This entry was written yesterday… I am posting now because I didn’t have internet access at 30,000 feet. I wish they would fix that…
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It is 10:49PM EST and I sit in the Dulles G terminal while I write this entry. My flight on a United commuter plane to get back to Michigan is sheduled to leave at 9:35PM, see an issue? We have been playing the bump the time by 10-15 minutes game now for over an hour. The sad thing being that the time expires, then they bump by 10-15 minutes which is clearly unrealistic. There has been one time when I saw a plane get boarded by everyone in under 10 minutes and off the runway in less than 20 minutes and that was special cases all the way. If I see that again in my life I would be shocked, so bumping 10-15 minutes for takeoff time when no one is on the plane yet is ridiculous.
Initially the announced problem was that the plane was late, then the plane was there but the crew was coming in on another flight and were due to arrive any time and finally they arrived and were inspecting the plane. 30 minutes later there was an issue with an alleged flat tire which was followed by a problem with the bathrooms…
Maybe this was all accurate and our plane was having a bad night… How can we know for sure, certainly United wouldn’t give us the info directly that would prove they were making crap up. Well to add to this, there was a flight to Jacksonville at the gate right next to mine that was being delayed almost in lockstep with my flight. Problem…. Crew coming in on another flight…. Then they had to change a tire…. Then they had to change all of the smoke detectors. A bit funny huh?
My theory is that their crews are over their flight time due to the bad weather we had today and now they are trying to find someone who can take the flight(s). I wouldn’t be suprised to see the pilot rushing in here with superhero pajamas on wiping the sleep gook from his eyes. As long as there is a cape to fill it all out I will be fine with it (I am not about half measures, if you are going to wear superhero jammies, go all the way darnit).
Oh this just in, sounds like the Cleveland flight in the same terminal is also having similar odd issues. So what is this? Does United have the crappiest planes in the air and they are so unsafe that multiple planes having multiple items failing all at once like this? If I can believe the folks complaining around me, every single flight that needs to leave commuter terminal G here at Dulles is delayed and/or on hold. Whether it is a trick by United so they can hold people for a while without them really complaining big time or the planes are in that rough of shape I will have to think twice prior to flying United again. It makes sense to take a more expensive flight with a company with a better track record for timeliness than sit around not knowing how long this will take, certainly it is cheaper for any company I work for while traveling on business. I really think something is going on, this is the first time in quite a bit of flying in my life that I have encountered a plane that needed a tire change like that and to have two planes both at the same pair of departure gates has got to be a record of some sort.
Through all of this as I type this I have to admit I am in a rather calm cool and collected mood just looking around and smiling. Usually I am fit to be tied to get back to my nice comfortable bed but this was a good week and I am in an overall good mood. I am trying to be more of a look around where you are at person versus head down, go straight to my goal. Who knows how much I have missed to this point because I haven’t been paying attention? Anyway, I found that the wait isn’t so terribly bad when I am not all pissed off while waiting. I just sit here smiling and taking notes for the blog and working on emails to send to folks spending more time worrying out how to say something than about how long it is taking for United to get their butts in gear.
Ah finally…Â 11:10 PM and they are letting us board… I expect an 11:30-11:40 take off…
More news, I was the first on the plane and took my seat which was right in the front (1C). I see the Captain (Captain Melissa I think she said) get on the plane and start talking to the stewardess (is that the current politically correct title for that position?) and asking her how she was doing and how she had been… Kind of makes me think that the crew didn’t come in on another plane that was late…Â
Oh well… Finally in the air and on the way.
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Exactly – the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth!! Give it to me straight. Just tell me “Yeh, sorry but we all got festive and had a massive food fight in the cabin. This is going to take a while. Go have a nap/shop/surf on the web for the next hour or so….” Fine, sorted… Happy with that. Don’t drip feed me a lie and hope that I won’t notice.
They are cabin attendants and are part of the cabin crew, I believe. Used to be stewardesses and the rare stewards (as in cruise line ships.) Kind of went a little differently from the waiter/waitress thing. They are either all waiters now or a wait person (wait perchild?). Then there’s actor/actress as opposed to male actor and female. The latter doesn’t seem to have made much headway. Both Emmys and Oscars still use Actor/Actress in their award categories.
Flight Attendant is the PC term these days. They’re there for safety not to wait on you.
Forunately, the UX gates in IAD G(hetto) terminal are currently being phased out into the real IAD terminals if you want to call them that.
The thing with UX is that they sucontact all their flights. Some of their subcontractors have better records than others. Chances are the Cleveland flight and the Detroit flight are two different operators adn thus they can’t have the crews mix or anything. These commuter crews fly way more segments than the mainline crews – the pilots do half a dozen of these a day sometimes. They get to know each other in that they’re small carriers. The small carriers (e.g. UX subs) are where you start if you want to go on to work for one of the classic big airlines. Working for one of these carriers you work alot, and you get paid for shit –
your thing cropped my comment
well what the hell I can’t have have less than followed by dollar
less than 25K dollars generally for a pilot. You need 2000 hours in command of a jet before you can even get an interview with a big carrier, so you rough it out for a few years at one of these small carriers.
I have seen a plane with a flat tire, it does take them a bit to change it but the small planes at least they just use an automotive jack. Lavatory problems are lose/lose – they can fix it and people complain while they wait or they can lock it and people complain they can’t hold it for an hour.
Yes I have noticed the use of the less than and greater than symbols isn’t handled well by wordpress as well… 🙂
Thanks for the info otherwise though, very informative.