29 December, 2007 | Leave a Comment
I arrived back in London today. What an ordeal! I never thought I’d make it. If I hadn’t been so tired, I would have kissed the ground upon arrival.
I was supposed to fly back to London straight from Charlotte on US Airways, but there was a maintenance problem with the plane — rumors spread through the boarding area that it was the engine or the door or the radar. A part had to be flown in from another airport and we had to sit in the waiting area as the hours ticked by very slowly. We were supposed to leave last night at 8:00 p.m., then it was pushed back to 9:00, then 10:00, then 11:00. I began to think the flight would be cancelled. At least they gave us meal vouchers , which I blew on tea, mints and bottled water. I’d already had a two-hour drive from Asheville to Charlotte in the rain and fog and was not feeling peppy.
During the delay, I was quite shocked at the behavior of the British passengers. I would say the passengers on this flight were probably split 50-50 between British and American and the Brits totally lost it! Now listen, I am the first to point out the embarrassing way that Americans behave, so I’m not being biased. One British guy was screaming at the woman at the boarding gate and was actually arrested by airport police and taken way. Many of his fellow Brits were complaining extremely loudly, bitching and moaning and exclaiming things like “I hate this city!”, “I hate this airline!”, “I’m never coming here again!”, “I need a drink!” They were sitting on the floor and rolling around. They surrounded the ticket desk, demanding to be put up in hotels in a very nasty way. I sat next to one British woman who told me that the engine on the plane was ruined and that if we took the flight, we’d effectively be “committing suicide.” You know, I hate flying and I really didn’t need to hear stuff like that. I can be quite pessimistic but even I’m not that bad.
The American passengers seemed to take it more in stride. So much for the British stiff upper lip! Everyone was annoyed and tired and just wanted to get going, but maintenance problems happen. It’s not as if US Airways deliberately sabotaged the plane to screw us all over. I’m not impressed by US Airways and will do my best to avoid them in the future, but in situations like this, I try to just take a deep breath and ride it out. What else can you do? I think many of these international travelers felt they had arrived in Hicksville, U.S.A. Charlotte is not a world-class airport and most of them had never heard of this city before. We weren’t at Heathrow or Kennedy or O’Hare and it’s clear many people felt a lot of disdain for the airport and the workers, which was driving their behavior. There was a lot of arrogance involved.
I was quite anxious by this point. I am a nervous flier and watching people have meltdowns and even get arrested did not help at all and made me feel even more scared. Finally the captain himself came out to try to cool tempers. He told us the problem was that the plane’s air conditioning unit needed to be fixed, which is important for maintaining cabin pressure or some such. The problem was fixed by that point but he said a plane cannot fly across the ocean with a new part because if it malfunctions, there is nowhere to stop for an emergency landing. [He chuckled at this -- pilot humor -- but no one laughed along with him.] The plane has to fly for sixty minutes domestically before it can get certified to fly internationally. So instead of just flying in circles over Charlotte, he decided we’d fly to Philadelphia as a “test flight, ” which would take one hour and get us closer to London. His use of the term “test flight” was a mistake, since it made it seem like we might crash or something. He assured us we could land in Raleigh or another place if there was a problem. Waves of panic rippled through the crowd, so then he said (and I quote):
“Oh, don’t worry y’all, this plane is perfectly safe to fly across the Atlantic.” He then added that he would be getting off in Philly to be replaced by another pilot.
Gee, with that ringing endorsement, let’s take off!
I’m really not sure how I kept it together at that point, given that perfectly normal flights freak me out. I think I was just tired. I’d been sitting in the airport for six hours, reading articles in trash magazines about Britney Spears and her pregnant sister and their wicked mother. I just wanted the misery to end…in death, if necessary.
To add insult to injury, since the plane was landing in Philly, people who bought items in the duty free shop had to return them! The duty free shop was closed by this point because it was after midnight, so they had to re-open it and given everyone their money back. Ridiculous.
We flew to Philly and given the weather on the east coast, it was like riding a roller coaster. We sat there for an hour while the plane was refueled and the air conditioning was checked. It was around 2:00 a.m. at that point. Once we were airborne again, they served dinner — roast beef or pasta. Much to my horror, my fellow passengers wolfed it down. Who could eat “dinner” at 4:00 in the morning? The mere scent made me feel nauseous. I ate and drank nothing during the flight, which turned out to be a mistake since once we landed in London (six hours late) it was a 15-mile hike from the airplane to immigration and I nearly passed out. While waiting in the immigration queue for foreigners, there was a cuddly little documentary by the Home Office playing on giant screens showing how they catch illegal immigrants, such as having dogs attack them. Who on earth thought it was a good idea to show something like that?! At least the immigration guy let me pass through without giving me any grief. He looked at my visa and waved me through with a smile. That never happens.
Because of engineering work (sigh), I couldn’t take the train from Gatwick to St. Pancras, so I had to take the train to Victoria and then take a taxi home that cost £17/$30!!! Ugh. But we drove by Buckingham Palace (with an amazing sunset in the background), through Trafalgar Square and then Leicester Square and I felt so happy to be home…at last.
I’ll write more about my trip soon. Must recover from the past two days first…
Anglofille said @ 10:09 pm | travel |
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Lillie Says:
December 30th, 2007 at 12:01 amGlad you arrived home safely.
A couple of summers ago, I was headed to London from O’Hare. We were delayed a couple of hours because of a computer problem in the flight deck. They announched they just happen to have a ’spare’ 777 in the hangar, and we’d be on our way as soon as they brought it around — removed the food and baggage from the first plane and place them into the ’spare’. We were scheduled to leave at 11:30 pm — and finally left at 1:30 am.
There were a few children on the flight who were visably tired, and thankfully fell asleep as soon as we were in the air.
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daniela Says:
December 30th, 2007 at 2:01 pmwow. that was an ordeal. i am half a nervous flyer and if i had heard something like “test” i would be writing my will on any paper i could spare (very unlikely to arrive in one piece though….). arrogance definetely doesn’t help in a situation like this… anyway, glad you arrived safe, hope you had a nice one back at home!
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SpliceGirl Says:
December 30th, 2007 at 6:14 pmUS Airways is pure evil. They are the airline that had to stop to “re-fuel” in Las Vegas on my NON-STOP flight to Los Angeles. Ridiculous. They were rude, inconsiderate, unprofessional and their planes have since replaced Southwest’s in my mind as the “Greyhound Bus of the Skies”.
I agree Americans seem to take international air travel in stride, which is weird to me since if a domestic flight is delayed or something they all go apeshit. But I noticed traveling internationally that Americans travel quietly and politely and don’t complain much while Europeans get crazy and irrational if something as simple as meal service is delayed. Maybe all the Americans are just glad they aren’t being blamed for everything so they keep quiet! Ha ha!
Glad you eventually got home…though honestly I would have never gotten on that plane…not in a million years!
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s. Says:
December 30th, 2007 at 6:45 pmWhat an ordeal! Pleased that you are back in London safe and sound!
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Rebecca Says:
December 30th, 2007 at 8:59 pmI can’t believe people were acting that way. I’ve actually had horrible experiences with late/delayed flights and missing connecting flights, but I never ever yell at the people at the gates! It’s not their fault those things happen, and people yelling at them just make them want to help even less. I’m sorry you had such a harrowing experience, but welcome back to London!
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Gregory Says:
December 30th, 2007 at 9:06 pm“I sat next to one British woman who told me that the engine on the plane was ruined and that if we took the flight, we’d effectively be “committing suicide.” You know, I hate flying and I really didn’t need to hear stuff like that. I can be quite pessimistic but even I’m not that bad.”
Once you’ve flown in a Soviet era, aircraft, you will be just fine for the odd rattle on anything else.
An Antonov An-14 was apparently once taken up by a truck-driver with four hours training.
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Anta Says:
December 31st, 2007 at 1:30 amSo how are you enjoying “The Gathering?”
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thanks for the welcome home! i’m still feeling tired. i didn’t really experience jet lag going from the UK to the US, but coming back has been a killer. oh well, at least it’s the holiday so i can relax.
anita: did i *enjoy* ‘the gathering’? no! but at least i finished it.
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Geez! I can’t believe that story about your flight home! And the pilot’s sense of humor- but his logic does make sense about trying out the part overland for at least one hour.
I love it that you flew back to Philly! You should’ve came back here to welcome the New Year with us!
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Gregory Says:
January 1st, 2008 at 11:29 pm“I never ever yell at the people at the gates! It’s not their fault those things happen, and people yelling at them just make them want to help even less.”
It is a (historic) Spanish thing with us in the CTA area, we treat planes more like a bus, people forget that Brits did and do industrial scale flying.
It is not a stiff upper lip area, Brits learned the hard way that if one keeps quiet, it will get worse. It doesn’t really translate from airtours to air travel. Not these days anyway.
I couldn’t do three hours at Charlotte, I’d need to rent a cabin in Vermont or something to chill after 2 hours. I would probably not be able to deal with it.
I can do a train in India or to Shanghai, because I know (in advance) it will be grim. I could handle Cuban air flight attendants telling me the champagne is for ‘first class’. I can do funny,
I have to plan discomfort, I think that is the way to describe me. On the Titanic they have had to shoot me to stop me killing the band.
http://www.troutmanchairs.com/
They make the chairs at Charlotte. They took the contract from the Portico Furniture Company which did the original white examples.
“Rock on — What’s with the rocking chairs in the Atrium? Originally part of a temporary public art installation, the rockers became such a hit with harried travelers that administrators elected to keep them. If you want one for your front porch, contact the Portico Furniture Company (800-672-6962). Another charming bit of Southern hospitality is the piano in the Atrium; the public is invited to tickle the ivories to pass time in the terminal. As you walk through the terminal, scan the walls for artwork by regional artists; the displays change on a regular basis.”
