I am now not looking forward to my upcoming trip in January. At least not the flying part that is. We are to fly into Florida to catch a ship to cruise into the Bahamas. The warm weather, the sand, the water...all sounds great. But to fly the not so friendly skies....nope. Not looking forward to it. Not one bit, especially after what happened yesterday and today.
David was to fly into our local airport which tends to be pretty pricey in contrast to the other airport that's twice as far away. But to be helpful to his parents, (isn't he sweet?) he booked the nearest one to us and I was to pick him up yesterday at 5:30. Right from the get go in Roanoke he had a delay due to fog. Because of this delay, he would miss his connecting flight from Philly to here. He wasn't too worried because there was another flight an hour or so after his original one. Well he should have been worried.
He flew in only to find a backlog of bodies. I mean bodies. Some had been there almost three days still waiting for their flights. Because all his stuff was checked, he had nothing but his laptop. Nothing. It was supposed to be a short flight. He was told there was no way he was getting out last night. The next flights were the next day (today). He was given a standby ticket with no guarantee of getting on any particular flight. He was wearing contacts and had no contact solution on him due to no fluids being allowed. He asked for access to his luggage and was denied as were all the passengers. He was forced to buy essential toiletries such as toothpaste/brush, contact case (no solution could be found) and deodorant since that also was not allowed in his carry on.
At midnight he decided to run since he had not had a chance to run as of yet. So he rolled up his jeans and did laps around the airport lounge area. He had on a collared shirt and dark socks. Not exactly running attire, but he felt the need to exercise outweighed anything else even his lack of comfort after the run. He was sweaty. No change of clothes. No shower and it was going to be a long night. There were alot of them all settling in for the long night. No accomadation vouchers were given out because they said all the hotels were booked. They were claiming this was all weather related, but there was alot of talk among the wanna be- passengers about the lack of personnel, as in pilots, being unable to fly these now very dark skies.
David found a place as far away from the families with little children as he could. He did admit he thought it was much tougher on parents with young children being stuck there. He saw one couple newly married. She still had on her wedding dress. He saw another couple with a small baby. They had no formula with them and their luggage was also gonzo. Now that's bad. I told him that he was very fortunate. He didn't have the pressures that I'm sure many had. His lack of comfort, bad as it was, was nothing in comparison to what many others were facing. Many missed appointments, connections, important social events, etc. He missed nothing but a lost day with Mom and Dad and dog Quincy.
He slept somewhat from 1-5 am when he was awakened by a crowd filing in to board their early am flight. He was told later there was a possiblility that he could fly into the airport that was further away from us. We told him to take it, take anything he can get. Well they didn't allow him to board that one. There was another flight at 12:30 that would bring him home. He got in line for that and the lady told him to sit back down. He pressed the issue but was not allowed on that flight either.
We found out early this morning one of our friends from our neighboring town was right there in the airport with David. But they didn't know each other. We talked to her husband this morning and he told us his wife was stuck in an airport in Philly. David laughed when I told him to look for her. He said, "Ya, ok. Like I'm going to find her with all these people here. There's a ton of people here." Well it turned out, she was allowed on that 12:30 flight but he was not. Her luggage never made it home with her.
Finally at 4:30 they put him on a flight back home. He was not a happy camper. His luggage never made it with him either. All his clothes were in that luggage. All his Christmas gifts were in there as well. He's really not a happy camper. No one was there to give him answers when he got off the plane. Nothing is being done to compensate him for his unhappy time flying the no so friendly skies. He said he was warned not to take US Airways before he booked. He's vowing never to use that airline again.
We are due to fly out on the same airline in January. I am not looking forward to it. But I will be prepared. I will have contact soultion (3 oz) in a little bag with me and I will have a change of clothes. But if they lose my luggage, what am I going to do on a cruise ship heading out to the Bahamas with no change of clothes? Dare I even think they will drop them to me via a dropped load? Ha!!! Me thinks NOT. This is one of the reasons we choose to drive almost everywhere. It's just not worth the hassle most of the time to fly when we can drive there almost quicker.
Anybody else have any flying nightmares?