Airline enthusiasts

Salon's "Ask The Pilot" column for today...

An excerpt:

"Few modes of transport are more openly reviled nowadays than commercial flying, and skulking around airports with a camera or a pair of binoculars isn't going to win you much respect, or a date with that sexy agent over at the Virgin Atlantic counter. (On the contrary, it's liable to get you taken in for questioning.) This underscores all that is misunderstood about air travel, but we're stuck with it. Thus the A.E. keeps it quiet when among friends or family, usually out of embarrassment. We stay where it's safe -- in the closet."