In September 2017, when I caught wind of a “major announcement” taking place at the airport, I drove the 5 minutes from my workplace to be present for what I rightfully assumed would be an announcement of nonstop service to Europe, likely by either Delta or a European carrier.  Thankfully, I was correct, and as soon as Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb announced it’d be Delta servicing Paris nonstop, I immediately determined I’d fly on the inaugural if at all possible.

Initially the plan was for the whole family to go, but we determined the logistics of taking all three kids would be a nightmare, and that we’d be better off waiting until they were older.  We had the thought of Laura joining, but her getting that Friday off would have been difficult.  In the end, she told me that she knew how much it meant to me to be on the first flight, so to go alone and scout it out for a later trip with her.

I got to the airport several hours before departure, so I strolled through the gate area to see the festivities being set up, which included drinks, hors d’oeuvres, a cake, souvenirs, a harp and accordion, a station for pictures, and more.  It was pretty empty, so I started to head to the other concourse to grab a beer, but ran into Dan and Sarah, a Delta pilot and his wife, who I met several years ago.  They were headed to the Delta Sky Club, and invited me to join.  I’m not one to pass on such things, so we headed in, where there was a large tray of macrons to greet us, along with the usual spread of food, and more hors d’oeuvres and champagne being passed around by club staff.  We enjoyed a nice hour of conversation there with friends of theirs who were taking the flight before heading back to the gate.

 

By the time we got to the gate, the party was in full swing.  Speakers included Indianapolis International Airport Executive Director Mario Rodriguez, Major Joe Hogsett, Lieutenant Governor Suzanne Crouch, Delta’s VP of Network Planning, Consulate General of France in Chicago Frederic Chole, and students from the International School of Indiana.  Soon after the speeches, boarding began.  While earlier in the day the flight was wide open, there were a lot of last minute employee listings, so it was a bit dicey for a while, and for a few minutes, it looked like I wouldn’t get a seat.  Luckily, I was able to get an aisle seat in the next to last row, and most if not all other standbys got on, including a group of three other employees from my company who were only going to go if they all got on.  While they’d all worked at the company several years, we were in separate parts of the building and hadn’t met previously.   We hit it off!

Soon into the flight, we were provided with a small snack (I’ve forgotten what it was at this point), enjoyed with a Sweetwater 420 pale ale.  Dinner was a small salad with ravioli with both pesto and red sauce, enjoyed with a glass of white wine, which was soon accompanied by a glass of red wine that ended up on my tray table which the flight attendant accidentally poured for the woman next to me when he misheard her order.  After dinner service, the cabin lights were dimmed, and while I tried so sleep, I only managed two or three hours of sleep.  I also watched a few episodes of “The Detour,” a hilarious comedy about a family of four on the run who end up in Alaska.  I’ve very picky when it comes to comedy, and this one had my laughing quite a bit.  I later learned it’s available to watch on Hulu, which also happened with the TV show “Atlanta” on my last trip on Delta.  May be time to spring for Hulu.  Breakfast was a bagel with yogurt and orange juice, though I took only the juice, as I wasn’t hungry, and wanted to save room for food in Paris.  We arrived to the gate early around 8am local (2am at home), and being that I was in the next to last row, I was one of the last to deplane.