Here’s the funny part: you barely have time to get comfortable. The plane takes off, you hear the “ding” for the seatbelt sign, and then immediately the pilot says, “We’re beginning our descent into Los Angeles.” You haven’t even finished your tiny bag of pretzels. I once opened a book, read one paragraph, and the flight attendant was collecting trash. That’s shorter than a Target run.
And the altitude? You’ll peak at maybe 25,000 feet. Compare that to a cross-country flight that cruises at 35,000 feet. Why so low? Because you’re barely leaving the ground—it’s like the plane is sneezing from Phoenix to LA. The whole flight is basically a long, dramatic glide downhill over the Colorado River.
The “Is This Worth It?” Calculation
Now, let’s talk about time vs. total investment. By the time you get to Sky Harbor, stumble through security, and wait at your gate, you’ve already burned two hours. Then you fly for an hour and twenty minutes. Then you land at LAX—the airport that eats souls—and spend another 30 minutes taxiing to a gate that looks exactly like the one you left. Total door-to-door: four to five hours of your life.
Meanwhile, I could drive to LA in about six hours. For that extra hour, I could have control over my snacks, my bathroom breaks, and my playlist. You’d rather sit next to a man who brought a whole rotisserie chicken on the plane than enjoy the open road? That’s a real thing, by the way—I’ve seen it.
DL4151 Flight Status Delta Air Lines: Phoenix to Los Angeles (DAL4151)
