There is a man who has recently been honoured for flying over 10 million miles (approx 16 million kilometres). His name is Tom Stuker and he flies mostly for business, but according to him, he loves travelling (thank goodness), and flies often for pleasure. In his interview with CNN he stated that he’s taken about 60 honeymoons with the woman of his dreams in the last 15 years.
That’s great. But what does it mean? To me, 16 million is an unfathomable number. So, I decided to put some perspective to the matter:
- Tom has basically flown around the circumference of the earth 400 times.
- This is equal to 20 round trips to the moon.
- He has sat in an aeroplane seat for approximately one year and nine months of his life!
- He has boarded around 6 000 flights. He now tells the new flight attendants where his seat is, and what they should do in case of emergency.
- At a (conservative) average of two hours (not including delays) spent in an airport each time he flies, Tom has spent a grand total of 16 months in airports in his lifetime!
- Tom’s been to Hawaii 80 times. He has been to Australia 200 times.
- Tom loves airline food.
He flies first class now and gets VIP treatment as a member of United Airways exclusive Global Services program for super elite frequent fliers. Apparently membership comes with benefits that aren’t publicized. I wondered what Tom Stuker’s reward was for hitting the ten million mile mark:
Unlimited flights for the rest of his life? Maybe. Although that seems cruelly ironic …
What would I do if I was given unlimited flights for the rest of my life? I’d go visiting. Put the kettle on will ya?
What would you do?
Image courtesy of zoagli on Flickr
