Thursday

For once things got off to a start at a reasonable hour, as my flight was timed to meet up with Susan in Minneapolis in the evening. As usual with the airlines these days, everything got off to a smooth start in San Diego, but it was the connection in Phoenix where the problems crept up. The flight was oversold and the plane had been down sized from the intended plane, and of course there was an hour delay on top of that as well. At the gate we were all told it’d be at least an hour and we should go to lunch. I’ve seen that game before, and of course they announced a gate change while everyone was gone. Once we boarded, the plane it became immediately apparent that this plane was brand new…during the Nixon Administration. It really is amazing what we’re supposed to deal with in airline travel these days…but wow…

I’m not going to mention names here in the interest of being fair, but this airline does fly Airways in the US. Oh, and you know that rule about not getting up and walking around while the plane is taxiing? Yeah, they’re serious about that. The traveler next to me decided that it was wise to drink as much water as possible while the flight boarded, given that the AC was not on and the temp was in the 90s right after she’d finished a giant Dr. Pepper. At any rate, during the 45 min loading and taxi time, she decided that it was time, got up and trotted off to the “Lav”, despite the protestations of the crew both on and off the PA, and the pilot pulled off the active taxiway. So, our departure was delayed an additional 45 minutes as we got back into the rotation for take-off.