The Best Flight in America

As I sit here at 30,000ft, I look around the eggshell airplane cabin and I feel transported back to the flying experience of 30 years ago. There is an empty seat beside me, there are friendly stewards, not a single baby is present, and I’ve just finished off my complimentary meal. A meal!

And here are some pertinent facts about this luxury palace in the sky: I am flying Delta, I am not in first class, this is a busy weekend, I’m on a domestic flight, and it only lasts about an hour and a half. Delta is feeding me on an hour and a half flight. That’s just crazy talk. I only had enough time to eat, drink, and jot down the last two paragraphs.

This magical land of flying nirvana is Delta’s brand new shuttle service between Los Angeles and San Francisco, and damn is it good. I’ve done this flight on Virgin, and all the purple mood lighting in the world isn’t going to make up the free beer and wine the big D is liberally handing out. Delta launched 14 daily round-trips of this quick route just last month and it is clear they are coming in guns blazing trying to capture the lucrative business travelers who make this flight routinely.

Being one of these business travelers, I’ve flown all across this country including similar shuttle routes like NYC-Washington, DC and none of those have been as perk-laden as the SF-LA route. None of those had the kind of legroom you could smuggle a monkey in. Yes, LAX is a hole and SFO is permanently under construction so the destinations leave much to be desired. But many a wise man has said that it is the journey that matters. Here, I’ve found a journey worth taking.