As the flight boarded to head back to Washington, the ramp agent and Nichols struck up a lively conversation at the end of the jet bridge.

CNN: Lasting connections: Love at the airport

He goes up to the jet-bridge and stands at the open door of the plane, greeting customers and calling out the name of his intended catch.

WSJ: The Tarmac Express: A Porsche to the Plane

He also makes a hand-printed sign with the passenger's name and then drives to the gate of the inbound flight, parking at the bottom of the jet-bridge stairs.

WSJ: The Tarmac Express: A Porsche to the Plane

Leila Bulling Towne, an executive management coach, was happy to be on a nonstop flight home from a business meeting in Austin and liked the RJ practice of checking and retrieving carry-on bags at the jet-bridge, since regular roll-aboard bags don't fit in purse-sized overhead bins.

WSJ: Regional Jets: Are These Model Airplanes?

In one particularly memorable demand, a male resident preparing for a big date asked Abdul to help him re-enact a scene from the movie "Hitch" where a couple rides jet skis under the Brooklyn Bridge and around the harbor.

WSJ: Hotel living is the norm at wealthy NYC apartments

The most interesting part of this combination was the creation of a new super light jet category: Cessna joined their light jet wing with their midsize fuselage in an attempt to bridge the gap between light and midsize jets.

FORBES: Citation Excel: Evolutionary Excellence

Months later I had recovered enough to fly a test model of the Eclipse 500 jet in the skies over Albuquerque and climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge with Steve Forbes.

FORBES: Welcome to Digital Rules