A long day at the airport

Today has been one of those travel days where it took all day to catch a break. In one of those classic chain reactions of problems, it started when our ground crew took a little long packing up the cargo. Then, as they were finishing that, the light snow started to get a little heavier, so by the time we got de-iced, and taxied out to the runway, there was too much snow on the wing to take off – and we had to go back to the terminal.

After 6 hours of waiting, both inside and outside the terminal, we finally took off for Denver. I have to say, though, given my previous experience with travel delays, this crew from United managed to keep us well informed of both what was going on and what our options were at each stage of the process. And when I finally arrived in Denver, I found I’d already been rebooked on a later connecting flight. They seemed to be keenly aware of the massive amount of trouble that jetBlue now finds itself in. When things like weather go wrong at the airport, everyone tends to freak out a little bit and these staff handled us very well. But it reminded me once again that once you set foot through those metal detectors, your fate is no longer in your own hands.

When things go wrong, there are certainly steps you can take to minimize your own inconvenience, but for the most part, you are at the whim of the weather and the airline.

But today – about as good as a 6 hour wait on the tarmac gets.