Cost of that trip, today, if adjusting strictly for inflation: $100.

Today's actual cost: $200 US.

Air travel seems to be increasingly chaotic, poorly organized, Byzantine, complex, and most of all, less and less accessible to poor and middle-class people.

To encourage some sense of Candian unity, I'd like to see every Canadian provided with a ONCE IN A LIFETIME return to ticket to anywhere in this country outside of the home province. It's not only ridiculous, it's criminal that most Candians cannot afford to visit their own country because of prohibitively high airfares. Bus *may* sometimes be cheaper, but most people don't have the time to travel by bus. Given the size of Canada air travel really is the only practical way to go.

Like, if people get a free plane ticket to another province, what are they gonna do once they get there? Hang out at the airport?

Personally, I think the best way to explore is on a motorcycle (danger factor notwithstanding), a la Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Or in one of the micro-sized 4x4s, like a Chevy Tracker.

Make me p.m., and my first order of business will be bringing back both transcontinental routes, frequent trains, really low fares. You're welcome.

A few years ago, I took my then 86-year-old aunt to B.C. on the train to visit my brother. She'd always dreamed of going there. In her entire life, she'd never been any further west that Winnipeg and had never travelled east either, even though my uncle worked for the railroad. He'd always planned that they would travel all over Canada by train when he retired but he died before they could.

*** Airports across the country tardy

WASHINGTON (AP) - More than one-quarter of flights into 11 of the
nation's busiest airports were at least 15 minutes late during the
first five months of the year, government figures show. It was a
coast-to-coast problem: Seattle and New York topped the list. At the
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, 31.3% of flights were late
from January through May, the Transportation Department said. New
York's LaGuardia Airport was just behind, at 31.1%. Three of every
10 flights to Los Angeles International Airport arrived at least 15
minutes behind schedule during the period leading into the summer
travel season. Boston, New York Kennedy, San Francisco, Chicago
O'Hare, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego and Newark, N.J., all had
at least 25% of their flights arriving late. The numbers are the
first look at the airports with the most late flights, as compared
with the on-time records of individual airlines or particular
flights. The government found 20 regularly scheduled flights
arriving late at least half the time last year.

*** Airport delays glance, see http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=410169895

A puzzle: where do we locate the actual carbon sink here? In a lack (lack of car)? I ask this question seriously, because I make the same trade-off: I smoke; I do not drive (also don't fly much; don't have air conditioning; etc).

This from David Korten's excellent little book (though it is marred by several serious typos and errors), Globalizing Civil Society.

I have one foot in Canada and one in the UK, so I make several transatlantic flights a year. For personal and educational reasons, I kind of have to. I'd love to take a train, but alas, early 21st century technology isn't up to a 5000km chunnel just yet. So Canada 3000 it is. I feel very guilty about this, but my personal circumstances (my MA programme and fiance are in England) prevent me from doing much about it.

Suffice to say, it makes for some interesting stares and dirty looks.

Me, I hate flying - terrified of it really! And I am flying to Regina from Halifax on the 16th of August for $391.00 taxes included - one way!

Year after I sold my factory, 38 flights.

Major problem is the airline is strapped with too much debt it cannot dig its way out of. If there is any deregulation between Air Canada and the U.S. there needs to be a massive paydown of this debt or we are doomed.

If you want that kind of money why don't YOU go become a pilot instead of whining about the wages they get paid?

I want to turn this into a bit of a general rant again..

Why the hell is it that right-wingers carefully try to pretend they're not jealous of workers negotiating a good deal for themselves while at the same time the same right-wingers are off crapping about the high wages the workers get?

My rejoinder is: Shit or get off the pot. Either go down and apply for one of those jobs or shut up and form a union at your OWN workplace so YOU can get a better wage.

[ 13 February 2003: Message edited by: DrConway ]

I learned to hate driving because I grew on the island. The roads were (and in some cases, still are) so bad. At one time, it would routinely take (and I am not exaggerating about this) an hour to drive from Courtenay to Campbell River. Incidentally, these two towns are only 50 km apart. Fifty bloody kilometers taking an hour. You have got to be kidding! The speed limit used to be around 100 km per hr. then it was lowered to 80. But many people consistently drive it at 50 or 60 km an hr. And, on top of that, they drive like a yo yo: one minute they are speeding, the next they are doing 50. So imagine being stuck behind someone doing 50 in an 80 zone on a highway that is actually engineered for 100 km per hr. You can never take your eyes off his rear end to look at the ocean view for fear you will end up buried in his or her trunk.

As a pilot, you see parts of this country you simply cannot see from the road. And all in a very relaxing manner. I can actually fly to Vancouver, do some business, and then fly home for less money than driving, taking the ferry, and having to stay overnight.

i likes the train, and i still likes the train.

the other thing that's developed since the previous part of the thread are budget airlines (jetsgo, etc here in canada, and ryanair, easyjet in ireland/britain) outside of the USA,

or as john crosbie would have said, bood-jet airlines. god, it was great having him as finance minister, if only for the pronounciation.