.... let me tell you of my most recent trip back to Tampa from Southern California 
I left for John Wayne Airport (SNA) in Orange County Sunday morning around 6AM for a flight back to Tampa, FL with a connection in Dallas (DFW). It was an uneventful flight to DFW. When I arrived, I was greeted with a message that my connecting flight to Tampa was delayed from 3:10PM until 5PM - and then 6:30PM... and then 7:00PM.
We finally boarded the plane about 7:45PM and started to taxi out for takeoff - then the pilot shut off the starboard engine. He announced that we had to go back to the gate because something was broken and had to be fixed before we could go. After getting off and waiting for about 45 minutes, the flight was cancelled - the last flight to Tampa for the day.
I got on the phone with American Airlines rebooking desk and got a representative on the phone within 10 minutes (vs standing in line for a least 2 hours in the terminal). After about 30 minutes of trial and error, we determined that the only option that I had to make it to Tampa before work on Monday was to fly back to Los Angeles (LAX) and catch the redeye back to Tampa that left at around 11:30PM
The flight back from DFW to LAX left me about 1:15 in buffer time, so I was thrilled when we boarded and taxied out on time. As we approached the runway, I noticed that there seemed to be quite a bit af lightning, but they wouldn't let us out unless everything was OK, would they?
Apparently they would. After we got out and prepared for takeoff, the airport was shut down due to lightning in the area. After sitting on the tarmac for 1:30, we were finally released for takeoff.
Uneventful flight to LAX - except that our gate was occupied when we arrived at LAX. We sat on the tarmac for close to an hour waiting for our gate to open. When we finally got off the place, I was informed that my flight had left 15 minutes ago and there were no other flights until tomorrow
Back on the phone with American Airline Help desk - It's now 12:00 midnight. The next best option is to get on the 6AM flight to Chicago (ORD), arrive before Noon, then take the 3PM flight to Tampa. This flight was again uneventful. We touched down at 11:45AM to a winter wonderland. I turned ou that ORD was closed to departing flights, so our gate was occupied. The tower send us to a holding area to wait for our gate to open.
It never did...
At around 2:20PM, we were allowed to go to a different gate and get off the plane. Here I am in Chicago with the temperature around 30 degrees, wearing nothing more than a polo shirt and very light jogging pants and my luggage probably on it's way to Tampa. no big deal - my flight to Tampa wan't supposed to leave until 3:10PM. When I get to that gate, we are told that my flight has been delayed until 5PM. There are a total of 3 flights to Tampa on Monday - only our flight wasn't cancelled so far.
I sat down at the gate and waited with everyone else, but nothing was happening. Around 4PM, we were told that our gate had been changed to H11a - seemingly a mile away. I struggled to walk down there, arriving around 4:30PM. When we get there, the gate person knows nothing of the change. A check of the departing flight board, we see that our flight is still listed, but with "NO" for the assigned gate...
The time of our flight went from 4:30 to 5:00 to 6:00 to 7:30 to 8:00 to 9:00 to 10:00....
No update until around 11PM - Gate is now H15 and the boarding time is 11:30, so we all hike down there only to find no one there from the airline. Eventually someone showed up around midnight. We are allowed to board justy after midnight, but sit while we wait for the gate people to fill the empty sets with standby passengers. We were the last flight out for the day - the next available flight after this was
Friday!
2PM rolls around before we actually depart - landed in Tampa at 4:45AM. Forty three hours at airports or in the air for a total of about 7,000 miles flown - and virtually no sleep for 2 full days....
Bottom line - never happier to get here and go to work
I left for John Wayne Airport (SNA) in Orange County Sunday morning around 6AM for a flight back to Tampa, FL with a connection in Dallas (DFW). It was an uneventful flight to DFW. When I arrived, I was greeted with a message that my connecting flight to Tampa was delayed from 3:10PM until 5PM - and then 6:30PM... and then 7:00PM.
We finally boarded the plane about 7:45PM and started to taxi out for takeoff - then the pilot shut off the starboard engine. He announced that we had to go back to the gate because something was broken and had to be fixed before we could go. After getting off and waiting for about 45 minutes, the flight was cancelled - the last flight to Tampa for the day.
I got on the phone with American Airlines rebooking desk and got a representative on the phone within 10 minutes (vs standing in line for a least 2 hours in the terminal). After about 30 minutes of trial and error, we determined that the only option that I had to make it to Tampa before work on Monday was to fly back to Los Angeles (LAX) and catch the redeye back to Tampa that left at around 11:30PM
The flight back from DFW to LAX left me about 1:15 in buffer time, so I was thrilled when we boarded and taxied out on time. As we approached the runway, I noticed that there seemed to be quite a bit af lightning, but they wouldn't let us out unless everything was OK, would they?
Apparently they would. After we got out and prepared for takeoff, the airport was shut down due to lightning in the area. After sitting on the tarmac for 1:30, we were finally released for takeoff.
Uneventful flight to LAX - except that our gate was occupied when we arrived at LAX. We sat on the tarmac for close to an hour waiting for our gate to open. When we finally got off the place, I was informed that my flight had left 15 minutes ago and there were no other flights until tomorrow
Back on the phone with American Airline Help desk - It's now 12:00 midnight. The next best option is to get on the 6AM flight to Chicago (ORD), arrive before Noon, then take the 3PM flight to Tampa. This flight was again uneventful. We touched down at 11:45AM to a winter wonderland. I turned ou that ORD was closed to departing flights, so our gate was occupied. The tower send us to a holding area to wait for our gate to open.
It never did...
At around 2:20PM, we were allowed to go to a different gate and get off the plane. Here I am in Chicago with the temperature around 30 degrees, wearing nothing more than a polo shirt and very light jogging pants and my luggage probably on it's way to Tampa. no big deal - my flight to Tampa wan't supposed to leave until 3:10PM. When I get to that gate, we are told that my flight has been delayed until 5PM. There are a total of 3 flights to Tampa on Monday - only our flight wasn't cancelled so far.
I sat down at the gate and waited with everyone else, but nothing was happening. Around 4PM, we were told that our gate had been changed to H11a - seemingly a mile away. I struggled to walk down there, arriving around 4:30PM. When we get there, the gate person knows nothing of the change. A check of the departing flight board, we see that our flight is still listed, but with "NO" for the assigned gate...
The time of our flight went from 4:30 to 5:00 to 6:00 to 7:30 to 8:00 to 9:00 to 10:00....
No update until around 11PM - Gate is now H15 and the boarding time is 11:30, so we all hike down there only to find no one there from the airline. Eventually someone showed up around midnight. We are allowed to board justy after midnight, but sit while we wait for the gate people to fill the empty sets with standby passengers. We were the last flight out for the day - the next available flight after this was
Friday!
2PM rolls around before we actually depart - landed in Tampa at 4:45AM. Forty three hours at airports or in the air for a total of about 7,000 miles flown - and virtually no sleep for 2 full days....
Bottom line - never happier to get here and go to work
