Canceled Flight

I had a very interesting, and long weekend.

Monday was presidents day (Feb 20), so it was a holiday for my company. I spent the time going back to Chicago to visit.

To maximize my time there, I was scheduled to take the United red-eye from San Diego to O'Hare. I will relate the story to you, as I heard it, because I found it most interesting.

It seems that a scheduler in Chicago (United's headquarters) decided that there were too many empty seats on the aircraft, so the aircraft was down-graded to a smaller plane. This meant that a different aircraft would be sent to the departure gate (no problem), and the appropriate flight crew needed to be gathered and sent out also.

Let me explain that I am hearing this part of the story from the gate agent in San Diego, as we are waiting to board the aircraft. The flight is scheduled to depart San Diego at 11 PM. San Diego airport closes at 12 midnight. We have a pilot and co-pilot, but no Flight Attendants. They are, apparently on their way from LAX, by van.

Keep in mind, at this point that it is a Friday night, it is a 3-day weekend for many people (not all), and it is raining. As I stood there listening to the conversation between the gate attendant and the co-pilot, I realized that there was a good chance that we were not going to get out of San Diego that night.

A couple of phone calls revealed that the remaining flight crew were at least 20 miles away, and it was already 11:30. At that point the gate attendant declared the flight cancelled. Needless to say, there were the usual grumbling and complaints as we all trudged back down to the ticket counter. I got my flight changed to Saturday morning via the phone and headed for home.

The next morning, I get to the airport, but my flight is not listed, nor does my name come up using the e-ticket machines. I am disappointed and now I must wait in line with the multitudes and find out what is going on. Fortunately, I am a frequent flier with United and I get to stand in the short line.

Yada, yada, yada, I get my boarding pass and soon I am back up at the same gate looking at (I am pretty sure) the same aircraft as last night. I am early to the gate, as is my practice. Soon, up walks a flight attendant who, after a short while, tells the tale from her point-of-view.

She was one of the three flight attendants that were called up yesterday afternoon. All three are stand-by employees out of Los Angeles, and were told to report to LAX by 8 PM. Then they were told to catch a van to go to San Diego.

Here is where the story gets interesting.

It turns out that the van driver had brought his wife with him, and the van only holds three passengers. From what the flight attendant could make out, the wife was leery of the husband's fidelity and insisted that she accompany him on the trip.

An argument ensued because none of the passengers would volunteer to sit between the two rear seats, without a seat belt, for the long drive.

The driver finally decided to take his wife home and return for the flight attendants. By the time he got back to LAX to begin the voyage South, it was about 9:30 PM. Everyone knew that they would not be in time, but they all pressed on with failing hopes.

Cest la Gar.