A Delta Connections flight, operated by Pinnacle Airlines, was canceled out of upstate New York late this week. Big deal, you say, the Northeast was hit by (yet another) big snowstorm at the end of the week; lots of flights were canceled. Well, this is true, but weather wasn’t a factor in this particular instance.

Mechanical problems? Drunk pilot? A bomb threat? An unruly passenger? You’re getting warmer, but, no, none of these was the reason the Rochester-to-Atlanta flight was dropped. Instead, as the plane returned to its gate after a passenger suffered a panic attack, a “spat” apparently broke out between two female flight attendants. The pilot, in ”an abundance of caution,” according to a Pinnacle spokesman, made the decision to cancel the flight. The 75 passengers said they were told they had to get off the plane because the stewardesses were fighting (can you imagine hearing that announcement coming over the speakers?!), and they were found alternate travel arrangements.

We’ve all heard all kinds of stories, some of them quite bizarre, about altercations aboard planes that have led to flights being diverted, emergency landings and the like. This is the first I can recall where a fight between crew members led to this kind of action. The airline spokesman said this was a verbal, not a physical, argument; but apparently it was of such a scale that the pilot felt it was best to ground the flight. I really find that remarkable, as well as dismaying.

Of course, we don’t know (and probably never will) the whole story and its background. Perhaps the captain had flown with these attendants before, perhaps there was a history of unpleasantness between them, and perhaps he had had enough and felt drastic measures were necessary to put an end to it. (The two attendants have been removed from duty pending an internal investigation.) But doesn’t it bother you that two individuals who work in the service sector could not be professional enough to carry out their duties in a civilized manner? Their personal animosity and the captain’s means of handling it inconvenienced a great many people. Ironically, their behavior, in the pilot’s mind at least, was a threat to the safety of that flight — safety which it is their assigned duty to secure.

It leads me to ponder, as I have occasion to do too often these days, the increasing lack of public civility on display everywhere, from the U.S. Capitol to city council meetings, from the grocery store check-out line to . . . the airport. Sometimes it seems that people take their social cues from Jerry Springer instead of Emily Post. I know from reading the many letters to Global Traveler and blog comments here that our readers, many of whom travel the world and interact with a variety of cultures, practice and understand the value of courtesy and respect for others, even when others’ lifestyles or opinions don’t align with their own.

Maybe that’s the solution: Folks who have become too insular and self-centered need to get out and travel more. They need to mingle with their fellow human beings from all walks of life and practice the art of getting along with those different (and yet oh-so-alike, fundamentally) from themselves. That’s assuming, of course, that their flight to a new destination isn’t canceled due to dueling flight attendants.

– Patty Vanikiotis, proofreader

When I’m on the road, I typically get my news from the local newspaper hanging on my hotel room doorknob in the morning. Whether it is USA Today, The South China Morning Post or The Gulf Times, I enjoy reading different points of view on the same stories from around the world. I also like to watch hotel cable, mostly because I don’t have cable at home, but also because it allows me to watch different news sources from around the world. I prefer CNN in Europe to the CNN that is broadcast in the U.S. I also enjoy the BBC and Al Jazeera International.

It seems that more and more people are getting their news from TV and the Internet, rather than from print sources. I still believe the newspaper is the best source for world news, followed by the Internet. The TV remains most popular, but, in my opinion, offers the least amount of meat when it comes to real issues. I have always been disappointed by the local news at home, but then again, I have always had more of an international curiosity so maybe my disappointment is natural.

On the road, do you find yourself more tuned into different news sources? Or do you ensure you get your local daily news source?

–  Alex Young, vice president and associate publisher

This past Saturday, I sat down in my seat on SWISS on my way to Geneva. I turned my phone off and stopped communication with the world for seven hours. I landed and turned on my BlackBerry again. The news I read just seven hours before had quickly become yesterday’s news. New headlines and new emails started my day.

When a headline catches my attention, I stop and take note for a moment. Frankly, unless the headline affects me directly, it is very easy not to pay further attention beyond that moment and to simply move on. I’m willing to bet most people operate in this manner. However, when tragedy hits in your own backyard, you cannot simply turn the page of the newspaper or flick an off switch and move on. The tragedy, its problems and its aftermath lives for days, months and even years.

Some tragedy in the news is harder to get away from than others. Over the last few weeks, Haiti has been on the news around the world. I have seen the coverage in Dubai, New York and now France. I also know there are new headlines in the papers every day pushing the news and people of Haiti further and further away from the minds of people around the world, including mine.

However, just before my flight to Switzerland on Saturday, my Haitian friend contacted me. I asked how he was doing, how his family was doing. I knew before he even responded that I probably did not want to know the answer. My trepidation was confirmed when he responded, “Not good. Some are okay, some are dead, and some are still missing.”

For my friend, this tragedy, which has had its day in the headlines, will stay with him for life. Perhaps the next person you sit next to on a flight, train or subway will personally know the impacts of a tragedy, but you, hopefully, will not. We have all been asked recently to dig a little deeper into our pockets for charitable donations. Please continue to donate and help the people of Haiti or those who were once in the headlines but are now yesterday’s news.

There are wonderful charities all around, for all types of causes. In addition to charities dedicated to Haitian earthquake relief efforts, there are established charities that need your help as well, including the Mentor Foundation, GT’s charity in 2010. Please continue to research how you can help.

– Alex Young, vice president and associate publisher

It seems to be something one can count on at this time of year: a news story of individuals getting lost and/or stuck in a remote area after relying on their GPS system to navigate their way in unfamiliar territory. I’m guessing part of that may be due to a whole bunch of folks getting a Christmas gift of one of those nifty gadgets, and before they fully understand its shortcomings as well as its benefits, they head out to visit the relatives and then go astray.

Within just a few days of each other around December 25, two local incidents became national news stories, and both centered around GPS navigation systems. In the first, a couple traveling from Portland to Reno became stuck in snow on a remote Forest Service road in the mountains here in Southern Oregon. Their system had directed them onto the unmaintained road from a state highway, and by the time they got stuck, weather had closed in and made calling for help impossible. They were stuck for at least two days before the weather lifted and the same instrument that led them astray was able to send a weak signal containing its coordinates to 911. Luckily, the pair had proper clothing and extra food and water with them and were no worse for the experience.

The second story involved a young couple who had, indeed, just received a GPS system for Christmas. They left the Willamette Valley and headed over the Cascade Range on Christmas Eve to visit family in Eastern Oregon. Jeramie Griffin decided to follow the “shortest route” option the device offered him, which would supposedly cut 40 miles off the route he usually took. After spending a cold and frightening night stuck on a remote, snow-covered road with his girlfriend and their baby daughter, running low on formula and with no survival gear, they filmed a farewell video, thinking they would die before they were found. Luckily, a family member used a similar GPS device that duplicated the route Jeramie used, which led rescuers right to the stranded family less than a day after they were stuck.

Reading of such incidents, one has to wonder: What happened to common sense? Sheriff Tim Evinger, involved in the search for the first couple, said it quite plainly: “If there’s any lesson, it’s to understand what the GPS is telling you and not to follow it blindly.” It reminds me of an episode of The Office, where Michael returns to the office soaking wet after unquestioningly obeying the directions of his GPS system and driving right into a lake. Why take an unknown route in the dead of winter in the mountains, especially when it appears to be unmaintained or off the beaten track?

Law enforcement and travel experts offer sound and logical advice: use a paper map in addition to GPS, keep your gas tank full, check the weather forecast and your cell phone charge, keep a survival kit in the car in winter, configure your system for “highways only” or a similar setting. I note on my good old (free) AAA maps that they include notations for roads that are closed in winter, and one can readily see the entire area and detect which routes are “scenic” (meaning narrow and winding) and which are more heavily traveled. Unfortunately, GPS technology doesn’t contain information about seasonal roads or weather conditions. 

Happily, the two stories I mentioned here ended on a positive note, and the technology that got those folks lost also helped them be found. It doesn’t change the fact that a little common sense (and, maybe, a plain old paper map) would likely have kept both parties and their loved ones from enduring a very scary, uncomfortable experience.

– Patty Vanikiotis, proofreader

Allow me, today, to rant briefly, Andy Rooney-like, about one of my pet peeves. If you’ve read my blog very much, you’ve picked up on the fact that I live in Southern Oregon, just outside the small city of Medford. I enjoy living somewhere that offers the benefits of civilization (good medical care, shopping, eclectic restaurants, a lively cultural scene) as well as access to the outdoors and a wide range of local foodstuffs (and wine!). The Rogue Valley certainly fits the bill on all those counts. What needs improvement, though, are the local news broadcasts.

Those who travel or who’ve lived in a variety of places know that the quality of local news depends a lot on the size of the market. Obviously, the experienced talent (and the money to build a professional news-gathering team and produce a polished broadcast) will land in the big cities: New York, L.A., Chicago, Seattle, Dallas, etc. From there, it’s a descending scale, kind of like going from the NFL to college to high school to Pop Warner football.

When I lived in Twin Falls, Idaho, I experienced probably one of the smallest markets in the country, and we had one local station in town (but could draw on Boise and Salt Lake City, too). Growing up in Portland, we had three network-affiliated stations and an independent (long before cable came along) in a mid-sized market, and during all my years in Washington state I enjoyed the local broadcasts from the large Seattle market. Now I’m back in a comparatively small-market arena, although it covers a large geographic area (Sacramento to Eugene, and the Pacific coast east to Reno and Bend) and supports three network affiliates. Let me just say, the on-air talent pickin’s are slim, ESPECIALLY on the weekends.

I get that these folks need to get their training somewhere — most of them look like they are fresh out of journalism school — and reading the news live is harder than it looks, but sometimes I find myself addressing wardrobe advice and correct pronunciations of fairly common words to the T.V. screen (similar to the way my husband offers commentary when he’s watching a football game, though I don’t think I’m as loud — or profane!). Really, you can be forgiven for messing up some of the more unusual local geographic names if you’re a newcomer here (and most catch on fairly quickly), but common, ordinary words or well-known political figures’ names? I wonder if they practice those cheesy smiles in the mirror more than they do reading their copy!

The thing that makes me really squirm, though, is unscripted, “folksy” banter between news team members. I know, it’s not particularly enjoyable on any broadcast anywhere. It’s especially bad on slow news days when apparently they need to fill extra air time. Please, I don’t want to know what you’re doing on the weekend or what you think of the story about the surfing squirrel. I don’t want to see the weather gal flirt with the sports guy. It often goes on far too long and ventures into the ridiculous. And of course, on weekends when there often isn’t a lot of big news, the situation is compounded when you have the second-string reporters at the desk. They become visibly flustered and laugh nervously when they have to fill air space for more than 20 seconds; it’s just too painful to watch. Please, end the newscast with scenic  shots viewers have sent in over some nice music, scroll the sports scores or even tell us what’s on following the news, but don’t try to ad lib your way through a minute of small talk!!

There, I feel a little better. Maybe I’d just better avoid those weekend newscasts altogether from here on out!

– Patty Vanikiotis, proofreader