MY AMERICAN AIRLINES RETURN TRIP ADVENTURE.
It's time to return to San Francisco from Ecuador and the trip from Quito to Miami goes off without a hitch. I've got a 4 hour layover and the food choices are kind of sucky and even the donuts at Dunkin' Donuts are a little stale. Alas, boarding time approaches and there seems to be confusion at my gate. After much discussion between more ticket agents than I've ever seen in one place at a time they make an announcement that we are leaving from Gate D6 instead which would be fine except we are at gate C36 now. Like a huge mass of tired travelers (the plane is full and possibly oversold) we grab our crap and trudge to the other side of the airport. As we get there and settle in there is another meeting of agents, where are they all coming from, and they announce there will be a delay as the plane will be here soon. My layover has become 5 hours.
Our plane comes, we finally board and then we sit, and sit and sit. The captain comes on and announces there are technical problems with the plane, techs have been called, he will let us know. An hour and much restlessness later the captain comes on and says the plane will not be fixed in time and we must de-plane while they try to find another plane for us. So we all off load and crash at the gate. We are then told to go to gate D4 for our next plane which is ready for us. My layover has now become 7 hours.
We board our new plane and I can only hope my checked luggage is making all the transfers with me. We nestle into our seats and feel the comforting roar of engines as the plane pulls back from the gate and down the runaway. Ah the subtle pull of gravity as we lift off and head back to San Francisco. 5 minutes into the flight the captain comes on to announce that due to some mechanical problems we will be returning to Miami-Dade airport and that flight attendants should immediately take their seats and prepare for landing. We wait for him to say just kidding but he doesn't. He continues with please don't be alarmed by the fire trucks and ambulances that will greet us upon our re-arrival as they are merely a precaution. I grip my seat as the plane banks its way back to the airport. This is why people are scared of flying. I glance out the window and see the flashing red lights on the runway as we make our approach. The skids in and bumps roughly down the pavement. Seems there were issues with the landing gear not operating properly and one of the tires being a little flattened and well I'm pretty sure I left nail prints on the seat handles.
Once at the gate we can't get off the plane fast enough, ok not really, but you'd think after all the practice we've had this evening folks would have been better at this. Once inside we are sent to gate D20 where we wait for them to find us another plane, which finally arrives for us at 1am, my layover has now become 10 hours. With cautious hope we board hold our breaths till we are fully in the air and the captain finally says looks like this time we are going to make it. Oddly the same flight crew and attendants have followed us from plane to plane and some of them look as over it all as we were. When we were at a safe altitude for cruising the attendants then came through the cabin handing out food and booze--FOR FREE--I mean it seemed the only thing to do. In front of me were 3 Japanese couples who had just gotten back from a Carnival cruise and they decided to keep the party going by indulging in the free wine--party on. I just ate my cheese and cracker pack and went to sleep to dream this all away and wake up when we touchdown in San Francisco. Home at last, 430 am, 24 hours after I started. Now I just need a vacation from my vacation and jet lag.
It's time to return to San Francisco from Ecuador and the trip from Quito to Miami goes off without a hitch. I've got a 4 hour layover and the food choices are kind of sucky and even the donuts at Dunkin' Donuts are a little stale. Alas, boarding time approaches and there seems to be confusion at my gate. After much discussion between more ticket agents than I've ever seen in one place at a time they make an announcement that we are leaving from Gate D6 instead which would be fine except we are at gate C36 now. Like a huge mass of tired travelers (the plane is full and possibly oversold) we grab our crap and trudge to the other side of the airport. As we get there and settle in there is another meeting of agents, where are they all coming from, and they announce there will be a delay as the plane will be here soon. My layover has become 5 hours.
Our plane comes, we finally board and then we sit, and sit and sit. The captain comes on and announces there are technical problems with the plane, techs have been called, he will let us know. An hour and much restlessness later the captain comes on and says the plane will not be fixed in time and we must de-plane while they try to find another plane for us. So we all off load and crash at the gate. We are then told to go to gate D4 for our next plane which is ready for us. My layover has now become 7 hours.
We board our new plane and I can only hope my checked luggage is making all the transfers with me. We nestle into our seats and feel the comforting roar of engines as the plane pulls back from the gate and down the runaway. Ah the subtle pull of gravity as we lift off and head back to San Francisco. 5 minutes into the flight the captain comes on to announce that due to some mechanical problems we will be returning to Miami-Dade airport and that flight attendants should immediately take their seats and prepare for landing. We wait for him to say just kidding but he doesn't. He continues with please don't be alarmed by the fire trucks and ambulances that will greet us upon our re-arrival as they are merely a precaution. I grip my seat as the plane banks its way back to the airport. This is why people are scared of flying. I glance out the window and see the flashing red lights on the runway as we make our approach. The skids in and bumps roughly down the pavement. Seems there were issues with the landing gear not operating properly and one of the tires being a little flattened and well I'm pretty sure I left nail prints on the seat handles.
Once at the gate we can't get off the plane fast enough, ok not really, but you'd think after all the practice we've had this evening folks would have been better at this. Once inside we are sent to gate D20 where we wait for them to find us another plane, which finally arrives for us at 1am, my layover has now become 10 hours. With cautious hope we board hold our breaths till we are fully in the air and the captain finally says looks like this time we are going to make it. Oddly the same flight crew and attendants have followed us from plane to plane and some of them look as over it all as we were. When we were at a safe altitude for cruising the attendants then came through the cabin handing out food and booze--FOR FREE--I mean it seemed the only thing to do. In front of me were 3 Japanese couples who had just gotten back from a Carnival cruise and they decided to keep the party going by indulging in the free wine--party on. I just ate my cheese and cracker pack and went to sleep to dream this all away and wake up when we touchdown in San Francisco. Home at last, 430 am, 24 hours after I started. Now I just need a vacation from my vacation and jet lag.
Answer to previous posts trivia question: The Andes
This posts trivia question: When was the US' first scheduled commercial airline flight?
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