What a Friday!
I travel a lot by
air. Last week I was in one such trip when I left my home in a suburb of
Philadelphia very early in the morning to be at the airport by 6 a.m. There was
no direct fight to my ultimate destination in Chattanooga, TN. My American
Airlines (AA) flight took me first to Charlotte, NC, one of its major hubs before
I boarded the connecting flight.
After a very busy
week of providing training at a manufacturing site I was scheduled to get back
home from Chattanooga (CHA) on Friday. Unfortunately, I could not.
On Thursday night I
got a message after 10 p.m. on my smart phone from the airlines stating that my
connecting flight AA1798 out of Charlotte (CLT) to Philadelphia (PHL) on Friday
night at 8:42 p.m. had been cancelled and that I had been rebooked to fly on
Saturday at 7:45 p.m. via flight AA5517 from CHA to CLT. There was no message
for the next leg of the journey to PHL.
When such a
message comes from the airlines, it is never a good sign. I promptly called my
wife who informed me that Philadelphia and the entire north-east region of the
USA were embracing for a big storm with 50 miles an hour wind speed and snow
accumulation possibilities; the weather condition was predicted to be worse
from Friday afternoon. She advised me not to take any chance and to stay in
Chattanooga until the weather turned better.
However, my mind
was made up to return home, and if possible, by taking an earlier flight. I had
an invitation from the organizers of a seminar on the Genocide of the Rohingyas
in the Holocaust Memorial Center in New York city, which was scheduled for
Sunday afternoon. Some of my good friends are also coming from the UK and other
parts of the USA to speak in the seminar.
Next morning, I
asked the administrative associate at the manufacturing site to see if she
could contact the American Express (AmEx) travel agent and arrange for an
earlier flight out of Chattanooga. Efficient as she was, Kathy did not surprise
me and told me during my class that she was able to find the only empty seat
available for me to take an earlier flight at around 11 a.m. that was scheduled
to arrive in Charlotte at 12:25 p.m. and then I could take a connecting flight
at 1 p.m. out bound for Philadelphia.
I was overjoyed
with the development and felt lucky that I would be able to arrive home around
2:30 p.m. before the weather would turn nasty, thus, allowing me to be in NY
city on Sunday for the seminar. Kathy also ordered a taxi for taking me to the
airport. By 10 a.m. the training materials were all covered and so I excused
myself leaving the task of conducting an exam with a colleague of mine.
The taxi driver
arrived on time and soon thereafter brought me to the small Chattanooga
airport. I was feeling so good that I left a big tip for the driver. Then I proceeded
towards the security check where I had to take out my computer from the bag, empty
out my pockets, take out my shoes, belt and winter jacket (which I had brought
from Philadelphia in case it would snow or be cold when I returned).
I travel very
light and had a small carry-on bag besides my computer bag. Since the air
carrier was a small plane between CHA and CLT, all passengers are required to
leave their carryon bags near the plane door, which are returned near the door
of the plane after the flight. My years of air travel have taught me that the bag
pickup process usually takes more than 10-15 minutes after the plane comes to a
gate.
Knowing of the
short connection time in Charlotte I decided this time to check in my carryon
bag, which would allow me to catch the connecting flight faster than if I were
to wait at the gate to pick it up. The weather was great and the plane left on
time and landed at the Charlotte airport shortly after 12 noon. There was,
however, something wrong at the airport with many planes scattered and waiting
on the runaway. It took unusually long – almost half an hour - for our plane to
stop near a gate. [The passengers had to walk from the runway to go inside the
airport terminal. I later learnt that there was a ground stop at CLT airport –
meaning no plane could fly in or out of the airport because of the visit of
President Trump to the city to attend the funeral of Christian pastor Billy
Graham.] I was feeling nervous about the delay. Little did I realize that my next
flight to PHL had been cancelled before my CLT flight from CHA was airborne.
As soon as I could
switch on my cell phone inside the plane, I noticed a message waiting for me
from AA.com, sent at 11:24 a.m., stating that my flight AA2054 from CLT to PHL
had been cancelled. The next message said that I was rebooked for March 3
flight at 7:25 a.m. from CLT to SDF. There was no mention of flight from SDF to
PHL. Needless to say that I felt cheated
and was very upset with the news. If the airlines had told me that there was a
strong possibility for such a flight cancellation in CLT, I would not have
taken the flight out of CHA.
It was late to
undo the latest outcome. Once inside the airport, I quickly called AmEx travel
agent to see if she could put me onto any flight to PHL. She said that there
was a flight heading out for PHL at 4:35 p.m. that day in which there was an
available seat that she could put me in. I was happy with the new reservation
and approached a counter and got my new ticket issued replacing the old one.
Because the next
flight was not due to leave until a few hours later I started to walk to my new
gate for departure at a slow pace. It was a long walk. I pulled out the day’s newspapers,
which I had brought from CHA, from my computer bag, and started reading all the
important global and local news. At around 3 p.m. I checked my phone to notice
that an AA message had been waiting in my message box since1:27 p.m. My flight
AA559 to PHL had been cancelled. I was devastated with the latest news and
called my taxi driver back in Philadelphia that I was not coming on Friday.
I again called
AmEx travel agent who said that with the stormy weather in the north-eastern
USA, hundreds of flights had been cancelled, and that there was nothing she
could do except trying to find a hotel in Charlotte and rental car for me. She
advised me to talk to AA Customer Assistance for any assistance with my
flights.
I walked to the
Customer Assistance area and noticed a long line with hardly any movement there.
There was no alternative but to stand in the line. After nearly an hour of
standing in the line, an AA agent suggested that instead of waiting in the line
the stranded passengers could call an 800 number to directly speak with an agent.
I called the number and heard a computer voice asking me about my record
locator number and promising that I would hear back from a real agent within an
hour.
I called the
travel agent if she could find any hotel, esp. near the airport in Charlotte.
She said that there was none available near the airport. Apparently, many of
the stranded passengers had already booked them. There were also many outside
visitors to Charlotte who had come to attend the funeral service of Billy
Graham who had died on Feb. 21. It was altogether a hopeless case for many
passengers like me who had hoped to return to their destination by Friday. Now
they must find other alternatives including renting cars or taking a bus or
train ride to their destinations heading north-east.
It took another
two hours before I received the call from AA agent. She told me that because of
force majeure case the airline was not going to find a hotel for me, and that I
should find my own lodging or stay inside the airport for nearly 24 hours. It
was an unacceptable offer. I asked her if she could find any flight back to
Chattanooga because I knew that I could stay in the same Hilton hotel where I
had stayed. She said that if AA took me there, that would mean end of my flight
with the ticket I had purchased and then the airline was not obligated to take
me back to PHL. However, the airline was willing to take me to any other place
where AA was flying, subject to availability of a seat in that flight. I asked
if I could fly to Atlanta, GA. She said that there was no empty seat available
for me to take. After several minutes of searching she said that she could book
me for a flight (AA 745) to Houston that night that would leave around 8 p.m.
and bring me to the city at around 10 p.m. However, she cautioned me that no
seats are available for flights to Philadelphia (PHL) airport on Saturday. I
could take an early afternoon flight out of IAH at 1 p.m. on Sunday that would
bring me to PHL at around 6 p.m. I agreed. She said that I should be able to
get the new ticket issued for IAH from any counter. By that time, I had already
moved up in the queue to stand in front of the Customer Assistant. After
stating my case, she printed out a ticket and advised me to go to the baggage claims
area to get my checked-out bag.
I walked to the
Baggage Claims area and spotted my bag amongst the piles of bags that were
bound for Philadelphia. After grabbing my bag, I went through the security
again to get inside the departure area in the C terminal. I was hungry and bought
some dinner for me. Then I called my wife letting her know that I was going to
Houston and would be coming back InshaAllah on Sunday night. I also called my
brother in Houston, asking him to pick me up around 10 p.m.
I went to the
departure gate for my flight and was delighted to see a plane waiting there. I
met an air-hostess seating nearby who said that she had not seen a similar mess
in many years. She was one of the crew for the flight I was taking. She
believed that Trump’s presidential visit, plus Billy G’s funeral and the
weather in the US North-east had compounded the situation, resulting in the
cancellation of hundreds of flights. When I asked her why the display monitor
was showing 15 minutes delay while the plane was waiting she said that it might
be caused by unavailability of the right pilot for the flight (who might have
been stranded somewhere else), but also noting that she was not sure either. To
my surprise, I noticed the waiting plane pulled away from the gate around 7:30
p.m., which meant that it was not our plane.
Another plane
taxied onto the gate around 8 p.m. when the Houston-bound passengers were told that
their gate had changed. We moved quickly to the new gate to embark on the plane
bound for Houston. After some waiting in front of the new gate, I embarked on
the plane and arrived in Houston at around 10 p.m. local time. By that time, I
felt drained out after a stressful day with so many ups and downs with a series
of cancellations and rebooking.
After landing at
the George Bush International airport, I sent a message to my brother, who was
already waiting near the baggage claims area. I reached his home shortly after
11 p.m. and went to sleep after eating my dinner.
What a day! This
episode once again proved the adage: man proposes and God disposes. And
ultimately, all my efforts to reach Philadelphia on Friday turned out to be a
zero-sum-activity.
I am glad that I
had a backup plan for the Rohingya seminar in NY City. An American friend of
mine would be speaking at the event on my behalf on Sunday afternoon while I
look forward to onboarding at that time for completing my incomplete flight to
Philadelphia, God Willing.
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