Seems odd to say 21st century. When I was a kid, I imagined that air travel would be glamorous and somewhat magical in the 21st century. Think of JFK and Jackie O debarking from Air Force One, down the steps of the plane into the arms of an adoring crowd.

My trip yesterday to San Jose, CA from Denver was anything but that. Here’s what I noticed about airline travel these days:

• It used to be that if I bought tickets far enough in advance, I could get an aisle or window seat. First come, first serve. The last couple of times I’ve flown, I’ve noticed that my seats were not assigned and could not be assigned before getting to the airport. This happened yesterday, on a fully packed plane, and I ended up in the middle seat. What I found out is that the ability to reserve a seat ahead of the day of departure is now tied to the fare structure. Pay more, get a chance at a better seat. The higher the fare, the more seats that can be pre-assigned before day of travel.

• Planes are smaller and packed to the gills. And according to an article in the Wall Street Journal, more likely to be cancelled on less frequently traveled routes. Yesterday’s flight was a last minute scramble to find seats for all the passengers after a change to a much smaller plane. There were rumblings of cancelling the flight. So much for reliable transportation.

• I figured out the food thing a long time ago. In other words, don’t count on it. Around noon, I pulled out of my backpack a sandwich that I had carefully made in the morning, consisting of grilled salmon from the previous night’s dinner, hard boiled egg slices, lettuce and pesto sauce from the local farmer’s market. This was followed by a crisp Fuji apple and two chocolates from the leftover Halloween candy. Yes, this is what lunch on a plane should look like.

• What is surprising is that the airlines now consider that their only obligation to nourishment and drink on a flight is a can of soda, pretzels, and get this, water. Yes, instead of offering the after dinner coffee, the flight attendant walked down the aisle offering glasses of water. Don’t get me wrong. I think water is a great idea, especially at 30,000 feet. It’s just that to make it a highlight of the service seems to be, well, a bit over the top.

• Headphones. Travelers these days don’t pack eye packs. They pack their headphones. It’s a polite way of saying that even though you are only 2 inches away from me for the next three hours, I don’t want to encourage any kind of conversation. What I found out from one traveler in the bathroom line is that some headphones (Bose model) are designed to eliminate the low frequencies of engine noise while allowing the higher frequencies of the human voice to penetrate. Could have fooled me.

• The greeting at the gate has been replaced by the cell phone call in the baggage claim area. "Honey, I’m here waiting for my bags. I’ll meet you at the curb in 10 minutes." Airports even have a place for the receiver of these calls to wait. Oddly enough, it’s called the Cellphone Waiting Area. And at the gate, what happens is even more indicative of airline travel today. I am met by the tired looks of travelers waiting to get on the cramped, stuffy plane that I have just come off of. They are bored, irritable, and hoping that the plane will be on time.

More on my trip to CA later this week…….