Vegas to Atlanta

Sometimes I forget that the high stress part of travel may have nothing to do with the flying.  I'm scheduled to leave LAS at 6 AM for a weekend in ATL, and all's well until 8 pm the evening before when a terrific thunderstorm pounds Vegas. 

The electricity goes off in the Embassy Suites I'm staying in and - - - well, simply doesn't come back on.  Which means I spend the night in a hotel room where according to the thermostat, the temp is a balmy 97 degrees.

At 3 am, I give up, get up, try to take a shower with practically no water pressure, and head out to the airport.

The 757 was exactly on time, but my Saturday was a mess trying to catch up on sleep.  PHL is next.

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL1602/history/20130720/1300Z/KLAS/KATL

Out to Vegas

Out to LAS, another place I work in frequently.  The outbound out of TPA took a flow control delay into ATL due to weather in ATL.  When we arrived, you could tell it had been raining.

The next segment out to LAS was delayed by 2 hours because the inbound aircraft was hit by big weather between Jacksonville and ATL.

Just the typical Delta/Atlanta/Hub/Spoke summertime stuff.

I read in USA today where the number one demand of today's modern traveler is internet access, and this includes inside the aircraft.

I was on DL's Gogo system all the way from ATL ant LAS, and even at $20.00 for a one day pass, the service worked very well!

Back to ATL for a visit and the end of the week, and then on to PHL

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL2091/history/20130715/1730Z/KTPA/KATL

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL2143/history/20130715/2030Z/KATL/KLAS

Chicago (O'Hare)

Four days in ORD, working right at the airport.

I've probably made more trips to Chicago than anyplace I've ever worked.  And when I lived there for those two years, I got more than my share of delays out of ORD and some out of MDW.

But this trip went well.

On the return I invoked the cardinal rule of "If you can get out of town earlier, do it!"

This meant going standby, thus sacrificing my two first class seats.  But I cleared both waitlists and got to TPA early.

Vegas next week, and the upgrades have cleared!

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL1677/history/20130711/2030Z/KORD/KATL

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL1797/history/20130712/0045Z/KATL/KTPA

The Asiana Crash in SFO

No way I'm gonna comment on this.  I was sitting at home in St. Pete when this news broke on Saturday.  It took a while for the pics to come in but eventually we saw the debris on the runway at SFO and I yelled to my blessed significant other that "this looks like a damn tail strike".  Well, the rest you get due to the nonstop news coverage.

What you may not get if you don't travel is the mess that passengers experience as a result of this and how the legacy carriers, in this case United, let you know how screwed you are.  When I saw the letter that I'm posting, I was speechless.

Bottom line, if a legacy screws  you, you are on your own.

Look at this:

http://postimg.org/image/ipkd9x099/

TPA to ORD, Just When I Started to Believe Again in Delta

Just when I was about to believe:

1) Loaded the MD 90 in TPA and then just sat for 20 minutes with no word from the cockpit.  Finally a gate agent comes in twice and offloads people.  Nobody else is loaded.  No verbal explanation from anybody. 

2)  Door is closed and again we sit.  Cockpit comes on and says due to weather in ATL, we have a wheels up time in another 30 minutes.  Actually it's more like 20, but now we will be at least 45 minutes late into ATL.

3) Naturally my connection to ORD is on time and I knew I was in for a battleground upgrade on the DC 9.  No time to stop and even look at the monitor, I stuck the BP under the reader and no upgrade came out.  So I sat in Economy Comfort.

4) ATL gate agent comes in frantically looking for one pax and I overheard him say that he had one open seat in first.  They page the pax over the PA and no response.  So instead of running back up to the computer and checking who deserved this upgrade, the GA closed the door and we flew out with one empty seat in first.  That hasn't happened to me in over 20 years.

5)  Arrived at ORD and taxied right past our gate and out into the mess of arriving taxiways.  And I thought what on earth could this be.  At least the captain had the stones to tell the truth, "Due to lack of ramp employees, we can not pull into our gate as no one is available to guide us in".

So, even though we landed 20 minutes early, we pulled into the gate 10 minutes late.  This stuff is too good to make up.

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL1556/history/20130707/1845Z/KTPA/KATL

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL1306/history/20130707/2127Z/KATL/KORD

Columbus, OH

Another quick one day job, this one in CMH.  Delta was the better fit than Southwest on this and I need the miles all the time anyway.

Take a look at the first segment.  The weather between TPA and ATL was tough and look at the vectoring and holding that was involved.  The ATC guys, my old friends, are just fabulous.  But what should have been an hour and 10 minutes in the air took 2 and a half hours due to the wx.

I got finished early in CMH and did stand by for the return segments.  Thanks to the agent in CMH who came back to coach and gave me a first class boarding pass on the segment into ATL.  Man, you look cool with the ink and the studs in the ear.  Thank god DL has apparently relaxed a bit on the "wholesome" image for employees.

Off the entire week of July 4!  (Incredibly I had to work on July 4 last year!)  Hope you have a great summer holiday.  Chicago is next.

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL2091/history/20130628/1730Z/KTPA/KATL

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL1314/history/20130628/2000Z/KATL/KCMH

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL755/history/20130629/1821Z/KCMH/KATL

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL2376/history/20130629/2125Z/KATL/KTPA

Boise

Made a quick, short trip to BOI.  Delta through MSP coming and going.  The fare was outrageous, over $1000.00 and still I had to get a battleground upgrade on the final segment back to TPA.  I've been reading about how DL pax do NOT like an A320 in first and I found out why.

If they guy in front of you leans back, then you can NOT drop your tray completely flat.  Nor can you put it up as well.  I watched a FA ask a guy to return the seat upright so the guy behind him could eat.

It makes you wonder who designs this stuff.

All flights were on time despite pretty nasty weather into MSP.

Columbus, OH is next.

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL1997/history/20130623/1215Z/KTPA/KMSP

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL869/history/20130623/1635Z/KMSP/KBOI

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL976/history/20130625/1300Z/KBOI/KMSP

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL1712/history/20130625/1905Z/KMSP/KTPA