Seat 2A

How many airlines have you flown?

For most people in their forties or fifties who’ve taken an overseas vacation or two, the answer to that question might be about twenty to twenty-five airlines. That’s assuming that they’ve bothered to keep track, of course. Most of us can’t be bothered. We’ve got bigger fish to fly – er, fry.

Not me.

I was fortunate to grow up in an age when air travel, particularly jet travel, was still a novelty and flying anywhere was viewed as a special event. At the start of the 1960s many airlines were just entering the jet age with 707s and DC-8s. Unlike today, new aircraft types were being introduced every couple of years. The Convair 880 was introduced in 1960, the 727 followed in 1963, the DC-9 in 1965, the 737 in 1967. The 747 entered service in 1970 and DC-10s and L-1011s followed in 1971 and ’72 respectively. Airport observation decks were popular spots as people flocked to their local airports to see the new jets. It was an exciting time for a young aviation fan like me.

I was twelve years old when I started my first flight log. With less than 20 flights to my credit, I had vivid memories of all of my lifetime flights. My first log was a fairly simple document listing flights by origin, destination, airline, aircraft type, mileage flown and length of flight. As the total number of flights increased, my log became more detailed. I began to calculate total flights, miles and hours flown per airline and per aircraft type as of each flight. I also started keeping track of aircraft registration numbers.

By the time I turned twenty-one I had well over 400 flights on 23 airlines to my credit. I went down to an aircraft supply store in Denver and purchased a Senior Pilot Master Log. This log was designed for pilots rather than passengers but I was able to easily convert the various columns to my needs. With so many columns and way too much spare time on my hands, I began to calculate even more data per flight. Over the years I added such eclectic statistics as flights and miles per aircraft type by airline (i.e. while I may have flown upon 718 Boeing 727-200s, how many of those flights were upon Braniff 727-200s), how many flights per specific aircraft (i.e. how many flights were upon Braniff 727-200 N408BN), how many times I’d flown a given route and the total unduplicated route mileage per airline and in total. Unduplicated route mileage represents the sum of each unique route flown. So as an example, even though I’ve flown the 1448 mile Anchorage to Seattle route over 300 times, my total unduplicated route mileage for that route is counted only once at 1,450 miles. At present, my total Unduplicated Route Mileage is over 900,000 miles, far more than the total combined route mileage of any airline in the world.

But I digress. The focus of this report is the pursuit of my 198th, 199th and 200th airlines flown, not to mention some of the great service I enjoyed in First Class aboard Japan Airlines and Emirates while in pursuit of that goal. The mention of my flight logs is worthy of note for the fact that I’m actually aware of exactly how many times I’ve flown as well as exactly how many airlines I’ve flown upon. Very few people are.

It’s also worth noting that back in the early days of jet service, here in the United States the Civil Aeronautics Board controlled airfares and routes with the result being that most airlines offered the same fares on competing routes. Since the airlines couldn’t differentiate themselves through fare sales or loyalty programs like they do today, the only way they had to distinguish themselves was through the quality of their inflight service. Airline marketing departments put a lot of emphasis on promoting their new airplanes as well as distinctive new service brands. United offered Red Carpet Service aboard its DC-8 Jet Mainliners while American offered Flagship Service aboard its 707 Astrojets. TWA flew Star Stream 707s while Eastern flew DC-8 Golden Falcons and later 727 Whisperjets. Western poured free Champagne on all of its flights while Continental offered not one but three distinct lounges aboard its new 747, dubbed “The Proud Bird of The Pacific”. Not to be overlooked, regional airlines also got in the act. Southern Airways was famous for its shot glasses while Texas International served its drinks in 12oz Texas Tumblers. Frontier offered First Class legroom for all while PSA’s stewardesses were so attractively leggy that aisle seats were in high demand. Airlines were truly different back in those days and many of us who were fortunate enough to have flown back then appreciated the differences.

Having flown aboard 197 airlines so far is an impressive accomplishment of which I’m rightfully proud. While I’m looking forward to my flights aboard the three new airlines that will bring my total to 200, I’m equally excited about the flights I’ll be wrapping around those three airline flights. I’ll be flying from Los Angeles to Kuala Lumpur via Tokyo aboard Japan Airlines, with seats in the First and Business Class cabins respectively. A Singapore Airlines A330 will fly me down to Singapore from Bangkok and finally, an Emirates 777-300 will deliver me from Singapore to Melbourne in First Class comfort as only it can.

Hopefully those of you who can still appreciate the excitement of flying aboard a new airline or aircraft type will find this report to your liking. If so, now would be a great time to go grab a bottle of an appropriate libation and perhaps a plate of something tasty to nibble on. Then settle back and get ready for a 17,170 mile extravaganza aboard eight different airlines – including my 198th, 199th and 200th.