The genuineness of this piece is great. You’ve done an excellent job tapping into the mental processes of a man concerned for his family.

Only a few things to point out: Line six needs a pluralizing “s” at the end of "45 minutes. You also might want to check your verbs for tense consistency.

I find it interesting you only use italics once. There may be other opportunities to use them as a method of relaying the character´s inner thoughts, especially in the second paragraph. I feel it might add a beneficial layer of dimensionality to the story.

Like a doctor watching someone operate on one of his kids. Nice story.

The ending needs changing: lowest bidders could be the lowest bidder (s) or low bidders. Otherwise, well done.

I have never flown, and probably never will, since my husband is afraid of heights. If I let him read this, his fears would manifest themselves into a stronger conviction. :) My heart goes out to this guy and his family even if they may not be real. That’s good writing.

Thanks for the feedback all.

@Momento – Thanks for pointing out the grammar error. Fixed. Also, I took your advise on the italics.

@ Browncoatben — Anytime. Great story.