Seatmates come in all forms. This one just flies from a different perspective…

My day was going to be long, so I took my last swill of coffee as I strolled through the jetway onto US flight 238 from MCI to CLT. It looked like a pretty full flight and I was sure F was going to be full as I took my seat in 2F. As pre-departure drinks were being served, I was surprised to find that 2D was going to be open for this leg of my trip. I stashed my carry-on under that seat and proceeded to stretch out for the 2-hour flight to CLT.

As we pushed back, I was greeted by a buzz humming inside the airspace between the window panels of the aircraft. A little fruit fly took its position at the bottom of the window. It looks like I had a seatmate after all. I tapped on the window panel. He buzzed again and introduced himself Philly the Fly. Philly said he was on last night’s inbound flight from PHL to MCI and was doing a segment run on this jet to make Chairman’s Preferred. When asked why he opted for inside the window panel instead of inside the cabin, Philly rambled about the cutbacks in food service and the lack of suitable crumbs and spillage on the trey tables and galley areas. I said that my seat pocket contained plenty of goodies fit for a fly, but Philly preferred the view outside.

As we started our takeoff roll, Philly all of the sudden buzzed to the top of the window with excitement. Philly noticed a noticed a non-descript chartered DC-10 parked at the A Terminal. For those who fly to/from Kansas City, it is very rare to see any type of wide-body aircraft at MCI. Pretty exciting stuff.

As we climbed to our cruising altitude of 33,000 feet, I received the scaled back “In Flight Café” consisting of a somewhat soggy muffin and yogurt, with coffee on the side.

“I think you’d like this, Philly.” Gesturing to my muffin. “I have plenty to go around.”

Philly just stared at me, buzzed his wings, and proceeded to nurse the condensation formulating at the bottom of the window. He soon walked to the edge of the window panel. “It’s tough being a fly.” Philly said. “Times were pretty good when it was just me and the ‘cockroaches’.”

I sympathized with Philly. “Times have changed”, I said. With that, I stretched out my legs and reclined as we made our way into CLT.

We touched down in CLT on time and taxied to B14. By this time, Philly was on his back, motionless. I guess segment runs can get pretty tiring. It was time to part ways and I tapped on the window to wish him farewell with his travels. It looked like he was planning to stay on board on the plane as it was going on to ORF. Meanwhile, I gathered my bags and headed out to make my connection to ROA.

I’m sure Philly has made status by now. He went through a lot get where he’s at. If any of you sit next to Philly on US 737 N530AU, give him my best.