Noted on the wing

LOS ANGELES, California – I am writing this at the airport of this city while waiting out the three-hour delay of Flight 133, due, we heard, to the closure of the airport in Manila. Actually, it has been an almost five-hour wait because we had heard mass at the St. Denis Church in Diamond Bar (that’s the name of the city, not a pub), which is about an hour’s drive from Riverside City where my hosts there, Allan and Lourdes Gomez, reside.

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Right after the 5:30 p.m. anticipated mass, we proceeded to the airport (LAX) to avoid being frazzled by traffic and make good time for the 10:25 p.m. flight. So, by 7:30 p.m., we were already checking in, only to find that there was a delay, and that the departure was scheduled for 1:05 a.m.! Well, anyway, Philippine Airlines gave me a meal coupon for $12, so we decided to have dinner in any of the restaurants in the area, except two they specified. With Allan and Lourdes, two very caring and thoughtful persons to keep me company, it was not so bad.

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But after some time, I urged them to go home, as it was to be a long drive for them. After all they had already done so much, not only by hosting me and taking me on tour to several interesting places, but also had patiently helped me in checking in, and coping with the very strict requirements, even if I had the advice of dear Edwin Locsin, who is a mainstay at the airport here and, I’m sure, an asset to the airline.

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A word of warning to those who have not gone for some time, or are planning to go to the U.S. soon. They have now more stringent requirements about the weight of the luggage you are bringing. Not even a tenth of a pound in excess of the limitation, will be condoned. I saw several passengers grumbling as they unpacked their bags or balikbayan boxes to remove some of the content to lighten their load. In fact, we did a lot of measuring before leaving for the airport, and made sure we were a pound or so less that the allowed weight, but their own scales did not agree with ours.

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So we, too, had to do some unpacking and lightening. In my case, the excess weight was three pounds, so we had quite a problem figuring out which piece to take out. Luckily Allan noticed that the big can of Colombia coffee I had packed weighed exactly three pounds, so out of the coffee came, to be shipped later through the door-to-door system. And there, too, is another hassle: Where door-to-door used to cost $50 to $55 only, it has now gone up to $75. Alas, the coffee was supposed to be for the STAR staff. Anyway, they will see it about six weeks later.

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I know I have been writing and noting some good points of our own flag bearer, the Philippine Airlines, and how it compares very favorably with those from other places. I especially remember it whenever I take the JetBlue planes, the crew of which I find very different from those of PAL. I recall having mentioned in this column an experience with a stewardess who would not let me use the lavatory because “the captain has to go,” and ignored my suggestion to just wait, but rudely told me to use the one at the far rear of the aircraft. I was very miffed by that.

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They say lightning does not strike at the same place, but that lavatory kind of lightning did strike again during my latest flight on JetBlue (again) last week. This time, I hobbled over to the front lavatory, which was quite near my seat, and would you believe! A burly black fellow, was holding what looked like a sheet of plywood, to bar the area. You can’t use this,” he said. “This is a matter of security. Just go to the back one,” which was several meters away. When I again suggested I’d wait, he seemed annoyed. “Just go to the back,” he insisted.

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I would have argued, but then I remembered – wasn’t it a JetBlue plane also the one where a crazed pilot had to be restrained and taken off when he began to rant and rave about security and threats to the plane, as reported in the major news networks? So I backed off, and determined to let others know about this experience, just in case. Really, I have flown on other aircrafts there, like Southeast, Delta before, Virgin American, the defunct TWA, and others, but never encountered such kind of crew.

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Well, to be fair, I did note some things that could be improved with PAL staff, too. I noted on my flight home Saturday (Flight 133) that there are several new faces, who need to acquire a little more finesse in dealing with passengers. Little things, but they could spell a lot. Like when a stewardess ordered my seatmate “Pull down the shades, please” before the flight began. Or when several of them just stepped over a pillow that fell from the one seated in front of me, until finally a steward picked it up and tossed it into the vacant seat between me and the blonde teener by the window. Such little things can keep us from being very proud of our “Flag Carrier”, you know.*

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