Dateline: LAX Airport for Continental Flight 1594 to Orlando
It is 7:00 a.m. and I have just arrived at the LAX Continental Terminal to start my trip back to Orlando following a four day business trip to the lovely beach side city of Santa Monica. As I enter the Check In line I am thankful that there were no earthquakes on this trip. It is quite uncomfortable to be on the 15th floor of your hotel when the room starts shaking.
I reach the Check In kiosk and swipe my credit card. The computer finds my reservation and then flashes an alert telling me that there is a change with my connecting flight in Houston. Instead of boarding a 1:00 p.m. from Houston, I will now have a 5 hour lay over there with a 6:00 p.m. departure. I look for a button labeled “NO” so I can get back to my original flight, but that option is not available. I press “OK” and then the computer tells me that my flight out of LAX has been delayed from 0900 to 0920. I can feel the “Domino’s of Doom” starting to fall around me.
I print my boarding passes and head over to the Security Check Point. The line is short but the man infront of me appears to be Middle Eastern and immediately undergoes additional scrutiny by the TSA agents as they check his passport and ticket. I then see the TSA agent pick up a portable radio from underneath his podium and make a quick transmission. This is clearly not a good sign. The passenger in question waits quietly and then two other TSA agents appear from no where and lead the man away. My ID and ticket are checked and I am sent upstairs for the security screening. This terminal at LAX usually processes people quickly through the line. The word “usually” however did not apply to today’s travel experience. Security lines are very much like the line at your local grocery store. It does not matter which line you enter, it will be the wrong one. The Expert Traveler Line is similar to the “10 Items Or Less” line at the grocery store which creates an immediate false expectation of speed. The agent operating the scanner was a trainee. While the designation “trainee” was not on his name tag, it was clear from his actions. He was staring intently at the scanner screen and checked each piece of luggage for almost a full minute before allowing it to continue down the conveyor belt. Every other bag was stopped while he called over a supervisor to “clear” the item following his detection of some suspicious object. I finally load my items onto the belt and pass through the detector after announcing my two artificial hips that I know will trigger a total red alert on the agents screen. I am sent into the penalty box and get an additional “wand treatment” and pat down.
I have now reached Gate 60 and have a full hour before my flight departs. Surely the drama for this trip is done. As we approach the 8:30 boarding time I notice the Continental Gate Supervisor looking somewhat anxious. Dressed in her red blazer with perfect hair and scarf she keeps looking down at her watch and looking up and down the hallway. I then realize that no flight crew has arrived at our gate to get the aircraft ready. The supervisor sees two flight attendants walking down the hallway and intercepts them. As they huddle, I can see the supervisor explaining some problem and the two attendants start shaking their head “no” and continue on. Undeterred, the supervisor stops another set of flight attendants and gives them her story. These flight attendants both laugh and nod “yes” and head over to our gate and head down the ramp to the aircraft. The Supervisor comes on the PA system and tells us that our flight crew is running late, but in order to have an ontime departure two other flight attendants have agreed to go onto our aircraft which will allow the passengers to board. I totally applaud her proactive thinking and also appreciate the willingness of the two flight attendants to help us out.
At about 8:45 our flight crew arrives and relieves the volunteer crew who was watching over us. Both sets of crew members seem to be in a good mood which is (a) somewhat rare and (b) always insures a good flight. It is now 9:00 and all 230 passengers are on board, everyone is belted in, the overhead bins are closed - but nothing is happening. The forward boarding door is open and we are just sitting. I am sure I feel the presence of “Tragica”, the Greek Godess of Travel Tragedy near me. At about 9:15 the pilot comes on the intercom to make the following announcement, “Ladies and gentlemen this is the captain speaking and I am sure you are all wondering why we are sitting here at the gate and not moving. Well if you are sitting on the left side of the aircraft and you look out you will see a missing hatch cover over the engine. We are waiting on maintenance to replace that hatch cover and there will just be a slight delay. The needed part was flown in by Continental and is here and it should just take a few minutes. I apologize for the delay”. Well, I certainly did appreciate the explanation. However, what happened to the original hatch cover that is now missing? Did is snap off during flight and went flying through the roof of Mrs. Jones house somewhere over rural Texas? These answers were not forth coming. At 9:30 the pilot comes back on the intercom for another announcement, “Ladies and gentlemen, I wanted to give you an update, maintenance cannot find the box with the part and think it was sent to baggage claim with the passenger luggage. They are checking for it there and we should only have a slight delay.” Well, just as I appreciated the actions of the gate supervisor, I appreciated the actions of the pilot to keep us informed. It is now 9:45 and another announcement comes from the cockpit, “Ladies and gentlemen, we have determined that Continental sent the needed part to the wrong City and there is no hatch cover for our flight. Maintenance is asking the FAA for permission to fly one time to Houston. I will get back to you as soon as we hear from the FAA. Thank you for your patience”. First, the pilots honesty is refreshing, telling us that his airline sent a needed part to the wrong city. Ouch! Second, they are asking the FAA to fly a few thousand miles to Houston with a hole in the engine? I ready my laptop bag, hat and coat for an immediate exit as I know how this story will end. The time is now 10:00 a.m. and the final announcement from the Captain, “Ladies and gentlemen, I am sorry to report that the FAA will not let us fly to Houston, so this flight is….uh……canceled I guess…..please exit the aircraft in an orderly fashion and Continental representatives will be available to help rebook you to your destination. Again, our apologies”. There is a mad scramble off the aircraft and a huge line forms at Gate 60.
I do a quick count and realize that I am about number seventy in line to reach the Gate 60 desk where three depressed Continental agents are working to rebook 240 passengers. Our flight was completely full as are many of the flights out of LAX. I realized my only hope was to call Continental on my cell phone and beg for help. I dial the 800 line and reach a live, human operator in about one minute. I am shocked. I tell her my sad tale of woe and she immediately offers to rebook me on the 1230 flight from LAX to Houston. I will still have time to get my Houston to Orlando connection. She tells me to stay at Gate 60 and ask them to print my boarding passes once they get start to load the flight. I thank her for her total efficiency and announce to those around me in line that they should try the 800 number.
I grab a soda and take a seat in the Gate 60 lobby. As the displaced passengers reach the desk they are given good news (the 1230 flight), followed by OK news (the 6:00 pm flight), followed by bad news (standby is the only option for the 9:00 flight).
It is now 1200 noon and Continental is starting to board my new flight to Houston. Two hours have passed since our flight was canceled and there are still more than 50 people still standing in line trying to reach the desk for help. Clearly, there is no hope for them.
I board my flight and have an uneventful trip to Houston. I grab a burger at Wendy’s on my way to my connecting flight. What was originally a five hour layover in Houston is now only a 20 minute layover. The Orlando flight departs on time and I reach Orlando at 11:00 p.m. that evening. Finally, to be home!
It is now 11:40 p.m. and all of the luggage from the Houston flight has spun around the carisol and been claimed and the now empty conveyor is turned off. Of course my suitcase was not on that conveyor. I walk over to the Continental Baggage Claim office and announce that I am here from Houston but my luggage is not. The agent tells me that her computers are down so she can’t tell me where my luggage is, but she is sure they will find it and get it back to me. I fill out the lost luggage form describing my basic black roller bag. The agent thanks me for being so pleasant about the loss and I tell her that it was really not the low point of my trip. She smiles and does not ask for any details.
I arrive home some time after midnight. My luggage was located in the Houston airport, having missed the connection and was delivered to my house about 2:00 the following day.
I hope Continental found the missing box with the needed hatch cover and that it has been securely bolted down to the air frame. At least in time for my next trip to LA.