Waiting On The Tarmac
United sure did their best to make this vacation interesting. Flying out last Saturday, I was connecting through O’Hare into Phoenix. When we pulled up to the terminal, there were no empty gates for us, so I had to wait about 40 minutes until they had one that was open. We end up parking in E11, which is about as far from C27 as you can get, so of course I miss my connecting flight. No big deal because they had one 3 hours later, so I made it to Phoenix later than I’d hoped.
On the way back, I am connecting through O’Hare again. This time when we pull up to the gate, there are flashes of lightening in the air, so the pilot tells us that we will have to wait, 50 feet from the ramp, until the lightening clears so they can have the ground crew come out and lead us in. So it’s 7:50 PM and my connection is at 8:55. When do they finally let us off the plane? 10:15 PM! Two and a half hours on the stupid plane sitting 50 feet from the ramp thing, and that after a 3 and half our flight. It’s all the stupid union or FAA rules. I could have drove that thing in and stopped it so the ramp could meet us, but I guess rules is rules.
So of course I miss my connecting flight, and am stuck in Chicago until the next flight which was at 1:35 PM. Luckily, my brother is still awake, so I took a cab into town and crashed at his place. So today, I get on the plane at about 1:15 PM and when does the plane finally take off? 4:30! We sat on the tarmac for over 3 hours, partially because of a mechanical issue, but mostly because O’Hare just doesn’t have the capacity to handle so many planes when there is bad weather around. Well, I guess that is what you get when you use miles to get a free flight.
United sure did their best to make this vacation interesting. Flying out last Saturday, I was connecting through O’Hare into Phoenix. When we pulled up to the terminal, there were no empty gates for us, so I had to wait about 40 minutes until they had one that was open. We end up parking in E11, which is about as far from C27 as you can get, so of course I miss my connecting flight. No big deal because they had one 3 hours later, so I made it to Phoenix later than I’d hoped.
On the way back, I am connecting through O’Hare again. This time when we pull up to the gate, there are flashes of lightening in the air, so the pilot tells us that we will have to wait, 50 feet from the ramp, until the lightening clears so they can have the ground crew come out and lead us in. So it’s 7:50 PM and my connection is at 8:55. When do they finally let us off the plane? 10:15 PM! Two and a half hours on the stupid plane sitting 50 feet from the ramp thing, and that after a 3 and half our flight. It’s all the stupid union or FAA rules. I could have drove that thing in and stopped it so the ramp could meet us, but I guess rules is rules.
So of course I miss my connecting flight, and am stuck in Chicago until the next flight which was at 1:35 PM. Luckily, my brother is still awake, so I took a cab into town and crashed at his place. So today, I get on the plane at about 1:15 PM and when does the plane finally take off? 4:30! We sat on the tarmac for over 3 hours, partially because of a mechanical issue, but mostly because O’Hare just doesn’t have the capacity to handle so many planes when there is bad weather around. Well, I guess that is what you get when you use miles to get a free flight.
