What do you mean, the flight is cancelled? I was told to be here at 11 a.m. for my flight to Colorado Springs and now you tell me I have to wait until tomorrow?
It’s those FAA guys, they won’t release the plane, and now I have to travel 150 miles to the nearest airport. But, hey, it’s better than tomorrow morning.
While I cried on the counter, thinking about my early appointment the next morning, I realized I wasn’t the only one with deadlines. Here was this young man in uniform waiting at the gate, looking sad, with a girl hanging at his elbow.
His C.O. let out a very long and loud sigh verbalizing his distress at waiting for another flight the next day. The girlfriend, meantime, let everyone know she had to return to classes in Colorado Spring that afternoon, anyway, so she would gladly take us along for the ride. It wasn’t that bad of a deal, especially when I suggested I pay for the gas in exchange for the ride.
Well, little did I know she had to go home, pick up her things, say goodbye to her grandmother, aunt, mother, father and all her siblings?
We finally got on the way to her grandmother’s house. Her mother was notified she was taking passengers with her all the way to Colorado Springs to make certain her insurance covered everyone in case of an accident. All this time, I’m sitting in the car waiting for the girl to get her act together while the boyfriend is waiting at the airport with his C.O. who wouldn’t let him out of his sight.
The flight from Colorado Springs to the west coast was to leave at 4 p.m. so we still had plenty of time considering the airport was only 150 miles north of the town.
In the meantime, the C.O. has left the airport and driven to his office to wait for the girl to get her stuff. The C.O. was holding the tickets in his hand, making sure the young man either didn’t lose them, didn’t cash them and didn’t exchange them or whatever other thoughts were in his mind at the moment. As I understand now, all new recruits are unable to think for themselves, so the C.O. is always on hand to do the thinking for them.
When we arrived at the C.O.’s office, he mentioned in passing he needed to escort the young man in his car to the gate at the airport, hand the tickets to the counter person and then leave. It meant we had to follow him for the next 150 miles, lest he and the young man separated in transit. By this time is long past 1 p.m.
We waited around for over an hour for his other person in the office to return from lunch. Now, even if we left at that time, the possibility of making the 4 p.m. connection was getting more remote by the minute. So the C.O. decided to close the office and start our trek to the airport.
Once on the highway, although the speed was posted at 55 MPH, the C.O. was making tracks at 75-80 MPH. The young woman was concerned and it showed by her grip on the steering wheel.
Somehow we managed to arrive at the airport 10 minutes prior to departure, jumped out of the car with the young man and the C.O. running in front; the young woman says goodbye to the boyfriend, the C.O. hands the tickets to the agent and we all board with about two minutes to spare.
After locating my seat, I had enough time to mentally prepare for the excitement waiting for me at the job-site; then, the captain’s voice is heard over the loud speaker saying “Ladies and gentlemen, this is the captain, we are experiencing some mechanical difficulties and we need you to deplane at your earliest convenience. We will not be able to leave from the gate this afternoon; our next flight leaves at 11 a.m. tomorrow morning. You are already confirmed, so there is no need to talk with the podium to organize another connection. We want to be your airline, and we will pay for your local hotel room and a meal. Begin your descent; we have a bus waiting for you at the gate to take you directly to the hotel. We bid you good night”.
Elva Weber