I've been wondering if part of the reason this air travel has seemed so slow, besides the fact that it HAS been slow, is that once you get past the middle states, the states out here are quite large and take FOREVER to get across, whether you are flying or driving. I have friends from the East Coast that talk about driving/flying/taking the train and go through different states all in one afternoon - I can drive for HOURS and just barely make it across my state.
So maybe it has seemed long also to those on the East Coast or Southeast where the distances might seem closer together?
I live in Colorado, my daughter goes to school in Montana, the drive is unbearably long! But flying takes a while too, because you have to get to Denver to get a direct flight to Montana, and for some of us even Denver is a few hours away.