Orlando to Dulles to Providence the United Way

Good Morning

It’s the day after the longest flight ever!

 It really wasn’t the longest flight I’ve ever taken but it was close. My plane left Orlando at 11:40am, right on time and but I didn’t get home until almost 7:30.

So here’s the story. I flew Delta down and got routed through Detroit so I tried United for the return trip. That seemed more direct as the layover would be in Washington DC at Dulles.

I dropped off the rental car and was in and out of there in minutes. They even got a sky cap to take my bags and escort me to the gate which saved me mucho time there since he knew where he was going and I would have wandered around…lost. I had my boarding pass but I still had to drop off the bags and use the kiosk to check in at the airport. The United rep gave me my baggage claim tickets and checked my ID. He handed it back and kept saying 18, 18 ,18. I tried to ask what he meant but his English was terrible. I made the assumption that he was giving me a gate number. That’s what they usually do. My ticket didn’t have a gate #, it just said pending.

Security was long but uneventful. It was crowded with long lines which I haven’t seen in quite awhile. Probably because Orlando is a really busy airport. Once through security I hopped onto the shuttle to the concourse for gate 18. But that was American Airlines territory and there was no gate 18. I approached the American personnel and they were puzzled too. We decided the United rep must have been telling me my seat number which was 18F and since it was in big bold letters on my ticket that was really unnecessary. They tried to find a gate # but couldn’t see it in their system. They tried to call United but said they weren’t answering the phone. Finally the best they could do was tell me all United flights depart from gates 40-59 so it was back to the shuttles. It took 2 to get to United territory.

Once in the hub of United Land I saw a departure board and my flight was listed…on gate 40. That just happened to be a short walk as gate 40 was one of the first gates out of the hub. Plenty of time. Boarding was fine except for a rude passenger who blocked the plane aisle and refused to move aside inspite of repeated requests from the Cabin Attendants. I though it was pretty funny when a man lifted his bags over her head into the over head bin and the gently moved her out of his way. She really freaked out over that screaming that he'd taken her spot in the overhead! Another passenger grabbed her shopping bag out of her hand and stuffed it in another bin and she finally sat down. Guess she got the hint! Other than that the flight was uneventful. In fact we landed almost 30 minutes early. I thought that was great as I’d have a little more time to locate my gate and maybe grab a bite to eat as it was a little after 1:00. My connecting flight was at 2:22.

In a real first I deplaned on the same concourse my connecting flight was supposed to be leaving from just a couple of gates away ! I really though the travel gods were smiling on me. But I would soon see that they have a real sense of humor. Ha!

As I settled in at the gate I was a little concerned because no one else was there. The departure board with the gate number had a flashing “delayed” next to my flight number but there was no one and nothing at the gate. I waited there a few minutes when another Providence bound passenger came over and asked me if it was the right gate. With two of us now it seemed likely that it was. I took a break to grab a hamburger from Wendy’s...Big mistake! I have never spent $7.00 for just a hamburger and a small diet coke but that’s what they charged. I ate about ½ and ditched the rest. It was just too messy. Still as it turned out I was going to be very glad I ate what I did.

When I got back to the gate someone had activated the information screen and our flight was still delayed but now they were giving a new departure time, 3:29. The reason posted was “airplane”. More people had arrived and everyone was discussing the delay. I suggested that if the delay had something to do with the plane that I’d be happy to wait to be sure it was fixed! But United wasn’t telling us anything more than was posted.

3:29 came & went and finally a rather disheveled young lady arrived wearing a United uniform.. I was surprised at her appearance . She had runs in her stockings and her hair was pulling out of her hair clips. She looked like she had been traveling all day instead of us at the gate. She rushed over to the PA and rapidly announced in heavily accented English “The plane is on the ground, the plane is on the ground. We will load soon. Sorry for delay!” It was so fast and so accented it took everyone a few minutes to process the announcement, Then I confess, I started laughing. All I could think of was the excited Tatoo from that 70's TV show where he yells..”The plane boss, the plane” That seemed to break the stunned silence and everyone else laughed too including the United rep. She must have realized how she sounded and how she looked because she disappeared for a few minutes and came back a little more put together but then TSA descended. They marched in like the Gestapo, pulled on rubber gloves and made us all stand up and hand over our ID’s and boarding passes for inspection again. For a minute there I wondered if I was still in the United States!

We had just sat back down when a United attendant that looked like she should be with TSA stepped to the front and demanded to know if we were listening and to get our ID’s and boarding passes out for inspection. The couple sitting next to me and I exchanged glances and then we decided as one to “push back”. We started telling “Broom Hilda” that the TSA had just checked us. That’s when you could see realization dawning on her face. She was confronting the wrong passengers. She wanted passengers heading to Montreal to being up their passports. She cleared her throat and went to the PA to issue the corrected instructions. I can see why she was confused. I’m sure you don’t normally have 2 plane loads at the same gate. We’d been delayed for so long that the next plane load, the Montreal passengers, were also mixed in with us.

I’m so glad I was sitting in the front row next to the podium because we were being treated to quite the show. United was clearly scrambling. So far none of the passengers from my flight had said much or complained or yelled but the attendants,( and there were quite a few now between  the 2 departing planeloads and 1 arriving , the TSA and security)were obviously scrambling. I don’t think I’ve ever seen airline attendants look so frazzled. Normally they are an island of calm while all the passengers are upset.

Anyway 3:29 had passed and the alleged plane was on the ground but now they had to find a crew. I got this from bits and pieces we overheard being discussed at the podium between the airline personnel. About 4:45 a plane from Boston arrived and deplaned at our gate. A uniformed man came off the plane and our little original attendant grab him and speaking really fast told him he had to take his crew back out to take our plane to Providence. He argued a bit then said ok and left. A few minutes later she made an announcement that no one understood. The TSA leader went over to her and told her to try again but more slowly. I think It might have been the standard announcement about passagers needing assitance, but no one understood.  About 10 minutes later they started boarding us.

The cabin crew was very gracious but they made sure we knew they were “going the extra mile” literally. They made an announcement that they were being pulled off their run to take us to Providence. By now we were over 2 hours late. We were taking off after the time we should have landed in Providence but at least we were finally on our way.

We were offered soft drinks but not even peanuts or cookies for snacks after all that wait. We never found out what happened but judging from the way everyone was running around it makes me wonder if our flight was routed but no one remembered to assign a plane or crew! Working in a dispatch office I have seen work get routed to non-working technicians and the scramble that happens to find coverage. This looked an awful lot like that. Maybe something like that happened here. I was pretty impressed with the passengers who all seemed to keep their cool. There weren’t any scenes at the gate. Can’t speak for elsewhere but the folks near me just took it in stride, pulled out cell phones and let people know at their destinations that they were delayed. My cell phone didn’t have a signal so my calls would just have to wait.

Finally in the air the actual flight to Providence was pleasant and fairly short. My bags were already off the plane when I got to baggage claim and the Valet parking bus was waiting at the curb when I came out so that went very smoothly. At the parking lot my car was waiting and the attendants put my luggage in for me and I was on my way in no time.

Anyway, I’m home now safe and sound. My two fuzzy kids (my cats) greeted me at the door and haven’t let me out of their sight since. Rocky followed me around all last evening meowing at me like he was telling me about his week. Smokey was in my lap every time I sat down. Going places is fun but it’s nice to come home too.
J