Susan Morrison: Welcome to John Knox Airways – the temperance way to fly

The customer service girl at Southampton Airport, who sported a spray tan clearly inspired by Easyjet, did not know why there was no plane. No-one did.

An hour passed. The delay lengthened again. Two hours now, which is actually longer than the flight. Phone calls home to Edinburgh brought news of bad weather. I passed this intel around, since still not a word was coming from anyone official.

Loganair proudly boasts it’s Scotland’s airline. Kinda puts the pressure on if you're one of a few Scots surrounded by a sea of increasingly irritated Americans trying to get to Edinburgh.

I became a sort of unofficial VisitScotland ambassador, handing out advice about the best way to get to Northumberland Street (taxi. Two huge suitcases. Mild mobility issues), how to use the trams and why they were better (Malmaison, and only a backpack) and the best walking tours to join (Mercat, and not just because my mate runs it).

Suddenly a tartan tail appeared. Our plane. But also before us was a man in a high-vis jacket. In a very British way, he told us the pilot had reported something ‘acting up’ on the plane, but the good news was, they had found an engineer. The Americans looked slightly discomfited, as well they might.

The engineer appeared, hit the wing with a hefty spanner and looked well chuffed. We were good to go.

Lavish hospitality did not await us on board. This, remember, is John Knox Airways, the temperance way to fly. It was coffee, tea or water. Some crazed party animal had taken the decision to hand out caramel wafers and shortbread fingers. One each, mind. Let’s not go mad here.

Yes, I know it’s a small airline with big challenges, but it claims to fly our flag for us. A few wee tweaks would make a difference, starting with telling people what’s going on.

Oh, and perhaps rethinking that in-flight catering. Earn that tartan on your tail.