When you miss your flight...

Shay Stephens

On the way to Denver we had to layover at Atlanta, we ran into a thunderstorm hovering right over the airport. We circled and circled waiting for the airport to open. After a while, running low on fuel, we had to land at another airport along with at least 4 other planes to refuel.

As I sit here in the plane on the tarmac, I thought it would be a good opportunity to jot down the experience.

A crackle just came over the airplanes loudspeaker, it looks like we are going to be here at least an hour, and the pilot (bless him) is going to try and get us into the terminal to wait instead of sitting here with a screaming baby, tarmac noise, and various bodily functions vying for supremacy.

We just made it inside. Ahhh, the sweet feeling of relief. This is a small airport, so the amenities are few, but there was an adequate bathroom and a bank of vending machines. So we are dropping off a few things and picking a few up. Once the high priority things are taken care of, then I think I may snack for a bit.

I just finished feasting like a king...a king stuck at a small airport with only vending machines to attend him. But a king none the less!

The announcer guy just came on and said Atlanta is now open and flights are cleared to land, so I am going to shut down and get ready to reboard the plane.

Well that was a false start. They are reboarding planes one at a time so it looks like I have some time. Jennifer is checking with the front counter guys to see about our connecting flight. I worry about our checked baggage making it with us all the way, you know how things can go wrong when a monkey wrench gets in the works.

We made it to Atlanta airport, but our connecting flight to Denver had already left. We were in a line of about 20 people waiting to get rebooked when the "announcer of bad news" came on the PA system. We had to go downstairs to the main ticket counter to get rebooked. Uhhh, I am getting tired. We trudge down and take the trolley however many miles it was to the terminal area. The line was massive. And by massive I mean astronomical, hundreds of people in a winding line as long as any at Disney Land. It took about 2.5 hours to get through the line to rebook our flight for 11:10 this morning. and a possible 8 something standby flight. So we are going to live in the airport for a while. I am sitting down to a Wendy's "dinner" at 2:30 in the morning. Thankfully they are still open at this hour.

Note, they close at 3am much to the dismay of the people behind us in that huge line.

And this brings up the good point of the importance of leaving early. We have to be in Denver for a workshop, and being delayed at the airport is just not an option in this case. I can't be late. So what's a guy to do? I don't have a time machine. But I do have a little bit of insurance I purchased for just such an emergency. That insurance is not from Geico, no, it is in the form of leaving early. We left a day early just in case some problem developed, like say, oh I don't know, let's pull something random out of the hat like A MASSIVE AIRPORT CLOSING THUNDERSTORM!

But even with this massive delay, I still expect to make it early to Denver and make it to the workshop rested and ready for action.

We made it on time, though I was not quite as perky and rested as I would have liked. Not sleeping for over a day can do that to you :wink

Moral of the story, if you absolutely positively have to be there overnight, leave early to account for the unknown, the "insurance" you purchase in doing so may be priceless when emergencies arise that send the unprepared into a panic.

ziggy53

Shay,

Good to hear you kept your sense of humor with you throughout the flight and delays and ... various and sundry.

Best,

Sam

Great story, and advice. I would have never thought to leave a whole day in advance.

I have always tried to be prepared and leave a little ahead of schedule, but your stories of how your preparedness and professionalism has saved the day are something I remember, and have added to my business behavior.

Sam

rosselliot

Man! Shay, I hate to hear that! I'm sorry for your inconvenience! Airports are not the most hospitable place, and the employees usually don't make it any better! My dad told me of a great time he had one trip he took for business, where the stewardess on one flight was really funny (this was before all the ' you have to say the emergency crap word for word and that stuff'). she was so sarcastic and said like "This plane IS capable of an emergency water landing....once....so in this event, the bottom seat cushion can be used for flotation"


Well, sorry that you have to wait, I guess it could be worse?

well, I hope the rest of your trip goes as smooth as but-ah!

- Ross

www.rossfrazier.com

OffTopic

Having been in that exact situation too many times to count, I can truly emphathize with you. Everyone always laughs at me when I insist on having plenty of extra time built into my schedule, but Murphy's law doesn't play to my favor when it comes to airlines. Heh, I was stuck in the Denver blizzard nightmare last December both coming AND going; I finally rented a car and drove home.

Glad to see you're still in good spirits. I always try to tell myself that it's just another grand adventure and another story to tell. I am kicking myself that I've never once thought to take my camera out and capture the emotions of an airport full of stranded flyers.

Hope the workshop goes well despite your lack of perkiness. Here's hoping for a better return trip!

stirfry

Well - as a "stewardess" who was once based out of Miami and saw many a family lose out on their cruise packages because of unforseen but not unrealistic weather delays, HATS OFF TO YOU for leaving a day early! I always felt so badly for people who didn't plan with extra time. And not only for cruises, we see it all of the time for business people .. graduations .. weddings .. et cetera. It's frustrating for them, for sure, and for the flight crew as well. At least at my (major) airline we are paid only when the airplane doors are closed, so any beverages services on the ground or stopovers such as yours are OFF the clock (FWIW) and cut into our layover (read: sleep!).

In the unfortunate event it happens to you again, consider calling the 1-800 reservations number rather than waiting in line for rebooking at the next airport. They won't always accommodate you, but most of the time they can. Our top tier flyers do this, usually from the plane .