I sat on an airport runway for SEVEN HOURS yesterday

[maylips]

Yes, SEVEN HOURS.

Okay, so it never snows in Atlanta, I get it. But SURELY they have a better system than boarding people and then waiting in line for the de-icer.

- We boarded at 4:00 p.m., one hour late. No big deal. Then we sit for 1 1/2 hours.
- We leave from the gate, literally cruise down 7 more gates and sit for 2 hours
- Then we have to find another gate because apparently two people in first class DEMANDED to be let off the plane. This puts us out of the order we were in for the de-icer, but we go to another gate and spend about an hour letting them and anyone else that wants off, off.
- We finally get de-iced, and our flight crew's legal time limit expires, so we have to go back to another gate and switch pilots.

We lifted off at 11:30 and landed at 2:00 a.m.

How ridiculous is that?!?! And being 4 months pregnant, having only peanuts available, I learned a valuable lesson. I was just glad I didn't have DD with me and felt so sorry for parents on that flight who were taking care of their kids.

What was amazing was watching people react to the delays, updates, etc. Some people are just....well, I mean, we were all in the same boat, no one was happy about, so why be ugly to each other?!!?

[deborah_r]

Wow, that is really bad. I can't imagine.

After flying with my 20 month old last week, I am convinced the current air travel setup is some kind of psychological experiment to see how much people can take. I just keep trying to remember the good people I encountered who offered me assistance (thank you lady who carried my carseat through Charlotte airport for me when I felt like I could not take another step!), and forget the ones who were being nasty!

[ThreeofUs]

oh gosh - what a nightmare

glad you're ok!

[alexsmommy]

That is my nightmare - but in my version I would be trapped with the kids. I seriously pack my carry on assuming some trapped on the plane disaster. With the "new regulations I cannot image how I would do it w/o enough food/drinks. Ugh. So sorry for you.

Deb, I try so hard when traveling alone to be "that" good person. Even if I can't do anything, I try to at least reassure moms trying to get thorugh security that I have been there and to take their time. I just don't see the point of eye rolling and being nasty.

This is why we have driven for our last few trips. Honestly, the way air travel has become I don't think it was any more stressful to drive, just different stresses and ones I felt more control over.

[niccig]

Did they give you food???
Surely they can't keep a 100 or so people on a plane for 7 hours and not feed them? I would be complaining big time, and hoping for some compensation for the lack of food.

[KrisM]

How awful. I hope you complain to the right people. Only peanuts? That is just crazy.

[bubbaray]

Did they give you food???
Surely they can't keep a 100 or so people on a plane for 7 hours and not feed them? I would be complaining big time, and hoping for some compensation for the lack of food.

They can if the airline is Air Canada. Earlier this winter, they had a flight delayed here in Vancouver for something like 12 hours -- no food or drink. It was horrible.

The problem with the whole deicing process is that the chemical only lasts for so long, so if the delays to take off are long, by the time your plane gets to the front of the lineup, the deicing chemical has worn off, so the plane must go back and get deiced again -- and go to the back of the lineup of planes to take off. Of course, this is all better than the plane taking off without deicing, which is ALL BAD. I used to live in Montreal and the deicing/go to the back problem used to happen all the time there. Here in Vancouver, there aren't many days we need deicing, but when it happens, there are tons of similar delays. Its all in how the airline handles it. Some (like Air Canada) SUCK royally. Others handle it with a human attitude.

[toothfairy]

The last time a major snow hit Atlanta (2002) I was there and in a plane that went nowhere for 10 hours. 10. So I can say I almost exactly feel your pain. (I wasn't pregnant at the time, though.)

I strongly dislike Atlanta's airport for that very reason.

There was no food, only pretzels and water. We were finally let off the plane when the flight crew's on the job time had expired and when a gate was available for us to unload at. At midnight. I was travelling alone.

I was stuck in the Atlanta airport for a total of about 22 hours. That is until I met a random lady who was headed to Tampa, like me. We rented a car and drove the seven or so hours it took to get to Tampa. Arrived at Tampa's airport to have someone pick me up from there, and lo and behold, my luggage had made it to Tampa.

I will never understand how my baggage made it and I didn't.

I would raise cain with your airline carrier.

I'm shocked Atlanta Hartsfield didn't learn from the 2002 snowstorm event how better to deal with leaving people on planes for so long without any alternate plan to get them off.

Or at least have food on the planes.

That stinks!!


Amy

[Melanie]

Is that even legal? What if you flipped your lid and they "had" to return to get off an uruly passenger? I cannot believe that is legal. It seems like imprisonment to me, especially now they they don't have food.

I am SO sorry you had to go through that!

[Momof3Labs]

- Then we have to find another gate because apparently two people in first class DEMANDED to be let off the plane. This puts us out of the order we were in for the de-icer, but we go to another gate and spend about an hour letting them and anyone else that wants off, off.


I would complain loudly, very loudly to the airline about this decision. The weather stuff is out of their control, but their decision to do this was NOT out of their control. I was once on a flight that sat at LGA (LaGuardia) for over 3 hours due to air traffic and saw people demand to be let off, but the airline denied them that option, saying that we'd be pushed to the back of the line and it wasn't fair to anyone else on the airplane.

I'm sorry that you went through that. I always pack food when I travel, even when not pregnant, but not sure if my stash would have gotten me through 7 hours (plus flight time).

[Fairy]

Eek! DS and I were stuck in the KC airport for six hours before we finally took off, but we weren't stuck out on the tarmac, which truly is a nightmare. Yikes!

[TraciG]

WOW that is ridiculous !! I think I would go crazy !

[DrSally]

That's crazy! Atlanta is a bad airport. Now with Delta buying Northwest, they may eliminate some traffic from Atlanta and move it to other airports b/c Atlanta is so overburdened. That's why I always bring extra food for kids on flights (we have sat on the tarmac with DS for as long as 3 hours, but I can't imagine 7). And it's nice to know that I always have BM too to offer. Were people going crazy? Did they offer food? I hope you got up and walked around.

[LBW]

I'm so sorry you went through this. I know from personal experience how hellish it can be.

When I was a kid (83rd grade, so 8-ish, I think), this happened to me. I was flying with my father, brother, and sister to Ireland. My dad is a terrible flyer. He needs to be drunk in order to get on a plane (I know, I know. I can't begin to imagine WHY my mother allowed us to fly alone with him). So, he was useless to us even before we boarded. Then he proceeded to smoke and drink himself unconscious for the next 7 hours. All before we finally took off on a 6+ hour flight.

I don't know how we got through it, but I still remember how awful it was.

I think our air travel system is broken, but don't know what can be done to fix it.

[Melanie]

Oops, I missed the part that they did let people off. Frankly, as much as it sucks for those waiting it out, I'd be on fire if they wouldn't let me off a plane and I wanted off. Too bad they can't just pull one of those little mobile staircases up to it, though. Dumb that they have to move the whole plane.