Yeah, so I am sick, but also hopped up on (over the counter) drugs and wine (it kills the bugs). I was eating a butt-load of broccoli, watching Big Love and fucking around on the Internet – AKA reading gossip – when I stumbled upon a post about Kate Winslet and her husband flying separately.
“They are Hollywood royalty, and actress Kate Winslet and her director husband Sam Mendes also travel in the manner of royalty – separately in case they should ever be involved in an accident.
The couple never journey on the same plane as they fear dying in a crash and leaving their son, Joe, and Winslet’s daughter from her first marriage, Mia, orphaned.”
– Source, The Daily Mail
Now, the article goes on to say how Mendes was meant to fly on the ill-fated AA flight 77 from DC to LA on September 11th, but changed his flight. So, this is not totally unreasonable. Or is it?
I have thought about this a lot. I don’t have kids, and David and I are not married; but, I had family die in the Egypt Air 990 flight in 1999. They left behind three sons, two in their early twenties and the third in his teens, with a developmental disability. It’s hard to gain perspective around this, both because I don’t have children AND I don’t fly a lot. But, I think if I flew as much as a very busy director and actress, I’d certainly consider it.
Would you?
pennyplastic.wordpress.com 
January 25, 2009 at 7:37 pm
only if i rode around in separate cars as well. flying is safer than driving anyway so i wouldn’t do either. if it were me, i’d be flying with the kids anyway so they’d go down with me.
January 25, 2009 at 8:13 pm
I never even thought about this (flying separately). Something that might be lame and not as serious, I worry about what would happen to our cats if we both die in an accident. I don’t think we’ll be flying separately though because it’s pretty inconvenient. And it’s understood that my inlaws will take our cats but they live on the other side of the country.
January 25, 2009 at 9:01 pm
obviously this is something “those people” do. hollywood types, i mean. thought i’m totally kidding. about the “those people” thing, at least.
seriously though! i can barely find room on my credit card to buy a plane ticket for myself let alone one for my husband and kid (imaginary kid, mind you). i think this is a luxury most can’t afford.
and even if i had the money my philosophy has always been – you can build a wall 100 feet high. if someone wants over it, they’ll find a way. not sure how this applies to plane crashed but i’ll blame it on the wine.
January 25, 2009 at 9:02 pm
yeah. crasheS. again, damn wine.
January 26, 2009 at 6:04 am
I’m guessing they don’t apply the same rule to auto travel.
January 26, 2009 at 6:22 am
I don’t know. I don’t think it’s unreasonable. My aunt and uncle did this when their daughter was very young. She is an only child and I guess they felt that they didn’t want to leave her behind all by herself. Fortunately, nothing bad ever happened.
January 26, 2009 at 8:07 am
I don’t think its CRAZY but then again maybe its a tad bit paranoid? Like some other people said, you’re way more likely to die in a car wreck then a plane crash and no one ever considers always driving separately. I think one of the ways to assure yourself is if you have kids have a really good estate plan set up with someone (or couple) you and your kids love and trust poised to assume guardianship over your children and a fat life insurance policy to care for their financial needs.
January 26, 2009 at 8:11 am
Good point, of course, on the car thing. Cars are safer. However, if you are both on a plane and it crashes, the likelihood that you will both die is much higher than if you’re in a car together.
I am not certain I would do this, unless, like I said, I flew a lot. My family members who passed away (a couple) usually flew separately, as they traveled a lot – but the one time they didn’t, look what happened.
That is why the story piqued my interest….
January 26, 2009 at 8:25 am
I would consider it if I had children. I think it would get expensive and be a pain in the butt if it’s just the two of you going on vacation somewhere. I mean, does one person fly to the destination and just wait by themselves at the hotel for a day until the other one shows up? Or what if you have a family and are taking a family vacation together? Does one half of the family fly to Disney first and the other half the next day? If you’re together and the plane goes down, at least you’d all go down together.
January 26, 2009 at 8:32 am
I think if I were flying with kids and a partner I wouldn’t think about it. But, if just my husband and I flew A LOT, I might consider it. It would suck, because I’d be bored, but unless you are going off to some remote location, you can both usually get to the airport at roughly the same time. I’ve met friends this way when we’ve been coming in from different places and wanted to fly together on the longer part of the journey. When it’s cost effective, that is :-)
January 26, 2009 at 9:19 am
If money was no object I would do this. Flying alone first class is 100x better than flying coach with my husband. And if the price of the ticket didn’t matter you could take flights only a few minutes or an hour apart so the logistics of getting to & from the airport would be less difficult. I think if I had a close call like Mendes did on 9/11 I’d feel a lot less crazy insisting on this kind of thing. Plus some people just have a fear of flying, actual statistics be damned.
Now all I can think of is how expensive this must be and how many things I could do with that money. Sheesh.