Qantas felt this term, borrowed from the shipping industry, was a little archaic. As we sat on the runway at Jakarta, a raucous group of Australians - who I suspect had not declined too many offers of free drinks - decided to liven things up. When the time came for the safety demonstration, one of them decided to perform the briefing. He acquitted himself impressively well, though I'm sure I heard an unscripted mumble about "returning the stewardess to the upright position".uTHE TERM "stewardess" could soon disappear, if Qantas continues to amend the vocabulary of air travel. Who said that all the excitement had gone out of flying?uTHE LANDING was rather less vertical and more gentle than the map (above) suggested.
The smooth north-westward progress suddenly became a descent due south, which gave the doubly unfortunate impression of an aircraft plunging towards the earth. For the next 10 minutes, the mantra "Qantas has never had a fatal accident" came in handy. Finally, the pilot announced what was happening.There were thunderstorms in Singapore. The normal diversion airport for the territory is Kuala Lumpur, but the bad weather had spread to the Malaysian capital. So the captain had decided to divert to the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, to refuel.However, for some time the computer insisted that we were still bound for Singapore, until it gave up the struggle to maintain such digital pretence when all the physical evidence suggested otherwise.At this point, the pilot cheerfully announced that his plan was "to fill up with enough fuel to allow us to fly to Singapore, hang around for an hour to see if the storm clears, and, if necessary, fly back to Jakarta". The aircraft computer cheerfully promised 40 minutes remaining before an on-time arrival in Singapore, but the accompanying map told a very different story It indicated a drastic 120-degree change of direction. They help reconnect the traveller with the real world, removing some of the detachment that afflicts air travel and letting you know that the conurbation over which you are flying is Ulan Bator, not Uxbridge.
But on a hop this week from the Australian city of Darwin to Singapore, I wondered if a little knowledge can be a disconcerting thing. THOSE IN-FLIGHT maps that show where your plane is heading are useful and interesting innovations - usually. The "Star-Spangled Banner" was sung there for the first time in 1814; the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" was written there in 1862; and in 1963, Martin Luther King was staying at the Willard when he wrote his "I have a dream" speech.. After the Civil War, President Grant used to go to the Willard to smoke a cigar in the hotel lobby during the afternoon, and those who came to try to have a word with him became known as "lobbyists". And many of the Avenue's best-known buildings have been hotels.