Tales from the Tarmac

Oh what a stressful trip D-Monk had! Sure, there was the issue of being away from the family during a colossal snow storm (17"). Sure, there was the issue of being prepared for and delivering a three hour presentation to an audience of 40. But these were not the real sources of stress on this trip. The real stress came on the tarmac.

The snow was flying when D-Monk left his house on Thursday morning. He expected delays and he got them. It took over thirty minutes just to check-in for his flight and another thirty minutes to clear security. Then there was the expected flight delay, followed by a 1 1/2 hour wait on the tarmac for fresh pilots and de-icing.

But then there was Philadelphia. D-Monk now officially relates Philadelphia International Airport as the worst airport he has passed through in all of his travels.

Philly's airport has six terminals (A, B, C, D, E, and F). Heaven help the passenger who arrives in one terminal and then has to connect with a flight in another terminal. For in Philadelphia, unlike other airports, changing terminals means going through security a second time. This meant a second one-hour wait for D-Monk. D-Monk had a two-hour layover in Philly, but wondered how passengers with normal fifteen or twenty minute layovers managed to navigate this travel trap.



The other nuisance about Philly's airport: all the good restaurants are on the outside of the security clearance area. This means if you want food during a layover, you have to consider subjecting yourself to yet another wait in the lines for the security checkpoints. So if you have the misfortune of making a connecting flight in Philly, you must face huge lines to re-clear security and then sit at a terminal with no decent dining options while waiting for your flight. This can be especially frustrating if your flight is delayed!

On D-Monk's return trip to Minneapolis, things got worse. D-Monk again had to make a connecting flight in Philadelphia. Again he had to re-clear security in a one-hour wait. Again he got stuck in a terminal with no food. And again his flight was delayed (it was still snowing in Minnesota).

But then things got worse. D-Monk and the other passengers boarded the flight after a 1 1/2 hour delay ... and went no where. The plane just sat there. And sat there. And sat there.

After thirty minutes the passengers were informed that the plane could not leave the gate with the current flight crew. They had had "a very long day." FAA regulations didn't permit them to fly another leg. So the airline was looking for another crew! When another crew was located, the passengers were told that they were currently on another flight and would land in Philadelphia "soon."

To make a long story short, we spent two and a half hours trapped on that plane without leaving the gate. And the ironic part is that the original flight crew had to stay until the replacement crew arrived. If the flight had simply left the gate when we originally boarded, the crew would have ended their shift just as fast ... only then all of the passengers would actually be in Minneapolis!

Jeepers!!