Have you ever been traveling and one of those little lights comes on?
You know, the kind that gets you stuck in an airport? Or worse yet, on the tarmac? I’m always grateful however, when they choose to come on while we’re still on the ground.
But sometimes impatience gets the better of me and I forget how fortunate I am at the moment. Do you know that feeling?
Wish I had written this before Thanksgiving since a couple of those are the busiest travel days of the year. TSA even said that the Sunday after Thanksgiving was the busiest ever.
Sorry this story wasn’t there in time to help… inspiration comes on its own time.
So, we took a trip the week before Thanksgiving to visit my sisters thinking we could avoid some of the craziness. The strategy mostly worked. Mostly.
As we waited to board our outbound flight, flights were being cancelled up and down the terminal because of the weather. No word to that affect for us. So far, that is.
Up and to this point, our trip had started flawlessly. And that was already making me nervous. Flawless and travel are words that just don’t come packaged together. Not to worry though, the airlines will never figure out how to make that happen… let alone charge extra for it.
We pull back from the gate on time.
After a long wait in line for de-icing due to freezing rain and snow, we finally make it to the end of the runway for takeoff. Engines spinning up, a little. Yeah! Then a slow roll followed by an immediate right turn.
Well, that’s not right!” I said, keen observer that I am.
Just kidding folks, we’re not going anywhere thanks to one of those little red lights that shouldn’t be shining bright (holiday terminology). Turns out that the de-icing system on one-half of the plane wasn’t functioning… at all.
The pilot was thinking we probably would need that on this flight.
I’m fairly sure most of us agreed… so back to the gate.
On the way, he gave us a couple of useful updates about what we might expect. And still not suggestion of a cancellation. Fingers crossed.
Still, the only question on anyone’s mind was, “When am I going to get where I’m going?” The thought of possibly having dodged a bullet has yet to cross anyone’s mind, including mine. After all, I’m being inconvenienced, dammit!
Flashbacks of news stories about planeloads of passengers stuck in shiny metal tubes on tarmacs for hours without bathrooms or beverages begin to dart back and forth through my head. That’s when the Captain announces that they’ll be letting us off the plane, but to stay close by for a re-boarding as soon as possible.
Forgive my doubt, but these are not words airlines tend to use much these days.
And miracles of miracles… we continue to receive updates. Sure, there was a lot of talk about maintenance crews, finding parts, system tests, de-icing again and the like. But I was relaxed and so was everyone else.
A short while later, I bumped into the Captain in the concourse. I asked him a couple of questions, mostly to let him know that he was doing a great job taking care of us poor traveling souls.
Two very simple steps he and the crew took made all the difference in the world…
- They let us off the plane.
- They shared the information they had.
I thanked him for both.
Something he said to me in our brief conversation I hope to remember for a long, long time…
During my time in aviation, I’ve found it comes down to this… Be flexible or be miserable, it’s up to you. I also try to apply that as much as I can to life.”
I regret not writing his name down so I could give proper credit to him and the crew. To Captain Who? You’re a good human. Thanks!
Even though we lost half of the first day to weather and a little red light, the experience wasn’t bad. Not at all. And we got there.
And I have a new and useful RULE to add to my list.
Be untucked.
Leave a Reply