that airline was when I was an eighth grader coming back to Wisconsin from Boston. The plane landed in Detroit, i.e. the airport closest to Hades, but couldn't get to the gate because another plane already in the gate broke down. I was stuck for two hours in a stuffy plane with 60 Minutes reruns to keep us occupied. For an eighth grader, this wasn't considered fun.

So our plane finally makes it into its gate, but by that time, the connecting flight to Wisconsin (Appleton) left. My family and I were then exposed to the airport for a few hours. I don't remember anything in particular, but my sister will always recall eating a giant pickle. It couldn't have been that exciting if that's all she remembers. We eventually got into Green Bay late that night. That airport was the first place I ever saw a pay tv. Who in their right mind would pump quarters into a tv just to watch commercials? One big problem: the car was parked at the airport in Appleton, 30 south of Green Bay. Fortunately, my kind aunt met us in Green Bay and drove us to the car. As for the luggage, I believe it arrived the next day.

The lesson I learned that day was never, ever fly Northwest. But I almost didn't heed my lesson when I was searching for flights to London spring a few months ago. Northwest had some good fares, but the itineraries were ridiculous. My eyes popped open in shock when I saw their Milwaukee to London through Minneapolis. Nice way to conserve fuel. I love flying over Wisconsin so much I would do it twice in an 8 hour period. I ended up going the Priceline route for my ticket and figured with my luck, I'd get stuck with Northwest going through Detroit. It didn't happen. Instead, I got Delta through Atlanta. No problems there. I know that someday I will confront my Northwest demon, and it won't be pretty.