LAS – PHX
As some of you may have read in my earlier blog, President Obama landed in Vegas a couple hours before my flight was scheduled to leave. His arrival delayed almost every flight coming in and every flight leaving out of Las Vegas. I was lucky enough to watch his plane land from the side of the road – which was very cool.
The airport was relatively busy for a Thursday night. I guess it was because of the delays. I don’t mind delays; after all there is nothing I can do about them. Whenever I’m not rushing to my gate and have some time to spare, I love to drop by and chat with my @SouthwestAir friends. So that’s what I did tonight. Unfortunately the gate I was at was super busy, so my friend and I weren’t able to shoot the breeze. However it was nice to be there to help her out with what I could – mainly answering questions about when the plane would be leaving and when it’d be arriving. Plus, more than half the questions are people confirming that the flight is really delayed. Yes people, the flight is really delayed. haha So that’s what I did.
When it came time to get my boarding pass, I went to my gate and there were a couple people in line ahead of me. The lady normally working the gate went on break so the CSA at the gate was the breaker. From my point of view it seemed that the customer got frustrated with whatever the situation was and the breaker reacted to her by saying, “Ugh, whatever!” Not so classy. Next she seemed to not understand what was going on at all and used the excuse (that she announced to everyone) that she was, “just the breaker!”. She then asked all standby passengers to form a line in front of her podium – as she was going to delete the entire standby list and just give the standby passengers boarding passes as they got to the front of the line. So not only did nonrev passengers get ahead of revenue passengers, but people with buddy passes got boarding passes before SWA employees. It was a mess.
Luckily I got the last window seat available on the plane – and as we were taxing to the runway the pilot pointed out to those of us on the left side of the aircraft that Air Force One was parked in the not so far distance. I always appreciate when pilots point out cool things like that.
So our flight left about a half hour after it was originally scheduled to depart. – scheduled at 8:20, left at 8:50p.m. You know, I’m really not sure if I prefer day or night flights. I enjoy being able to look at whatever’s out the window during the day flights, however I love looking up at the stars on the night flights. In fact, one of the coolest flights I’ve ever been on was from Reno – Las Vegas on a delayed night flight (there was heavy cloud cover in both cities). However once we reached 37,000 feet the skies were clear – and lucky for me (and the rest of the passengers) that night there just happened to be a meteor shower. I counted a couple shooting stars. It was beautiful. So no matter what anyone says the best place is to view a meteor shower – I’ll always say the best view is from 37,000 feet.
Have you ever boarded a flight, the plane leaves the gate and just ends up sitting on the tarmac? Usually these delays are less than a half hour but there have been reports for people sitting for hours! Craziness. It’s not right to do to passengers but it does happen. Generally it’s not the airline’s fault either.
Most often times tarmac delays happen because there is a high volume of flights going into your destination city. Air traffic control then has to cut back on the flights flying in. The closer your departing city is from your arriving city, the higher chance you’ll be sitting there for longer. Why? Say you’re leaving out of San Diego, CA and landing in Las Vegas, NV – roughly a 45 min flight. For those flights that have departed cities such as Chicago or Orlando and are already in the air – they have higher priority. They’ve been in the air longer, their passengers have been on the plane longer, and let’s face it – first plane up should be the first plane down.
So now you’re stuck on the tarmac, what do you do? Well there are a couple things you can’t do – or will at least be severely reprimanded for doing. No restroom, no electronics, no standing up, no food or drinks to buy, etc.
Before you even get on the airplane I recommend using the restroom in the airport. Not only will you have more room (we all know how cramped the plane lavatories are), but you won’t have to wait for a fasten seatbelt sign to go off nor will you have to wait for one of the two restrooms to free up.
I recommend packing an emergency snack as well. Whether it’s a meal replacement bar (like Power Bar or a Cliff bar) or an apple – food is always good to have. Let’s be honest, pretzels and peanuts aren’t going to fill your stomach and keep you full. Plus, they usually don’t even pass those out until you’re up in the air! This food item of choice should be easily portable, can’t spill and whatever is left over after you’re done should be easily tossed. Another great idea (courtesy of my mom!) is to bring an empty water bottle with you. Don’t worry, TSA won’t take it away because there is no liquid in it. When you get past security, you can fill it up at the nearest water fountain.
Bring with you something that doesn’t require electricity to entertain you: a magazine, a book, a sketchpad, sudoku, a crossword puzzle, etc. You’re allowed to use these items at all time during a flight – taxing, in flight and landing. Just remember – don’t put your tray table down!
Last but not least, don’t be afraid to start up a conversation with the person next to you. You’re both stuck in a situation where you can’t use your electronic devices to burn time so start burning time by talking! If they’re not into a conversation, go back to your magazine. It never hurts to try.
Be sure to check out my blogs: ‘Starting a conversation’ and ‘Ending a conversation’ as well!
Like I say in most of my blogs: Chill out. Take a deep breath. The situation is out of your control so just roll with it. You will get to your destination eventually if you’re calm about things. The minute you start to act out and cause a riot, I can’t guarantee that you’ll get to your destination. In fact, there is a chance you’ll end up in the nearest jail cell if you get too rowdy.
So be nice, be calm and be prepared.
