A new airline offers customers opportunity to join the 'Mile High Club.' This opens up a world of possibilities.
"What do you mean it's cancelled?"
"I'm sorry, but the weather along the east coast has grounded all flights. The planes just aren't here. We need those planes and flight crews."
"We've had these reservations for weeks! We have to get to LA. Today. A career is on the line."
"I'm sorry, but we have nothing. Every flight we do have is overbooked. It's a nightmare for everyone."
"Can you book us on another airline?"
The agent shook his head. "I've been filling requests whenever possible. I've got people going all over the country to get to where they want. I've hunted every small airline. Charter planes are stuffed. Even four seaters are booked. I wish I could help. It's been like this since last night." He tapped some more keys. "The best I can do is get you there through Miami and then Dallas. But with the layovers you wouldn't get to LA until tomorrow morning."
The agent at the next desk turned and said "I may have stumbled across something. It's on a small startup airline I just discovered a few minutes ago."
"We'll take it. Anything."
"For some reason I can't make the reservation from here. You have to go to their ticket counter at the other end of the ticketing area. You may or may not be in luck, as they appear to have a limited service area."
"We'll chance it."
The agent scribbled information on the back of a luggage tag and shook his head. "This is all I know."
Rob and Janice took the tag and went down the line of the ticket counters. At the very end they found a single desk, with a temporary sign reading 'MHC Airline'.
There was no one else in line; Rob thought that wasn't a good sign, but the agent smiled and greeted them warmly. "So, where are you folks wanting to go?"
"We need to get to LA today."
The agent looked from Rob to Janice and back. "Two tickets?"
"Yes."
"Any children?"
"Does that matter? But no."
"It does matter. We are a child free carrier. Married?"
"What kind of question is that? We aren't, but we are travelling together."
"Fine. You looked like you could be married, but as long as you're travelling together you fit our target passenger profile."
"I never heard of an airline that profiles customers."
"We don't discriminate based on race, religion, national origin, gender identification or anything like that. Just adults over eighteen."
"That's crazy."
"I believe you'll think differently once you've flown with us. We've only been in business for a few months, but our customer satisfaction is through the roof. Since we're small our ticket prices aren't in line with the big boys, however we feel you get what you pay for."
Rob and Janice looked over the information. "This is more than twice the cost of Delta or American!"
The agent shrugged. "I don't make the ticket prices, but we do have a lot of satisfied customers."
Rob handed over his credit card and two tickets were printed out.
"I see you have a couple of bags. We have no overhead storage to speak of, so your bags need to be checked. Since they're small we can do a gate check and your bags will be loaded into the hold and returned to you in the jetway when you exit the plane."
Janice nodded "I've done that before. No problem. I'll stuff my reading material into my handbag."
"You can if you want, but I doubt you'll want to read. Here are your tickets. The flight leaves in...fifty two minutes. That should give you time to get through security and down to the gate. They've assigned us a single gate at the very end of the terminal. Have a good flight."
Security took twenty five minutes and it was tram ride and a long hike to the gate at the end of the terminal, where they spotted a MHC logo. A cheerful gate agent checked their tickets and seat assignments. First class was already boarding.
There wasn't a large crowd waiting for cabin, Rob estimated less than forty. He leaned over to Janice "I don't know about this. All the other flights are overbooked but there don't seem to be many passengers here. I hope this isn't a costly mistake."
At the gate check they were handed receipts to pick up their luggage after the flight.
The difference between this aircraft and others they had flown on was how spacious it was, given the size of the plane. They walked through first class, where each pair of seats had a privacy curtain and what essentially amounted to a private room. In the main cabin there was a wide center aisle with two seats on each side all the way back. The seats were much wider and spaced far apart so there were fewer rows than on other commercial airlines.
Once settled in they looked over the card in the packet in front of their seats, which showed the aircraft layout, emergency exits and such. The plane didn't look any smaller than what they were used to, but there were only less than half as many seats as on a large airline.
A flight attendant gave the usual safety talk and pointed out some of the amenities. "There are four lavatories in first class and six in the main cabin, two forward and four in the rear. If anyone needs pillows or blankets we will be happy to supply them at no charge. When we reach cruising altitude the crew will be serving wine and cocktails, as well as an assortment of craft beers and soft drinks. In the pocket in front of your seats you will find a menu of food and drink items you may order. Some are free and some have a nominal cost, depending on your club status. We hope you have an enjoyable flight, and thank you for flying MHC."
Janice noted "That's different. I can't believe there are so many restrooms!"
The plane sat on the taxiway for another fifteen minutes until they were cleared for takeoff. When the seatbelt light went off the flight attendants wheeled a beverage cart down the spacious aisle. Janice and Rob were toward the rear of the cabin and among the last to be served. Janice ordered a glass of Chardonnay and Rob tried a craft beer.
Janice leaned over to Rob. "Have you noticed that there don't seem to be any passengers travelling alone? Everyone seems to know who they're sitting with."
