Mexican Airlines:
The Friendlier Skies

I’m cruising at about 10,000 meters above the sea, flying from San Diego to Mexico City via Los Cabos. I didn’t have time to eat before getting to the airport, so it was with great delight that, in these consumer unfriendly times, I’ve just been handed an in-flight breakfast. It actually resembles a meal ... a nutritious meal! The plastic tray has individual sections---just like those from the good old days!

There is a cup for the lukewarm, slightly burnt java that’s perfuming the air as it’s being ceremoniously escorted down the aisle. For now, here are 60 percent of my day’s required Vitamin C and a good deal of Vitamin E in the form of a full can of tomato juice, with two celery sticks for added bennies.

My in-flight breakie also includes a fruit plate (cantaloupe, pineapple, red grapes and honeydew melon) and yoghurt; I can cross protein, anti-oxidants and lots of vitamins and minerals off today’s nutritional “to-do” list. A travel day, especially one by plane, is typically one of the poorest for good eating.

I call up my limited willpower, always on short supply when I’m trapped on a plane and apt to eat almost anything. But I resist the blueberry muffin: too much white flour, and I don’t need the calories. But still---way to go, AeroMexico! As she passes by with coffee refills, I ask the flight attendant the price of an alcoholic beverage. Ab-so-lute-ly free!

So who needs the stingy American airlines with their tiny bags of salty, carbo-dominatrix snacks and their $5 drinks? This flight left on time and arrived on time. And amazingly, there were both a blanket and a pillow on my seat. When headed down Mexico way, I’ll fly the friendlier skies of a Mexican airlines, any time!