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Commuting Can Be Tough
It was a long shot to catch the 1820 ASA flight as I wasn’t due to block in until 1758. Luck was on my side, however as we had tail winds on the last segment heading to Charlotte. Then about midway, the Lead Flight Attendant informs me of a medical situation in the cabin. It turns into a medical emergency. We hustle to CLT and are met by the paramedics. The lady is fine, but the process takes a while to complete. There goes ASA. Plan B is an express jet that leaves at 1920. Turns out that one is delayed until 2100. I’ve had a long day and decide to give up and head for the crash pad. Then I notice the 1725 is still there and now scheduled to leave at 1930. I head for that one and climb on. We push back right but don’t go anywhere. The Captain finally explains that they have a mechanical situation that needs to be addressed. After a while we pull back into the gate. Maintenance shows up and puts one of the Air Conditioning packs on the MEL, and we push back again. We wait in the Taxi line for 20 minutes when the Captain explains that Atlanta is ground stopped with an update in 30 minutes. We pull off to the side and wait it out. After a half an hour the Captain then tells us that the winds in Atlanta are out of limits and the flight is cancelled. Back to the gate. This time I do give up and head to the crashpad. Tomorrow is another day. I sleep in and try to catch the 1120. There is a mechanical delay and we board at noon. I’m on the only seat left – the jumpseat. After a fairly long taxi line, we finally takeoff. The plan is finally coming together – Wrong. Shortly after takeoff, I notice the Captain pushing a lot of buttons and studying one of the computer screens. Then the First Officer makes some radio calls to his company operations. I can’t hear most of what is being said, but I do recognize the words: “heading back.” Of course we are over max landing weight so we circle for a half and hour and finally end up back in Charlotte. No one knows what is going to happen to the flight, but I decide to give up and try Delta. I make the trek across the airport to learn that there is only one seat left and it doesn’t look good. Air Tran is booked, so I decide to go back and try for the 1340 express jet. I am filling out the jumpseat form when a pilot walks up and tells me he already has it. The flight that I had originally been on has cancelled by now and the revenue has all slid to this one. No chance. I head back to Delta to see if that one seat is still available. No way. Now it is oversold. I head back to the crew room and check the computers. There is a 1530 flight. It is overbooked, but if I go right now, I might get the jumpseat. I head back to E concourse. When my flight is not listed, I ask the gate agent where it is. She checks and lets me know it is on C5 not E5. Back across the airport. As I get in line, there are two pilots ahead of me. I’m thinking that the jumpseat will be gone shortly, but then I recognize the Captain – the same guy who had recently given me a tour of the North Carolina countryside. They are now deadheading to the layover but with positive space. I get the jumpseat as another pilot walks up and realizes that there is no hope for this one now. The flight is late coming in, but we finally get loaded up and head for Atlanta. Of course there is a minor delay and a reroute that takes us even longer, but at least I am heading home. Finally – Success. It only took 25 hours to complete the 1 hour flight.
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John North - USAirways - B-737-300 Captain - Mid 2000's
| 11/24/2005
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