LOS ANGELES
22 APRIL 2010


'I should be getting ready to fly to Los Angeles on Thursday. But I am not. That does not mean I am not going. It will depend on how much ash is spewing from that volcano in Iceland. The eruption of Eyjafjallajökull has thought us all a lesson, and we will take a long time to recover from it.'

Let the truth be known. I did fly. I was on the first American Airline flight to leave Heathrow airport, and heading to Los Angeles. I was extremely lucky, as AA chose to exercise its regular schedules starting April 22nd. The backlog was put on hold temporarily.

Not only was the journey across successful, but the fallout of the ash was quite noticeable on my arrival at LA airport. Most of the international carriers were missing. The usual overlong queues were conspicuouly absent. Even the immigration experience, for once, was notably brief.

I was able to clear immigration in five minutes, unheard of in years gone by. A walk through customs, and bravo I was on the outside. Ten minutes after my arrival I was on my way to my hotel, a totally different experience from my last visit.

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