Howdy...
With the new job, I've had reason to do some air travel over the past few months. A few observations...
First, I had a trip to the Dallas area in late February. It was my first ride on an Embraer 175/195, and I was surprised. Unlike the older 145, there wasn't the annoying Dutch Roll through the flight, which was good. And, unlike the Baby Jungle Jet, it was 2X2 seating. Which kind of sucks. I liked getting an A seat, which was the best of both worlds--a window seat and an aisle seat. No matter, it was a neat airplane.
About 5 weeks later, I was called to the Phoenix area. I chose to fly Delta, since, well, when you're in the Southeast, it is simply what you do. The flights between Columbia and Atlanta are predictable, with predictable equipment: MD-80's or CRJ's. Now, the MD-80's (MD-88's, usually) aren't too bad--I've flown on them many times. As long as I get an aisle seat (or at least seat on the right side of the airplane in the two abreast row), I'm good. CRJ's, on the other hand, I don't like at all. They're cramped, the windows are too low...and, if you sit over the wing, you know right away when the landing gear either hits the uplock or the pilot selects gear down--it sounds like a gunshot. One of these days, I'll schedule a flight on one of Delta's MD-95's...
The first Atlanta to Phoenix leg was on an Airbus A330. Not having flown on a product of Toulouse, I was surprised at how nice the ride was. It was certainly one of the better flights I've been on, air transport-wise. I'll do it again, too. I liked the fact that even the "Cattle-Class" seats were roomy enough--although the guy next to me didn't understand boundaries, and wanted to try and sit side-saddle--in the four abreast middle row. Those of us on either side of him had to constantly tell him to get back in his seat--the one he paid for, not that one and half of ours, too. I am a big fan of Delta's seatback monitors--I caught the Amy Adams movie "Arrival", which was an interesting movie. I had some time to go, so I started to watch "Office Christmas Party", and yes, it was one of those stupid silly movies. And yes, I enjoyed it.
The return flight was okay, too, but it was on one of Delta's A320's. I can't really complain, but Delta has found a way to install seat-back screens on everything short of the CRJ's. This one? Nope. Not a big deal, as I was fighting a bit of a cold that day. It was probably just as well that I could snooze during the flight.
The first trip was like clockwork up until the last leg between Atlanta and Columbia. But even that wasn't a big deal, we had a maintenance delay that saw us arrive an hour late. However, you would have thought they told us we weren't leaving for a week by the reaction of some of my fellow travelers. More on delays and how unbearable other people can be in a minute.
My most recent trip? Well, I was scheduled to fly on April 6th. If you recall, that was the day Delta had a little bit of a problem with airplanes and crews out of position due to some bad weather. I got the message that my flight was cancelled before I had a chance to take a shower. I went online and called at the same time--and got a message that the call waiting list was up to at least two hours. So, I rebooked online. I tried to rebook for the next day, no dice. I did the next best thing and rebooked for Saturday, April 7th. Surely, things would be better by then...
Well, two things I learned: When you rebook a flight, for some reason you don't get the text alerts. Well, at least I didn't. I got to the airport with plenty of time to spare--which was a good thing--only to find the Columbia to Atlanta flight had once again been cancelled. So, I joined the queue at the Delta ticket counter. Now, maybe my 30 years in the aviation industry has prepared me for things like this, I dunno, but I watched a young lady rip the ticket agent up one side and down the other because of the delay. It wasn't the ticket agent's fault, so I don't know what this lady thought she would get in exchange. She stormed off, and I approached the agent. She took a look at my ticket, and offered a voucher for a taxi from Columbia to Atlanta--which is about a four-hour trip. I had some time to play with, but I had to leave quickly if I was going to make my connection. "Oh, there's a line of taxis waiting outside", I was told. Uh, sure there were. We're talking Saturday of The Master's weekend--Augusta is about 80 miles up I-20. Rental cars and taxis are usually in short supply.
A few Checker Yellow cabs drove up and picked up people in the same boat we were, only they were headed for Charlotte and Charleston. Minivan taxis with one passenger. Not too efficient. But I did call them, and I told them that there were at least ten people who needed to get to Atlanta, and quickly. So, the minivan pulls up--and the driver only wants to take two of us. Not happening. We told him to load the minivan up, which after a call to the dispatcher, he finally did. The ride was uneventful otherwise--given that a bridge on I-85 on the other side of Atlanta had collapsed days earlier, it could have been much worse. We arrived at the Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport at noon, my flight out was scheduled for a 2PM departure.
Now, when I go through the Security Checkpoint, I'm pretty efficient--once I clear the boarding pass/ID check, I put the contents of my pockets into my briefcase or backpack. When I get to the scanner line, I'm pretty quick to pull the laptop out of the briefcase, place it into a tray, grab a second tray for my shoes, belt, cell phone, and toiletry baggie. The briefcase and backpack go on the conveyor, and once it starts into the X-Ray, I approach the scanner. I'm usually in and out on five minutes once I pass the ID check podium. Well, because Atlanta was so backed up, it liked to take forever. Part of the problem was that people still don't understand that your pockets must be empty--hell, one of the TSA agents walks up and down the line and tells you that! Then there are people who want to argue about taking their shoes off. Look, if you don't have a Known Traveler ID, your shoes come off. Don't argue--these people have the authority to make sure you don't fly that day. Do what they tell you. It isn't difficult.
Anyway, clear of the checkpoint, I go looking for a Departure monitor--which Atlanta seems to be short of in the checkpoint area. Sure, there are plenty in the underground areas and gate areas, but I'd like to know which terminal I need to head towards. I finally found one, noted that we were scheduled out of gate A23...and that we were delayed two hours. I'd rather be at the airport than on the way to the airport, and Atlanta's terminals are like shopping malls, so I am more than happy to stooge around the airport while waiting.
Every now and then, I'd check the Departures monitor. Yep, still A23. I grabbed a quick snack--I don't really like flying on a full stomach--and sat down. I checked Facebook, I caught up on my e-mail--personal and work, I caught some of the cabbed TV. And, every 30 minutes or so, I checked the board. About 45 minutes before our departure, a few of us noticed that the Gate Monitor now said "Miami". Hmmm. Check the Departure monitor--the Phoenix flight was still scheduled out of A23. But so was the Miami flight. Three minutes apart. We asked the gate agent. She wasn't sure. This went back and forth for a few minutes until I noticed they had finally changed Phoenix to A24. Right across the way. No big deal. Other than the 4PM departure was now 4:30. I think we finally got boarded and pushed from the gate sometime around 5:15...
The flight was on a 737-900. The last 737 I had flown on was a USAir 737-400. Night and day. My seat was towards the aft cabin, and was a bit bumpy, but nothing too bad. Otherwise, it was a nice flight. I got a chance to see "Rogue One", which was also kind of cool, as I hadn't caught it in the theater. I also watched the first half of "Hacksaw Ridge"--I had seen that one in a theater, so I selected it to fill some time. By the time we got to Phoenix, it was 5:30 local (8:30 on my internal clock)...and I still had to summon an Uber (a new experience for me, but kind of neat), get to the shop, pick up the company truck, and drive to the house. Yep, we leased a house and bought a vehicle, since we reckon we'll be there for a while...
Oh, and air travel aside--that Sunday I truly did catch up on my "Star Wars" movie watching when I caught "The Force Awakens" on one of the movie channels at the house. Interesting film, I see many parallels between it, "A New Hope", and "A Phantom Menace". I've seen all of 'em up until now-even the revised versions--so I'm interested to see how Disney finished the main story as well as how well they do the other stories like "Rogue One". If "Rogue One" is any gauge, they're on the right track...
I spent the week in Phoenix--and if you've never been, you owe yourself a vacation in Arizona. I've been to Tucson once and Phoenix twice, and the weather has been gorgeous on all three trips--I think it rained one night on my first Phoenix trip, otherwise the skies have been blue and clear. I'm figuring that my flight on Friday should be smooth sailing. Right...
The scheduled departure was 10:24. The airplane pulled up to the gate--an ex-Northwest 757-251, the passengers got off the airplane, and the crew followed. Then I see a guy in a reflective vest and the Captain go back aboard. And I notice one or two guys looking under the airplane. Then they opened the main wheel doors. The Captain and the other guy walked back to the gate agent. There was some discussion, and one of the red-vested Delta "Help" agents showed up. I had a suspicion, and it was confirmed when they made the announcement that they had a maintenance discrepancy. The flight would be delayed until 12:30. I heard whispers of a hydraulic issue. Specifically, some hydraulic control module. And then I heard something that told me we weren't leaving at 12:30--"We don't know if we have a part, and we are looking for one now."
About ten minutes later, the "Help" person started handing out those red "Need Help?" cards. Doing the wise thing, I rebooked my connection from Atlanta to Columbia for the last flight out that evening. Surely they could get this airplane fixed and to Atlanta before 10PM EDT...
In an ideal world, that may have happened. But then the announcement went out--4:30PM. And then 7:30PM. When the departure went to 4:30, I called and rebooked my connection for the first flight out of Atlanta--10:30AM. And then I waited. And was once again amazed at what happens to people when things don't go their way. "Get us another plane!" It ain't that easy. Phoenix isn't a Delta hub, and Delta generally doesn't have airplanes sitting around idle. "Work overtime!" Uhh, these folks have 24-hour maintenance crews. "Fly a part in!" Yep, that's what they're doing--from LAX. But they can't snatch a part off the shelf, throw it on an airplane, and leave it to that. There's all sorts of procedures that need to be followed, and they take time.
By about 5PM, the gate area was nearly empty--only the die hards like me who stuck with the original flight. Delta got some pizza and brought out the drink and snack cart for us. I was content to wait--I didn't have to be anywhere right away (sure, I wanted to get home, but I could wait), there were others travelling for the holiday, or Spring Break, or needed to be in the office. Most of them rebooked for the 1:30 and 4:30 flights. Knowing I wasn't getting out of Atlanta until 10AM the following morning meant I was going to spend a lot of time at an airport, and it didn't matter much to me whether I had to wait in Phoenix until 7:30. Did I say 7:30? Yeah, that's what Delta told us, too. Until they slipped it to 9PM. Still, no matter to me...
About that time, another red-vested Delta "Help" agent approached our gate. "Are you all waiting for 1546 to Atlanta?" When a few of us indicated that we were, she called us to the podium. "We need to rebook you--we have no cabin crew." She looked at her computer, and called maintenance control. Sure enough, they had the part, they were ready to install it...and the cabin crew hit their duty time limit. My trip would continue...
We all got rebooked for the Red Eye departing at 11:30. So, I once again found a bit of a snack and a drink, and wandered the terminal for a while. Oh, a hint--Terminal 3 at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport has a Wendy's, a Taberna Del Tequila, a Starbuck's, and a few News outlets. Terminal 4 is where all the action is. Anyway, I stayed in Terminal 3, where I could watch the Frontier flights come and go. I like watching airplanes anyway, so I was good.
About a half hour before we were supposed to board, I noticed a few folks on the 10:24 flight appeared at the new gate. I thought they had rebooked for the earlier flights and were gone, but apparently they sent their afternoon at Taberna Del Tequila. And they apparently had consumed some beer. A lot of beer. There were about a half-dozen of them, and they were all shit-faced, a couple almost falling-down drunk. I was speaking with one of them when another showed up and got boisterous with some of the young ladies sitting around us. They had started to board anyway, so I gathered my gear and slipped away. The interesting part of the boarding process was when these folks checked in--the gate agents were closely watching them. The same thing played out once we boarded--the Flight Attendants were certainly aware that these folks were inebriated. Toe of them were seated in an exit row, and I was amazed that they were allowed to remain there. Fortunately for all of us on the airplane, all of them passed out (literally, I think) soon after we were on our way.
I wanted to catch some sleep on the flight, but my neighbors had other ideas. As soon as the cabin lights went down, their reading lights went on. And stayed on for the entire flight. So, I watched more movies. Or tried to. I would nod off, and then wake up. So, I caught about 40% of "Rogue One" again, before I switched to "Office Christmas Party" to catch the last 30 minutes of it. And then we were in Atlanta. One step closer...
We arrived at around 6AM, so I had some time to kill. I was going to try and find someplace where I could get a sit-down breakfast, but no joy. So, I did what I usually do--find some snacks and a drink. By this time, I'm running on nearly 24 hours with little sleep, and it was all I could do to contain my crankiness/grumpiness and stay awake. Knowing full well that I have a CRJ ride, it took all I could muster...
The flight was uneventful. And fast. We arrived almost 20 minutes early. I met my wife, we headed to the house (stopping at the grocery store on the way), and went to the house. I had some lunch. And I don't remember much else about last Saturday...
But back to one of my observations. I watched more people get nasty with airline representatives that I could count. It wasn't their fault. Weather happens. Airplanes break. Plans get changed. I've learned to roll with the waves--unlike another airline who made the news for another reason last week, all the problems I experienced were typical air travel issues. Screaming at, yelling at, cussing at, and abusing the people behind the counter doesn't make things better. Stay calm. Be patient. Go with the flow...
The other thing I did with my time was people-watch. I ask you, since when is a steamer trunk classified as "carry-on baggage"? I routinely carry a small canvas briefcase and a small backpack when I travel. Those are carry on bags. But I've seen people try to pass off those huge roller bags or huge backpacks as carry on bags. I watch people struggle to stuff their bags into the overhead bins. I know the airlines have caused the problem in part due to their checked bags fees, but people, c'mon. Use some sense...
I'm happy to be home for a few weeks. I'm about traveled our for the time being. I think I've caught up on my sleep, too...
Thanks for reading. Be good to one another, and, as always, I bid you Peace.
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