Oy vey.
That's what I have to say about my sprint through Chicago O'Hare the evening of Dec. 23, bridesmaid bouquet in hand, after sitting 40 mintues on the tarmac following an already-delayed flight home out of Montrose, Colorado.
Granted, the flowers garnered several comments from flight crew folk who were likely trying their darnedest to maintain the Christmas spirit despite harried passengers, overcrowded flights, and delays that reverberated for days after Denver's pre-Christmas blizzard shutdown. (No, I had not just married the man sitting in the seat next to me. No, I did not bring the flowers as a gift for the assistant pilot. But that's cool the flight attendant could smell them all the way up in the kitchen galley.) But, the bouquet didn't garner much sympathy when I was desperately trying to figure out if the "gatekeepers" were going to honor my boarding pass and let me catch the last flight home the night before Christmas Eve Day.
Lessons learned:
The days when the flight attendants would helpfully radio over to your connecting flight that you are on your way and would they please hold the plane for you are no more.
Even the pilots get (ticked) off when they have to sit 40 minutes on the tarmac waiting to get into the arrival gate.
Be sure to pack a good pair of boots if flying to a state where there's a good likelihood it will snow.
The every-other-day morning jog in high-altitude mountain air, though tiring, is good prep for the sprint from concourse to concourse trying to make the connecting flight.
When you see a "standby" sign flashing at your gate, after it appears the flight has left, and you've got a boarding pass, be assertive.
Oh, and the most important lesson of all: When flying to a friend's just-before-Christmas wedding, book early and plan to arrive as early as politely possible. You'll be glad later when you realize you've missed a major snowstorm by mere hours. Better that than to miss your friend's wedding, like the groom's best man, because you and your fellow passengers were first forced to land several states away from your destination in an airport your airline (United) doesn't service, told to return the next morning at 8 a.m. to await further instructions (and hopefully travel) only to be completely and utterly abandoned by the flight crew when the plane you arrived on takes off at noon -- without you or your fellow passengers on it, and with no instruction or assurances that your care has been transferred to the fine folks at the (fill in alternate) airline. No, I am not making that up. As relayed from the groom, that's what happened to his suprisingly-calm-under-the-circumstances best man. Did I mention there was not a rental car to be had at this particular airport?
Let's just make this point clear: Were I "on duty" as a reporter working anywhere near that particular airport in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and had heard of this story, I would have burned rubber getting over there to interview the passengers, get them on the front page or feature them as the lead broadcast and subsequently burn up the phone lines to United's administrative offices asking them what kind of INSANE policies EVER PERMIT ABANDONMENT OF PAYING CUSTOMERS!!! During the Christmas season, no less.
Did I say 'Oy vey' yet?
As it turned out, I continued coughing trying to catch my breath from the sprint to the gate, until about halfway through the flight home. I felt a little bad for the woman on standby who was first led to believe she had snagged a seat only to lose it again when I showed up "late." Ah, well, that sort of thing comes with "standby" territory, so I didn't feel too guilty for too long.
But at least I made it home for Christmas Eve Day (even though my luggage did not.)
My condolences to those of you who flew United.
That's the post-Christmas report from the ReD Zone.
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