Before I board most flights I like to do a little surveying of the passengers boarding with me. Mostly because I enjoy the sport and game of people watching, but I also try to find the commonalities between my travels and theirs.
For the most part I travel for play and leisure with a business meeting or two in the works, but you’d never know this
from my general appearance. For instance, on my first flight to Port-of-Spain, Trinidad & Tobago, I was very
surprised to see a plane packed with Caucasians. In my mind the plane would have been carting nothing but returning
West Indians and East Indian travelers in addition to the obvious tourist or two, but I was wrong. There were tons of
business folks and avid bird watchers en route to the island paradise. Unimportant information really, but it’s mental
notes like these I take and others must take judging from this piece found in USA Today.
The focus is on immigrant travel and how U.S. airlines are finally starting to see their trips back home as a
means create more flights between cities like Newark and Beijing, Portland to Guadalajara, and Houston to Pakistan.
Though some carriers like American Airlines have been working for ethnic travel agencies for years it may be worth your
attention to tune into what your carrier of choice is doing. Where are the new routes being launched? Will the food
cater to Caribbean families returning to see their loved ones? What will the in-flight staff be like? Again, not huge
issues for most of us, but for the curious always paying attention to demographic and the small changes that make a
difference the article makes for an interesting read.