On 26 June, my Dad flew West. In the aviation world when someone dies, people say he or she “flew West”. The term is thought to have originated from the practice during World War I of shipping the bodies of fallen pilots back to the United States, which is West of Europe of course.
When I got the news, I was home in Cambodia. Dad was home in Oklahoma. I flew East to send him on his final journey. He was not a famous person, but he was the kind of man in short supply in today’s world. He was married to the same woman for nearly 70 years, raised three sons, worked at the same company for 50 years, and leaves many friends and family who remember fondly his good humour, his strength of character, and the practical jokes he played on many unsuspecting victims (yours truly included).
When I got the call that he had passed, I wasn’t surprised. He was old, had been in failing health the past few years, and it was simply his time to go. And for me, it was my time to go to the US one more time to send him on his way.
I know I’m not the only one who has ever flown home to bury a parent, or a sibling, or a spouse. But it struck me how lonely these trips can be, and conversely, how they can also help one deal with the multitude of thoughts and memories of those who have travelled before us to the Elysian Fields.
Memories aside, it was the practical details I had to deal with…how to get there, which airline, Business Class, Premium Class, or Economy (hell no). Flying from Cambodia to Oklahoma City is not rocket science, but it is a long series of flights, layovers and geopolitics. Airfares, accumulated loyalty miles, etc., also played a role.
In the end, I probably made a mistake with my choice of airline and route, but at the time it seemed like a good thing. Instead of my normal route via Singapore, Doha, Dallas-Fort Worth, Oklahoma City, I decided to fly Korean Air. So it was Phnom Penh to Seoul, Seoul to Las Vegas, Las Vegas to Oklahoma City.
Why this route? Geopolitics played a role. Israel and Iran were lobbing missiles at each other, Doha and Dubai shut down for a bit, the TSA in Dallas-Fort Worth is a nightmare to deal with and I had not flown long-haul on Korean Air and wanted to give it a shot.
So I bought a Business Class ticket (Prestige Class on Korean Air) and headed East.
I soon realised that being lost in thoughts and memories is probably not the best time to book a ticket by yourself. I neglected to pay attention to the layovers and discovered when I got to Seoul I had 12 hours to kill in the Prestige Class lounge. Very crowded. Korean Air’s Prestige Class, at least on this route, is nothing to write home about. The airline really needs to refresh their Business Class and upgrade the catering.
The flight to Las Vegas was the same. Once in Las Vegas I had another layover but am happy to report the TSA in Las Vegas was almost — almost — a pleasure to deal with and the airport is a lot more navigable than DFW. But it’s always the last flight that gets delayed and this was no exception as Southwest Airlines (not my favourite) took off two hours late and I got into OKC at 3 a.m.
Much of the return trip was the same. Long layover in Las Vegas, but I prepared while I was in Oklahoma and booked an airport hotel for a shower and a nap. Made it to Seoul at 4 a.m. and had another long layover (14 hours) before my flight home to Phnom Penh.
Unhappily, the airport hotel in Seoul was full. Happily, a contact at Korean Air upgraded me to their Miler Club lounge, which is head and shoulders above their Prestige Class lounge. No one around at 4 a.m. so I settled in, drank a lot of Cokes, ate, and thought about Dad, our family’s pilot and navigator in many ways.
Flying solo to a funeral can be a lonely business. There are thousands of people every day around the world who face this. For me, it was over in the blink of an eye. The memories of a good man kept me company along the way as Dad flew West and I flew East.
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