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The media is full of air travel horror stories these days. Lost luggage, cancelled flights, passengers trapped in planes on tarmacs for hours at a time...its enough to make you think twice about booking a flight, especially as the price for this torture keeps escalating. Of course winter weather can complicate and magnify all of these problems.
A few years ago, my wife and I travelled (with our ski club) to Cortina, Italy for a week of skiing. We arrived at Dulles Airport more than two hours before our flight (as recommended by the airlines and TSA), checked our luggage with the friendly folks at the Lufthansa counter and patiently made our way through the circus that passes for airport security these days. As we waited in the lounge at our gate, the snow began to fall outside. By the time we boarded the plane, the snow was falling heavily, and the pilot informed us that we would need to be de-iced prior to take-off. Unfortunately, every other plane at the airport also needed to be de-iced, and we were pretty far back in the queue. Ultimately, we sat on the plane for almost two hours awaiting our turn to de-ice before we were able to take off. Most of the passengers near me were pretty much okay with this...after all, this is a safety thing, and we here in the Washington area still remember what happens to planes that aren't properly de-iced in this kind of weather. We would lose much of our layover in Frankfurt, but there still should be time to make our transfer to Venice. However, after flying through the night, we arrived over Europe to find icy conditions in Frankfurt, and we had to circle the airport for almost an hour, waiting for our turn to land. Needless to say, we missed our connection to Venice, but we were quickly re-booked on the next flight to Marco Polo Airport, and we safely arrived in Venice, about five hours later than planned.
But as winter air travel goes, this really wasn't so bad. The delays were annoying and inconvenient, but resulted from legitimate safety issues related to the inclement weather. Throw a lack of concern for customer service and/or incompetence on top of bad weather, and things get ugly in a hurry.
Lets go back to early 2002. Again, my wife and I are traveling with our ski club, this time to Mt. Tremblant in Quebec. After a fabulous five night stay, we are on a charter bus headed back to the airport in Montreal. The weather is deteriorating quickly, and at one point our driver had to take some careful evasive maneuvers to avoid a car that was spinning, out of control on the expressway in front of us. In spite of this, our driver did a stellar job of delivering us to the airport on time. If only we had known what was about to happen, we might have stayed on the bus and had him drive us all the way to Washington!
What was about to happen was the confluence of bad weather, poor customer service by our airline (which I will refrain from naming) and poor management decisions at the airport. Remember, this is only about five months after terrorist turned airliners into missiles to attack the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and the new security measures were, well, new. We had to show picture identification when we checked in and got our boarding passes (first queue). We then proceeded to another counter (queue no. 2) to pay the departure tax. The next stop was U.S. Customs (because Montreal and Toronto have numerous flights into US airports that do not have International arrivals facilities, US Customs and Immigration are done prior to departure) where our customs declarations were reviewed (third queue), followed by U.S. Immigration, where we showed our identification, again (queue no. four). The new security regulations now come into play, which required inspection of all checked luggage on flights into the US. However, the Montreal airport did not yet have X-ray machines to scan the checked luggage, so all checked luggage was being inspected by hand (queue no. 5). The security managers, seeing a large party of skiers arriving for this security inspection, might have called additional screeners to expedite this review, but this didn't happen. There were only two teams of screeners to open and inspect all our checked luggage (and skiers tend to have LOTS of checked luggage!). Our departure time came and went while we were standing in this queue, but because the 35 people in our group represented the majority of the passengers for the Bombardier CRJ aircraft scheduled for this flight, we were assured that it would wait for us before departing. Finally, our luggage had been inspected and sent out to be loaded on the aircraft, and headed for our sixth queue. This was the conventional airport security screening...metal detectors and X-ray machines for carry-on bags. Thinking we were finally done, we began to relax, until we saw a sign that diverted passengers to Reagan National Airport from the rest of the passengers flying to the US. Flights to National Airport had a separate lounge, with yet another inspection of passengers and their carry-on luggage (queue no. 7). This little lounge was a separate room, with only a drinking fountain and two unisex washrooms for amenities. Anyone who wanted food had to leave the line, and was subject to search again in order to re-enter this lounge. With our flight already delayed, nobody wanted to leave and risk missing the flight. Finally, after waiting another hour, we boarded a transport vehicle that was to take us out to our plane on the tarmac. The transport pulled away from the terminal and drove around the tarmac for about five minutes before it was announced that our flight had been cancelled because of the increasingly bad weather.
We then had to find our way to the luggage claim to collect our checked luggage, while our trip leader made a series of frantic phone calls. There were no more flights to Washington that night, so we were stuck in Montreal until the next morning. Eventually, she was able to find a block of rooms at a nearby Holiday Inn. Those of us that wanted a hotel room (some of our group chose to sleep in the terminal) wrestled our luggage to the curbside outside the terminal to catch the shuttle to the hotel. However, we were at the last stop on the bus's circuit, so that each time it reached us it was already almost full, so that only a couple of people could squeeze on each time. My wife was developing a severe migraine, so I sent her ahead to get a room, and I'd follow with the luggage. After three more shuttle circuits passed me without sufficient room for me and the luggage, I gave up and headed for the taxi stand. About ten hours after arriving at the airport, I finally reached the hotel and was able to grab a quick meal before climbing into bed.
The next morning, we were back at the airport at 7am, ready to start all over. Unfortunately, all the passengers for all the previous evening's cancelled flights were lumped into a single, monstrous queue, and the airline representatives made no effort to sort passengers based on destination or departure time. Chaos reigned supreme at the ticketing counters, and while our trip leader tried valiantly to get our group checked in together as a single block, we had to individually wait for a turn. Luckily, things got better from this point. The manager for the checked luggage inspection immediately called in additional screeners when he saw us queueing to have our bags checked, and we got through this process in a fraction of the time it took the night before. All passengers were through security and in the lounge by departure time, and our plane took off on time, delivering us back to National Airport a mere 24 hours after we had initially arrived at the Montreal airport.
While our flight was cancelled due to weather, the delays in processing the passengers contributed to this cancellation. Had the passengers been processed through check-in and security in a more timely fashion, there is a strong chance that the plane could have safely taken off. Unfortunately, during the delay, the weather had worsened to the point where it was no longer safe to fly, leaving us stranded.
So, why am I reflecting on the potential problems of winter air travel? It might have something to do with my next vacation, and while I'm hoping for smooth travel to and from our destination, I really won't mind getting a lot of snow while we're there. In fact, it probably would make the trip even better!
A few years ago, my wife and I travelled (with our ski club) to Cortina, Italy for a week of skiing. We arrived at Dulles Airport more than two hours before our flight (as recommended by the airlines and TSA), checked our luggage with the friendly folks at the Lufthansa counter and patiently made our way through the circus that passes for airport security these days. As we waited in the lounge at our gate, the snow began to fall outside. By the time we boarded the plane, the snow was falling heavily, and the pilot informed us that we would need to be de-iced prior to take-off. Unfortunately, every other plane at the airport also needed to be de-iced, and we were pretty far back in the queue. Ultimately, we sat on the plane for almost two hours awaiting our turn to de-ice before we were able to take off. Most of the passengers near me were pretty much okay with this...after all, this is a safety thing, and we here in the Washington area still remember what happens to planes that aren't properly de-iced in this kind of weather. We would lose much of our layover in Frankfurt, but there still should be time to make our transfer to Venice. However, after flying through the night, we arrived over Europe to find icy conditions in Frankfurt, and we had to circle the airport for almost an hour, waiting for our turn to land. Needless to say, we missed our connection to Venice, but we were quickly re-booked on the next flight to Marco Polo Airport, and we safely arrived in Venice, about five hours later than planned.
But as winter air travel goes, this really wasn't so bad. The delays were annoying and inconvenient, but resulted from legitimate safety issues related to the inclement weather. Throw a lack of concern for customer service and/or incompetence on top of bad weather, and things get ugly in a hurry.
Lets go back to early 2002. Again, my wife and I are traveling with our ski club, this time to Mt. Tremblant in Quebec. After a fabulous five night stay, we are on a charter bus headed back to the airport in Montreal. The weather is deteriorating quickly, and at one point our driver had to take some careful evasive maneuvers to avoid a car that was spinning, out of control on the expressway in front of us. In spite of this, our driver did a stellar job of delivering us to the airport on time. If only we had known what was about to happen, we might have stayed on the bus and had him drive us all the way to Washington!
What was about to happen was the confluence of bad weather, poor customer service by our airline (which I will refrain from naming) and poor management decisions at the airport. Remember, this is only about five months after terrorist turned airliners into missiles to attack the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and the new security measures were, well, new. We had to show picture identification when we checked in and got our boarding passes (first queue). We then proceeded to another counter (queue no. 2) to pay the departure tax. The next stop was U.S. Customs (because Montreal and Toronto have numerous flights into US airports that do not have International arrivals facilities, US Customs and Immigration are done prior to departure) where our customs declarations were reviewed (third queue), followed by U.S. Immigration, where we showed our identification, again (queue no. four). The new security regulations now come into play, which required inspection of all checked luggage on flights into the US. However, the Montreal airport did not yet have X-ray machines to scan the checked luggage, so all checked luggage was being inspected by hand (queue no. 5). The security managers, seeing a large party of skiers arriving for this security inspection, might have called additional screeners to expedite this review, but this didn't happen. There were only two teams of screeners to open and inspect all our checked luggage (and skiers tend to have LOTS of checked luggage!). Our departure time came and went while we were standing in this queue, but because the 35 people in our group represented the majority of the passengers for the Bombardier CRJ aircraft scheduled for this flight, we were assured that it would wait for us before departing. Finally, our luggage had been inspected and sent out to be loaded on the aircraft, and headed for our sixth queue. This was the conventional airport security screening...metal detectors and X-ray machines for carry-on bags. Thinking we were finally done, we began to relax, until we saw a sign that diverted passengers to Reagan National Airport from the rest of the passengers flying to the US. Flights to National Airport had a separate lounge, with yet another inspection of passengers and their carry-on luggage (queue no. 7). This little lounge was a separate room, with only a drinking fountain and two unisex washrooms for amenities. Anyone who wanted food had to leave the line, and was subject to search again in order to re-enter this lounge. With our flight already delayed, nobody wanted to leave and risk missing the flight. Finally, after waiting another hour, we boarded a transport vehicle that was to take us out to our plane on the tarmac. The transport pulled away from the terminal and drove around the tarmac for about five minutes before it was announced that our flight had been cancelled because of the increasingly bad weather.
We then had to find our way to the luggage claim to collect our checked luggage, while our trip leader made a series of frantic phone calls. There were no more flights to Washington that night, so we were stuck in Montreal until the next morning. Eventually, she was able to find a block of rooms at a nearby Holiday Inn. Those of us that wanted a hotel room (some of our group chose to sleep in the terminal) wrestled our luggage to the curbside outside the terminal to catch the shuttle to the hotel. However, we were at the last stop on the bus's circuit, so that each time it reached us it was already almost full, so that only a couple of people could squeeze on each time. My wife was developing a severe migraine, so I sent her ahead to get a room, and I'd follow with the luggage. After three more shuttle circuits passed me without sufficient room for me and the luggage, I gave up and headed for the taxi stand. About ten hours after arriving at the airport, I finally reached the hotel and was able to grab a quick meal before climbing into bed.
The next morning, we were back at the airport at 7am, ready to start all over. Unfortunately, all the passengers for all the previous evening's cancelled flights were lumped into a single, monstrous queue, and the airline representatives made no effort to sort passengers based on destination or departure time. Chaos reigned supreme at the ticketing counters, and while our trip leader tried valiantly to get our group checked in together as a single block, we had to individually wait for a turn. Luckily, things got better from this point. The manager for the checked luggage inspection immediately called in additional screeners when he saw us queueing to have our bags checked, and we got through this process in a fraction of the time it took the night before. All passengers were through security and in the lounge by departure time, and our plane took off on time, delivering us back to National Airport a mere 24 hours after we had initially arrived at the Montreal airport.
While our flight was cancelled due to weather, the delays in processing the passengers contributed to this cancellation. Had the passengers been processed through check-in and security in a more timely fashion, there is a strong chance that the plane could have safely taken off. Unfortunately, during the delay, the weather had worsened to the point where it was no longer safe to fly, leaving us stranded.
So, why am I reflecting on the potential problems of winter air travel? It might have something to do with my next vacation, and while I'm hoping for smooth travel to and from our destination, I really won't mind getting a lot of snow while we're there. In fact, it probably would make the trip even better!
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Date: 2008-01-17 03:43 pm (UTC)Your Canadian experience sounds like a total nightmare.
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Date: 2008-01-17 04:14 pm (UTC)Ummm...yeah. Except that the airport in the second "Die Hard" movie bears exactly ZERO resemblance to Dulles. I don't think the movie makers even cared to try and make it look even slightly like Dulles. I especially liked it when McClane uses the "Pacific Bell" pay phone in the terminal! 8o)