Air France

We're 5 hours into a ten hour flight so I'll take a minute to pass on my thoughts about our airline on this trip, Air France. Overall: better than the other airline we've flown across the Atlantic, British Airways. Service, both on the ground and in flight, has been good, even when our luggage went missing. Food: okay, actually, and we're in coach. But coach has a big drawback: the fellow in front of me has reclined his seat and it is no more that eight inches from my face while I'm typing this. When the meal was served, the flight attendant made people put their seats up, because it would have been impossible to eat if the seat in front was reclined.

I have, sitting normally, about one inch between my knees and the seat in front of me. It's not fun, I can tell you that.

We're on an Airbus A340, which has one feature I like: four engines. The more engines, the better, I always say. Actually, the one thing I notice is that it is very quiet, much quieter than the 747 we flew coming over.

And about that 747: when I got on, got settled and looked around, I said, "Old." It just looked kind of tired and its entertainment system was limited to the old screen in the ceiling type. So when I had a chance after we arrived, I checked the registration number; it was the second-oldest 747 in Air France's fleet - 19-1/2 years old, slated to be retired in the next couple months. I guess it was old!

So Air France has been about as good as a flight can be in coach. Which means to say, not very good.