Delta's Delayed Day or The Day from Hell

Turns out it is cheaper to fly Charlotte-Atlanta-Melbourne then to do Atlanta-Melbourne..go figure. So that's the route I used to get to Florida on Sunday. Atleast, the route I planned to take, anyway.

D took me to breakfast at Cracker Barrel and it was delicious. I was pretty relaxed. Everything was going to plan. Flight 1659 Charlotte-Atlanta was a Boeing 757 and everything was fine, it was on-time. We were half way down the run way at full throttle when all of the sudden the air brakes kick in and the plane came to a halt. The captain came on the PA and said "Ladies and Gentlemen... we've had an indication... so we're going to pull over here and run some tests. Later he came back on and said all the diagnostics were fine so they were going to stay put and run the engines at full throttle and see what happened. So they did that. He came back on the PA "Ladies and Gentlemen, we've seen the warning light.. again... so we're going to go back to the gate." At this point I wasn't upset. At least they found the problem before we were airborne. Our plane returned to the gate only there was already another plane in our spot. The captain came back on board and told us we would have to wait until that plane was loaded and backed out before we could pull in and have maintenance look over the plane. So we waited. Finally we got the gate. After awhile the captain suggested that we go back into the airport so that we could stretch our legs and have some refreshment.

If only that was the only hiccup in my day.

They were not able to repair our plane. The counter was unable to transfer me to the 2:05 plane to Atlanta. It was booked. Instead, they rescheduled me for the 4:30 flight, Delta 1675. It would connect with Melbourne flight, Delta 821 which left at 6:56. That gave me an hour layover in Atlanta. I was feeling pretty good about the day. Delta had a problem, but they were making amends. They even gave me a meal voucher. I went out onto the concourse and thought I would buy a salad. Only I couldn't find a single employee to wait on me. I trudged all the way down to KFC and had a nasty, overpriced fried chicken sandwich that I didn't even want then went back to the gate. And what did I find when I arrived? The 4:30, flight 1675 was delayed. We weren't going to be leaving until 5:30. So, I took a deep breath and went up and spoke with the gate attendant. She agreed that 26 minutes was cutting it close for a connecting flight in Atlanta but at least I was on the same concourse... I asked her about contingency plans. She told me the 6:56 was the last flight to Melbourne on any carrier. She told me she would double-book me to Orlando just in case. I returned to my seat thinking about what a mad dash I was going to have to make.

I didn't know the half of it.

It seems Flight 1675 was later than 5:30. In fact, the attendant came over the PA and announced it wouldn't be at Charlotte until 6PM. There was no way I was going to make Flight 821 to Melbourne. Then another announcement came over the PA... Flight 1696 was leaving for Atlanta at 5:45 two gates over from mine. What? My trusty, loyal gate attendant knew that I had a tight connection and she didn't move me to the earlier flight - was that possible? Yes. I hightailed it over to gate A1 and the nice gate attendant there switched my flight. So I finally left Charlotte on Flight 1696, an MD88.

Unfortunately, there was a line to take off. We were seventh. We were.. what is the word... delayed.

The captain came over the PA to tell us that he was 'beginning his decent to Atlanta' I asked someone what time it was. Oh. Ten till Seven. I was missing my connecting flight to Melbourne. I took a few more deep breaths. Looked up the gate for Orlando. A1. How hard could that be, we were coming into Concourse A, right? Wrong. Flight 1675 was going to Concourse A. My flight, the one I transfered to, Flight 1696, came into Concourse B. The very tail end of B.

Did I mention my carry-on did not have wheels?

So I'm slogging through Concourse B and I can't find one bloody sign for A. I'm in a sea of people and they're all bopping me with their bags as they pass me. And then I see the sign. Concourse A. I was only going to A1, so I began to relax, I'm here, take it easy, take a breath. And that's when I see the gate number. A18. That's right. A1 is at the far end. So I ramp back up into rush mode.Me and my blisters finally run into gate A1 to find that flight 979 to Orlando was boarding. I look down at the paper the lady in Charlotte had given me. It wasn't a boarding pass. It was a "interrupted travel" document. I ran up to the counter and babbled at the gate attendant, waving the paper at her face. She took pity on me, gave me a new piece of paper and I was on my way. I thrust all the paper at the ticket man and he scanned the right one and let me board. Flight 979 was a Boeing 767. Let me tell you, this was a BIG aircraft. It was 50 rows long and 7 seats across. I must have looked a sight when I got to row 44 because a man stood up and reached out and took my bag from me and asked me where I wanted it. I almost kissed his Adidas. I told him he was the best part of my day.

So, It was 9:30PM and I was still not in Melbourne, but on the bright side, atleast Orlando is Florida. Mom had made some calls and told me to find Mears Taxi. I came off the plane and went to the first employee I could find and muttered 'Mears Taxi'. She replied 'Baggage Claim'. I walked and walked and walked and finally came upon the tram to Baggage Claim. When I got off, I walked to the nearest employee and said 'Mears Taxi' and she pointed out the door. I walked out the door and spotted a girl in a blaze yellow shirt that read "TAXI' in letters six inches high. I walked right up to her and said "Mears Taxi' and she said 'right here, honey, where are you going to?" So I said 'Melbourne" and she parroted it back to me with a look. The driver behind her echoed "Melbourne?" He made three cell phone calls to his boss before he agreed to take me. But that was OK, I was headed home.

So now I'm here. Safe and sound. I don't have much lee-way in my return schedule but always the optimist, I'm praying for the best.