The one thing about riding business class - at least on this supposedly "short" flight to Atlanta - is that the pilot (Captain Dan) was VERY chatty. You know how when you are riding economy, and maybe you're in the 23rd row and every once in awhile the pilot will come over the intercom and say something? But the noise of the plane is so loud that it sounds like gibberish surrounded by white noise and you immediately wonder what it was he was trying to tell you? Well, that isn't the case in business class. Captain Dan talked to us often. Heck, he even came out and shook the hands of everyone and thanked us for our business. He then proceeded to go through the entire plane and shake the hand of every service person on board, thanking them for keeping us free. This was BEFORE the plane had even left the ground.
Me, I was feeling pretty darn good. The weather was beautiful, they had checked my bag (ahhh my bag - I wonder where it is now?) and given me a boarding pass before I walked into the airport. Going through security was simple and painless.
A ways into the flight Capt. Dan told us to expect a little turbulence - there was a line of storms we had to cross, but we were going to circle west a bit and come in behind them. Next message: Atlanta is not letting planes land, so we are going to stay above clouds and circle again. Next message: There is a "hole" in the clouds and we are going to "shoot" for it and try and land....it might get bumpy. It got VERY bumpy. I could see the airport below us, the the winds were buffeting us about like a paper plane. Up we went again. Next message: Sorry folks, our plane wasn't built to take those 50mph winds, and we are diverting to Columbus, South Carolina. Next message: Atlanta would prefer us to go to Savannah where we will refuel. Don't worry, we have enough fuel to get there.
Savannah - we don't get off. Some people demand to terminate there....they do get off. We refuel. Back in the air - forty minutes to Atlanta - the storms have moved but you can see them in the distance. We land - its midnight. Four plus hours after we were supposed to have landed. My connecting flight to the UK - which was to have left at ten was also delayed....but it had taken off ten minutes before we landed.
There is a line. A very LONG line full of angry, sad, tired people. Each with their own stories - connections to be made, It is always interesting to see how people respond. Some throw tantrums, some heckle the tantrum throwers. Lots of people who do not speak english - lots of flights were cancelled or late because of these storms - and there are people laying all over the airport sleeping....on the benches, on the floor, huddled in corners. This isn't a tragedy - it's just a natural occurrence for people who have the privilege of using this kind of transportation.
By the time I get to the head of the line it is four a.m. The soonest they can get me out is Saturday night (its now Friday morning). There are no hotel rooms for 30 miles...but here are some food vouchers and come back to the desk at seven and we will probably be able to get you a room somewhere - as people will be getting up early to catch flights. Staggered out to find juice, coffee, anything. Sat in a chair and watched
Sons of Anarchy on netflix. At seven, went back to the desk and got a voucher for a room at the Best Western - run by an Indian family who have interesting ideas about decorating. No rooms clean yet so I was invited to sit in the "lobby" (one couch and a tv) and watch Good Morning America. I passed out....and they woke me up at nine to direct me to my room. Slept till almost six p.m.. Ihop for a meal. Back to the airport tomorrow. Atlanta is hot - and the world-wide mixture of extremely kind and extremely strange people.
Travel is a journey. If you allow yourself to forget that...you spend a lot of time being uselessly upset. I would like my luggage to find me at my final destination. I will really be tired of this outfit by then. I wrote to the place in Scotland where I had booked rooms for tonight and tomorrow and explained what had happen. They replied within the hour - telling me that they would have a room and a cuppa tea waiting for me when I got there - because the airport experience "sounds tedious." Well put.
