Flying "Free"...

The joys of flying stand-by...only those who have endured it can really appreciate it.  Often the exclamation of, "You can fly FREE!?!?  Wow!" is heard when others discover one of the benefits of being married to a pilot.  But if one were to really understand what "flying free" really means, the excitement level would not be the same.  Yes, we are able to fly for free when there is a seat available.  With the way the airlines are currently functioning, most flights are completely full because they have drastically reduced the number of flights available.    We need five seats for the whole family to make it.  Often we will need to split up between two different flights.  If we do get seats, sometimes they are five single seats spread throughout the airplane.  What passenger is going to be thrilled with the idea of you sitting your three year old next to them and saying, "I'll see you when we get there!"  So when we get on the plane, it's a matter of begging and pleading with others to switch seats with you so that there are at least one family member sitting next to each other.  As the boys get older this will be less of an issue, but it has been a serious issue for a long time.  There is the sleepless night (or nights) previous to the trip, with the thought, "Are we going to get on the flight?" racing through the mind.  This is especially stressful when we're going a cruise.  They aren't going to hold the ship for those who don't get to the dock in time.  If the flights are looking especially full, we'll try and go a day early.  Which means paying for an extra day in a hotel (not cheap) and eating out (not cheap).  Checking the loads even a few days in advance isn't really that helpful.  One plane ends up broken down or cancelled because of weather, then that plane load of people has to be worked onto other flights.  One can never know for sure.  A flight may show 75 seats available and you think it is looking good, then a flight is cancelled and those seats are taken by the passengers from an earlier flight.  There is just knowing for sure until you're in your seat on the plane and taxing down the runway.  Even being given a seat is not guarantee.  I have been seated on the plane and then called over the loud speaker to come to the front of the plane, once on our anniversary and Scott was flying the plane!  They tell me a revenue (paying) passenger showed up at the last minute, so my seat is being taken by them.  I know the other passengers are wondering if I'm a terrorist or why it is I'm being taken off the flight.  I just let their imaginations run wild.

But I'm happy to report, though, that things have most often worked out for us.  We may end up taking a really round-about way of getting to a certain location- Los Angeles via Seattle, Atlanta via Tennessee, etc.  We may end up waiting hours and hours in the airport, hoping the next flight has seats available.  Eventually, we do reach our intended destination.

The following photos were taken as we tried to get a flight to Arizona in hopes of seeing the Easter Pageant at the Mesa Temple.  We waited for flight after flight and never did make it.  The boys (Oakley was in Idaho at Grandma's) did keep themselves occupied in some creative ways:

Hiding in airport play area toy box (oh, the germs
that must be covering every inch of that place!)...

Climb on areas not meant to be climbed on...

Search desperately on the internet on the phone,
hoping there is another flight with open seats...

Wrestle in the gate area on carpet that is surely so filthy and
disgusting it is barely safe to walk on, let alone roll around on....

Look for watermarks on dollar bills...

Finally giving up on getting on a flight and heading out
to the edge of the airport where you can watch planes
land and take off, the planes full of people who actually
got a seat on the flight and are getting to where they wanted to go.

Flying free does have a cost... my mental health!