Delays add up
On Sunday, I was "good" for two days of Reserve. What a treat not to get a 1 a.m. phone call from The Voice. Instead, I received a 10 a.m phone call! I was to report to work at 3:53 pm. and work three flights: Hartford/Springfield (BDL), Chicago (ORD), then Washington (IAD)--back home a little after midnight:
19J 27 IADBDL 1653 1821
19J 27 BDLORD 1900 2030
19J 27 ORDIAD 2139 0029
TOTAL TIME 548 FLT TIME 548 TMA 906
M-MEAL BOARDED- 818/27 BDL
Instead, my one day trip turned into a two day trip:
19J 27 IADBDL 1724 1837
19J 27 BDLORD 1933 2113
20D 28 ORDIAD 1145 1423
TOTAL TIME 1000 FLT TIME 353 TMA 2245
Our plane was late in arriving to IAD, so we departed 31 minutes late. There is some time padded into the schedules, so we were only 16 minutes late in arriving at BDL. Once there, we had a minor mechanical issue, and were late leaving. A line of thunderstorms was traversing the Midwest, so the Air Traffic Controllers routed us way up North, above Traverse City, Michigan. This made the flight a little longer. Arriving late to ORD, our flight back to IAD had already been re-crewed and was leaving without us.
To the hotel we go for the night. The woman checking me into the hotel said that the Company had called and asked for 50 rooms for the night for crews-there were a lot of misconnecting crews.
I worked the flight back to Washington yesterday--and there was still weather to contend with. The plane we were taking was late in arriving in Chicago, so we were late departing. As we got closer to IAD, the Captain made an announcement that there was a thunderstorm directly over the field, and we circled for a bit. He also said he felt we would be on the ground within 30 minutes, because the storm was moving fast. Using his timetable, that meant we'd be landing before 2:30 p.m.
Onboard, we had many people who were making international connections--one woman in particular was stressed that she wouldn't make her flight to Moscow (DME). I asked her what time it departed, and she said 4:56 p.m. She laughed and relaxed a bit when I assured her that our planned arrival around 2:30 p.m. would leave her plenty of time to make her connection. I added that at her departure time, I would be safely ensconced in the recliner in my house, and that she would be on her plane to DME.
And I was. And, I'm sure she was, too.
Blondie
