Traveling in Hell

Sitting this morning in the Dallas Fort Worth airport. I think I’m outraged at American Airlines, but too tired to tell right now.

I flew out of Burbank yesterday, Sunday afternoon. The flight was to be Burbank -> Dallas Fort Worth -> Jackson, MS. There was even a significant layover in Dallas, ensuring I’d make my next flight. Well, sort of.

Moments after the cabin doors close in Burbank, it’s announced that we’re being diverted to Tuscon, AZ to refuel. Apparently there’s “weather” in Dallas and they’re afraid of getting diverted and not having enough fuel to reach the next destination. Also, because of this we’re all probably going to miss our connections, and no, we can’t get off the plane.

We fly to Tuscon, land and the 20 minute refueling takes 45 minutes.

We fly to Dallas! We’re here, land and then… lightning storm. Yup. All ground crews evacuate the runway and we start waiting on the tarmac for the storm to relent.

Relevantly, this is when the news comes out that Osama bin Laden has been killed. That definitely improved the mood on the plane. There was even some celebrating with a little airline sized bottle of Jack Daniels.

Soon, the weather lets up enough for the ground crews to return (i.e. an hour later). It’s past midnight now and I find the nearest Marriott to crash in with a new boarding pass for a 6:30am flight.

I sleep for about three hours, ish.

6:00am rolls around and I’m at the airport, waiting to board my flight.

6:15am. There’s an announcement. The previous night the plane had been hit by hail, so they’ve (just now) decided the plane needs to be checked out by maintenance.

8:00am. Hello, there! I’m sitting here writing this and have put up with numerous 15 minute updates of “We don’t know anything yet, hold on.” Really wish I could’ve gotten that extra sleep. Sorry if I rambled.