I've only flown four times in the last fifteen years, so my experiences are pretty narrow.

My recent adventure involved taking a United flight out of Orange County, to Denver, to St. Louis last summer. Our difficulty came when it was time to land in St. Louis. Thunderstorms were right over the airport. We circled and circled for at least a half an hour before the pilot said, "We are going to try and land now." You are going to TRY? The lead flight attendant followed up with a quick, "Now remember that you must leave behind all personal items in the event of an evacuation." Everyone groaned. My hands were sweating. We hit the runway hard but his "try" paid off. Meanwhile my thighs were covered with bruises from the seats digging into them. (I'm obviously not skinny, but I am not one of those people who are so huge they can barely function.)

On the flight back, I flew Frontier. It was a delightful experience. We were delayed at Denver because they were working on the plane (but that was all they said). I had no bruises this time and the flight was very smooth. The crew were all very, very friendly.

Now I live in the landing path of Lindbergh Field. I have seen many of these aborted landings were the pilot just pulls up and the plane takes off. Often they are going way too fast or fog is rolling in. If I were on a plane and this occured, it would not alarm me because I have this knowledge of it. Therein lies the problem. The average customer has a head filled with news reels of disasters, terrorist attacks, and just straight out fear and paranoia. This is all they know. Every in-flight anomaly is a potential disaster. People need to educate themselves first and foremost. Should the airlines practice better customer service? Absolutely!! But there job is to fly the plane, not explain technicalities to passengers.

I've been flying since I was a babe in my mother's arms (1970, to be exact), and have flown regularly for the last 35 years, domestically and internationally. I've flown at least 17 different airlines in that time (some no longer in existence), and probably a few hundred flight segments total. To my knowledge, I've not once experienced an incident that made me feel particularly afraid--not even extraordinarily rough turbulence. (I knock wood as I write this.) Then again, maybe I have. My fascination with flight led me to educate myself about how it all works, so since childhood I've been a pretty calm flyer.

The customer experience has definitely changed. Even as a kid in the 1970s, I recall getting dressed up to fly and being treated like I was special, with clip-on plastic wings, model airplanes and trips up to the cockpit. Those were the days! (Except for the smoking. Thank the gods that's gone!)

But when viewing the current state of things, one has to consider the economics of it above all else. Back then, in the days before deregulation, when the CAB ran everything, fares were higher and competition was scarcer, but the experience was far better because the airlines were able to make money and their employees were, too. By today's standards, of course, it was modest, but it was acceptable to everyone. I won't argue that deregulation and competition are good for the airline industry. It's far more Darwinian, but I think the customer has definitely benefited from it. The customer, not necessarily the airline, and certainly not the airline employee. (When is the last time the average American worker recalls being asked to take a pay and/or benefit cut? I've never in my career been asked such a thing, but airline employees get it all the time--if they're lucky not to be laid off.) Meanwhile, the ones who deal with customers are doing so knowing how much less they're earning for the same amount of work. Furthermore, the American public, which in the last 30 or 40 years has grown increasingly entitled, less educated and ever more barbaric in terms of manners and standards of public behavior, is unleashed on these poor souls who, because it's their job, must ensure that these slobs are cared for and arrive safely at their destination. I suppose I'd be bitter, too. The golden rule always, always applies.

As a customer who understands all this, and also understands how little I'm paying for such a valuable service (c'mon--the fact that I can fly from Boston to Long Beach and back for $200 is amazing), I make it a point to treat airline employees with the utmost consideration and respect and follow the rules. Rarely, if ever, have I not been treated the same way in response. I've even been given upgrades for no reason other than the fact that I was nice to the gate agent! There is absolutely no excuse for anyone to be as nasty, mean and entitled as I've witnessed--far too often--given how little money it costs us to fly. It amazes me how easily people forget the cliché that "you get what you pay for." If you're paying a couple hundred dollars to fly 6,000 miles (roundtrip) safely and comfortably, you don't have a lot of room to make extra demands. We should be grateful. If you want to be treated like royalty, pay the extra money to fly business or first class. Otherwise, shut up. (And anyone who thinks we're "putting our lives in their hands and they don't care," doesn't realize that these human beings who work for the airline are just as likely to die or be injured in an accident as we are.) I'm not exaggerating when I say that I have actually apologized to airline employees on behalf of another abusive passenger because I realized that if I didn't, not only was that person going to have a bad day, but he or she would also be more likely to take it out on other passengers later, however unintentionally. We're not all that bad, after all.

Folks reading this might accuse me of elitism or of generalizing too much. I encourage anyone with cable TV to watch the excellent A&E reality TV show "Airline." This amazing series takes you to the front lines of the day-to-day lives of employees--on the ground, in the air and behind the scenes--at Southwest Airlines, perhaps the most "cattle car-like" of the major airlines. But there's a reason why SWA is the most profitable airline in the industry and has been since it started flying (the same year I was born): They offer a great, reliable product at an affordable price and they treat their employees like gold. The culture of that company is positively infectious. What's shocking and sad, watching it unfold on screen, is how utterly blind many of the customers are to how professional, caring and hard-working these men and women are on their behalf. "Airline" accomplishes two things very well: it makes Southwest Airlines and its employees look like heroes and makes it very clear that a whole lot of American passengers are, more often than not, monstrous. Again, of the millions of people who fly every day, not all of them are this bad, but it only takes one or two to make it less pleasurable for the rest of us.

Commercial flying can be a real nightmare--I'm not denying that--but with a little knowledge and a lot of positive attitude (not to mention a little friendly compassion for airline workers), you'll find that your experiences will be much happier and more enjoyable, and worth every penny you're spending (or not spending) for it.