The 29-year-old Northern Californian, who admits to being an airline geek, simply couldn't pass up the chance to fly on United Airlines' inaugural flight from Washington's Dulles International Airport to Beijing yesterday.Gibbons won't even leave the Beijing airport because, he says, he doesn't want to miss the inaugural return flight. He has done this kind of thing before. In October, he took United's inaugural flight to Kuwait, spent a few hours on the ground and hopped on the return leg.
"I know it doesn't make a lot of sense," said Gibbons, director of operations for SmugMug, a photo-sharing Web site, who giddily took video and photographs of an elaborate ceremony before yesterday's flight. "My friends don't get it. They think I'm a geek."
Gibbons is part of a subspecies of frequent fliers who chase inaugural flights because they adore airlines, airplanes, even airports. They seek to be part of airline milestones. Among their ranks are those who like the prestige of being the first passengers on the world's longest flight, or the first or last travelers aboard a specific type of airplane. Some want to be the first passengers to take a short hop on new routes offered by low-cost, low-frills carriers.
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