I Like Small Airlines

On our last trip we flew on Air Aisa, a Malaysian airline based in Kuala Lumpur. There are two things I like about flying on small airlines. First, they generally use smaller airplanes, instead of giant large wide-body planes. Second, they generally fly out of smaller, regional airports rather than the giant hubs.

The reason I like smaller airplanes is because I like flying, and I like to feel the airplane in the air. Some people hate it, but I like to feel the air. I like to feel the takeoff and landing, the ascent and descent. I would compare it to drivers who like to feel the road. Large airplanes are like large cars - you can’t feel the road. When I fly in large airplanes I miss the feeling of flight.

The reason I like small airports is because they tend to have more personally and they don’t isolate you from the flying experience. Larger airports may be all dramatic architecture and everything, but from a passenger’s experience, they are all pretty much the exact same ticket queue and shopping mall inside.

Small airports don’t have long ticket queues or food courts. They don’t have huge crowds and labyrinthine terminals to navigate. Sometimes they don’t even have more than one or two gates. The arrival and departure schedule is simple: you can walk straight in and can see your plane on the runway. No shuttle bus or people mover to get you to your flight, it might be the only plane there.

I like walking straight onto the tarmac and then out to my plane--no skybridge. I like being able to see the whole plane from the ground.

There is something about being able to see the actual body of the plane, the engines, wings, landing gear, etc, that makes flying feel like flying. Big airports feel like you're just packing 400 people into a big bus.