Aika Kanda’s Haneda-Naha Status Training

Excited for the second round trip.

My only social status I want to protect in this world is my JAL membership status. In order to accumulate the target points before the end of the year, I decided to do a “training” of flying first class for two round trips in one day between Haneda and Naha, places I had no business in, on a certain day in October.

On the first return flight, as I boarded the 10:15 flight from Naha to Haneda, the flight attendants greeted me with “Welcome back!” When I looked at their faces, I realized it was the same flight attendant who had taken care of me on the outbound flight. When I asked, “Is it the same crew?” they replied, “Yes, it’s the same team.” I was a little excited to be on the same schedule as the flight professionals.

The total flight time for the two round trips to Naha was 9 hours and 40 minutes. Since I hardly moved during the flights, if I kept eating the in-flight meals, I would gain weight. But this time, it was my favorite Western-style meal. It looked too delicious to refuse, so I indulged with champagne. It was a perfect brunch.

After finishing my meal, I quickly fell asleep, and before I knew it, we had landed at Haneda. The time was 12:40. Half of the training was done. Surprisingly, I wasn’t as tired as I thought I would be, and I was relieved, thinking (I can easily handle another round trip!).

There was a 2-hour and 10-minute wait before the next flight. I enjoyed shopping at the Isetan in the airport, and with excitement, I boarded the second round trip to Naha.

As soon as I boarded, the flight attendant approached me. “Himura-san, I will be with you on the round trip today!” she said. I replied, “Nice to meet you. Actually, I already did one round trip this morning.” She then asked, “Is it training? I was with your husband on his training a few weeks ago!” I remembered my husband had completed the same schedule as me and said, “A flight attendant asked me if it was training.” It turned out to be the same flight attendant. She said, “I’m happy to do the training with both of you as a couple,” but I couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed, wondering (Do they think, ‘What are they doing, doing this together as a couple?’ in reality?).

I fell asleep again and before I knew it, we were over Okinawa. The sun was setting, and the emerald green sea that I had seen in the morning had turned into a deeper blue. I also discovered that if you sit on the left side of the window on the Naha flight, you can enjoy the view of the islands.

This marked the end of the third flight of the training. We landed at Naha Airport again. The final layover time was 1 hour and 30 minutes. I bought a Blue Seal ice cream and sat on a bench by the window to eat it. There, I suddenly started to confront the forbidden question that I had been deliberately avoiding until now..

 

The Meaning of Training Became Clear

The question that arose was, “Does this really have any meaning?” While keeping a high-level status with an airline is a hobby, I couldn’t help but think that the training was a waste of money. How long would I keep doing this? Wouldn’t it be much more meaningful to save money and spend my time resting?

I thought that if I faced this doubt, I would think the training was pointless and I would stop. So, I asked myself, “Should I stop next year?” Looking out the window, I saw a plane waiting to take off, bathed in the sunset. As I watched it, I thought, “How could I possibly say ‘stop’?” Watching the plane filled me with excitement. “I’m truly enjoying the earth!” I thought.

Twelve years ago, I had a driver’s license, but I felt it was a waste to only be able to move freely on land. Since I was born on earth, I wanted to enjoy everything. “To do that, I need to move freely on the sea and in the sky!” This thought led me to obtain a Class 1 small vessel license, allowing me to sail anywhere in the world. The only thing left was the sky, but aviation licenses were difficult, so I gave up.

However, since becoming obsessed with airline status, I’ve realized that I’m now able to enjoy the sky as well. It’s filling the gap left by the pilot’s license I gave up. So yes, I’m training to enjoy the earth! The reason I care about airline status became clear to me, and I felt proud of it.

At 7:00 PM, I boarded the flight to Haneda. “Welcome back!” the flight attendant greeted me as I sat down. My last meal was Milanese-style pork cutlet. I toasted with champagne and took a bite of the cutlet, feeling pumped for the last day of training left this year.