They say timing is everything. This is my first visit to Asia, and I was a little bit nervous about traveling to Japan just 10 days after the earthquake and tsunami. But as I observed the crewmembers and passengers on my flight, I would never have known such a major disaster had just occurred. On our initial descent into Narita (NRT), I looked out my window in complete awe to see traffic running smoothly, flowers and trees in bloom and no structural damage in view. As I continued my journey through the airport — operations, customs, baggage claim and out to the taxi stand — everything operated without a glitch. I arrived at my hotel at 5 p.m. to find the lobby full of guests waiting for rooms. It took a minute to realize there was no electricity. I was in what they called a “brownout” — a scheduled power outage timed to conserve electricity during peak hours. This was my first sign that something was out of the ordinary. The brownout was scheduled until 7 p.m., and to my amazement, the lights started flickering on right at 7 p.m. and the sound of the emergency generator faded into the background. Everything was up and running. That evening during a meeting, my chair started moving and the chandeliers above me started clanging. For the next 30 seconds, I just seemed to freeze. Then I realized I had just experienced my first aftershock. To my surprise, a few jokes were told and the meeting continued as if nothing had happened. This was only the first of many aftershocks I have experienced since my arrival, but business goes on as usual. The scare of radioactivity and reports of contaminated water in Tokyo have raised a few eyebrows, but updates from the International Air Transport Association, the International Civil Aviation Organization, the World Health Organization, the World Meteorological Organization, the International Atomic Energy Association and my own company indicate there are no restrictions on normal air transport operations at Japan’s major airports, including Narita and Haneda (HND). It is business as usual. — Lenny Lydon, guest blogger