But until recently, I'd never set foot on a Boeing 717, a smaller aircraft that Boeing inherited when it bought McDonnell Douglas in 1995 for $13 billion. I tend to like really small jets ...

But I make an exception for small, single-aisle jets, which I very much dig. The Boeing 717, for example. Recently, I made a quick trip to my hometown, Huntington, West Virginia. This a small city ...