United Airline Fail
I plan ahead. When I have an important meeting and people are counting on me, I fly in the day before. It offers me the ability to meet my obligations. Its good business.
Today, I am at the airport on Sunday morning for a flight to Denver. I am here because my clients depend on me. I am a seasoned traveler - FourSquare told me this was my 60th check in at my local airport in San Luis Obispo. I checked the flight status before leaving my house. My wife drove me so I would not need to leave my car in the uncovered parking lot. She waited at the curb for a minute when I arrived at the airport so I could check the monitor for my flight status. At 8 am, my flight was looking good.
No bags to check, I rolled right through the security line for boarding at 8:27 am. At 8:31 came the dreaded announcement - 30 minute flight delay.
Delays happen. Planes are complicated and mechanical. Airports are busy places impacted by weather and many other issues. I don't get to crazy when there are delays. I just expect a certain number of them each year.
WHAT DRIVES ME CRAZY IS WHEN SYSTEMS AND COMMUNICATIONS BREAK FOR NO APPARENT REASON.
This delay was related to the 1st Officer not arriving in time for our flight. The worse part is that it was not because his plane was late. Everyone knew that he was going to be late, but nobody cared and nobody who knew told anyone. This one person led to hundreds of people's stress, inconvenience, missed flights, hundreds of phone calls to rebook and reschedule. A single ripple created a tsunami. And it all could have been avoided if they would have simply marked the flight at delayed.
Grrrr.
Oh well.
Today, I am at the airport on Sunday morning for a flight to Denver. I am here because my clients depend on me. I am a seasoned traveler - FourSquare told me this was my 60th check in at my local airport in San Luis Obispo. I checked the flight status before leaving my house. My wife drove me so I would not need to leave my car in the uncovered parking lot. She waited at the curb for a minute when I arrived at the airport so I could check the monitor for my flight status. At 8 am, my flight was looking good.
No bags to check, I rolled right through the security line for boarding at 8:27 am. At 8:31 came the dreaded announcement - 30 minute flight delay.
Delays happen. Planes are complicated and mechanical. Airports are busy places impacted by weather and many other issues. I don't get to crazy when there are delays. I just expect a certain number of them each year.
WHAT DRIVES ME CRAZY IS WHEN SYSTEMS AND COMMUNICATIONS BREAK FOR NO APPARENT REASON.
This delay was related to the 1st Officer not arriving in time for our flight. The worse part is that it was not because his plane was late. Everyone knew that he was going to be late, but nobody cared and nobody who knew told anyone. This one person led to hundreds of people's stress, inconvenience, missed flights, hundreds of phone calls to rebook and reschedule. A single ripple created a tsunami. And it all could have been avoided if they would have simply marked the flight at delayed.
Grrrr.
Oh well.
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