Fun Friday… Delays

As many of you are already aware… last week I went to visit my family in Georgia for an early Christmas celebration. It was a wonderful time, and I’m grateful I was able to be with both of my siblings, and my parents, for the first time in many years (we ate and ate… oh, and then we ate)!

The part I could have lived without… the trip home. When I left PDX, my flight was delayed by 25 minutes due to a mechanical issue with the cockpit lock/latch. We all sat on the plane as the repairman and crew stood staring at the lock… we assumed they were hoping it would magically fix itself… ?

Once they filled out all the necessary paperwork (yikes) we were finally on our way, and thankfully I didn’t miss my connection in Denver (there wasn’t a minute to spare). Now we fast-forward 6 days to when I arrive at the ATL airport to go back home. I’d already checked in online (where they said we’d be leaving on time) and now I need to drop off my suitcase (which they charge $20 to ‘check’).

As I set it on the scale, the nice lady behind the counter asks where I’m headed… when I tell her Portland, (in my very hoarse/sick voice)… she informs me: “You won’t be making your connection.”

I’m a little surprised to hear this since my flight isn’t for almost 2 more hours…then she goes on to explain that there’s a mechanical issue with the plane so it will be delayed, and won’t arrive to take us to Denver in time to catch my connecting flight to PDX.

I kindly ask her what my options are, and she suggests I get to Denver, just in case I somehow get lucky (btw… I guess delays are considered ‘good’ at this point) and that plane is delayed as well… then books me on a flight out in the AM from Denver to PDX… just in case. I thank her and head to my gate, knowing it could be a very LONG wait!

I get to my gate and decide to read a book I want to finish before I get home (ATL airport doesn’t offer free WiFi… boo). As I’m sitting there, a flight in the terminal across from mine announces they are boarding, and I see people heading over to start the process. I don’t think much of it, but after a few minutes I hear a loud voice and see a crowd starting to gather very close to where I’m sitting.

Now the voice is getting louder (and angrier) so I stick my head up and look over to see what the ruckus is… from what I can tell the people who had just been boarding the plane… are now coming back out. This seems really odd to me and then I hear that booming voice again. As it starts to become clearer… these are a few of the words I can make-out/hear: “Do you know Hulk Hogan? Don’t you know who he is? He’s the president… you need to vote for him… Hulk Hogan… DO YOU HEAR ME?”

What the heck is going on, was all I could think… then I saw the source of all the excitement…. it was a man, short and stout, with a bandana on his head… shouting over and over about Hulk Hogan. Why he was doing this and if he was why the plane had been evacuated was beyond me… but soon he was taken away and the flight (re)boarded… then it was back to waiting for my broken plane to arrive.

It finally showed up (1.5 hours late) and we landed in Denver exactly 10 minutes after my scheduled connection. I ran from my gate all the way to where my plane was waiting… and there it was! A huge smile covered my face and the woman behind the counter asked how she could help me. I let her know that letting me board the plane would be great… and she looked at me very puzzled…

This is never a good sign! She then asked where I was headed, and I told her Portland. She nodded her head and let me know that the gates had been changed… and my flight has taken off a few minutes previous (really… every flight had been delayed that I’d been on… but not this one?!).

I then slowly walked back to the customer service desk where a huge line had formed (every person on our flight pretty much missed the connections & needed help). They gave me a voucher for a hotel, shuttle, breakfast (5 whole dollars… wow), and a voucher for future travel (hmmm, is that an actual perk?).

The next morning I was at my gate (really sick with absolutely NO voice, ugh) and more than ready to go home. As the plane arrived we were supposed to board… you guessed it… they announced that it had mechanical issues. They sent us all to a new gate with a different plane, and thankfully the delay wasn’t too long, and we were soon on our way…

I eventually made it home… and just so ya know… I probably won’t be endorsing Fr ntier Airlines in the immediate future…

I sincerely hope all of your holiday travels are non-eventful, and don’t forget to vote for Hulk Hogan?! … Merry Christmas!

Tagged as: Airport, Christmas, Delays, Family, Flight, Frontier Airlines, Frustration, Plane, Travel