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I gripe a lot about the airlines so when they do it right I feel obligated to report the good news. Last week was good news.

It was a helluva week. I was booked—believe it or not—to drive to Greenville, SC, then fly from Greenville to Newark, to Las Vegas, Houston, Jackson, MS, from whence I would drive to Philadelphia, MS, and back to Jackson, fly back to Houston, then back to Greenville, then drive home. I had some tight, tough connections and missing them would have caused me to miss a speech.

Here’s the weird thing—it all worked. Every flight arrived on time or a little early. I stayed in four motels in four states, made speeches and sold a few books, all with no really terrible experiences. The audiences were wonderful, the hotel shuttles were on time, the rental cars were fine, and all the food was good. There really is a God in heaven and all’s right with the world.

It was still a tough trip, and there were a few problems. I gotta say that the problems were mostly minor and mostly on the ground.

Sooner or later, somebody’s got to do something about the unreasonable walking necessary in airports. It always reminds me why my mother quit flying when in her 80s. She didn’t mind flying, she said, but couldn’t stand all that “interminable walking.” And that was before 9/11 forced us to move parking lots away from terminals.

Airport signage is still far from perfect. At one of those airports last week the hotel shuttle dropped me off at the designated spot. Once inside, I couldn’t see a single sign giving directions to the ticket counters. One person told me they were upstairs, but when I got upstairs I still couldn’t find a sign, so had to ask someone again. At another airport I simply could not find my concourse.

What are the airport managers thinking, anyway?

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