Delays and Mechanical Issues, An Adventure in Air Travel
As a frequent traveler, the trips I make often times take me through the major hub airports of American Airlines who I swear my elite status err loyalty to. With the exception of flying out to New York’s JFK, my travels anywhere east has me flying through either DFW in Dallas/Fort Worth or ORD in Chicago. So far I’ve flown through ORD each time on my travels this year. Now flying into the airport wasn’t really a problem persay, but the return trip has proved to be anything but. Each time I’ve flown from Chicago back to San Diego, there has been a spate of mechanical issues, delays among other things. Forever will AA1339 stick out in my mind because of that.
Now certainly I have no beef with ORD or Chicago at all. Chicago is a fabulous place to travel (that deep dish can’t be beat) to and in general OHare International is very easy to navigate. However, when weather is less than normal, one only needs to look at the airport monitors and see yellow smeared all over, indicating gate changes, delays, and the dreaded cancellation. My flight last night was delayed by many things, although the story seemed to change as the hours went by. First, I was told that the plane was indeed at the gate but was awaiting equipment of some sort. Then later on I find out that the flight had transferred to another plane that was yet to arrive from somewhere else and was of course delayed. Upon arrival, there was more waiting and upon boarding there was much deicing to be done. After sitting on the plane for about another hour, we were in the air…about 2 hours later than expected.
For someone like myself who can easily duck off into an airport lounge and at least relax while awaiting updates on a delayed flight, the wait isn’t really so bad. I feel more for the folks, especially those with family, who are anxiously waiting for more information while effectively given…not so much. Sometimes you just want to be on your way whether it is to get home, get on with a vacation, or a myriad of other reasons. I will certainly give travelers props for not outright flipping out when these kinds of delays happen. Given how much the airline industry as a whole has been whining about losing money and needing help to get back on their feet, it is a shame that they are spending more time trying to nickel and dime travelers for just about everything on top of offering less than normal service. That’s not how to run a business.
For more interesting reading, take a look at this interesting article from the Wall Street Journal about the current trend of airlines padding their time schedules to appear on time. Reading this made me realize exactly why American Eagle claims that it takes almost an hour to fly to LAX from San Diego.
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Tags: Travel
My flight to Japan was delayed by 6 hours >:(