When you think about all the airline flights that you have taken in your life, did you ever have a flight delayed?  I am not talking about a flight being cancelled.  I am talking about a flight that you board and then it is delayed in taking off.

As many of you know, I have traveled a fair amount in my life, having had the opportunity to visit all the states in the USA, and 49 countries around the world.  Very lucky, indeed.

I am a veteran of air travel.  Done it many, many times.

But, today, was the worst delay experience I have ever had.  You may have a tough time believing this story but it is sadly so very true.

Delta flight 1173 was scheduled to leave Ontario California’s airport at the early hour of 6:10 am destined for Seattle Washington.  It was due to arrive in Seattle at 8:19am, some 2 hours and 9 minutes later.

What could go wrong, you may ask.

As usual these days, it was a full flight.  As I and other 179 passengers wait in the boarding area at around 5:40, about the time that we would normally begin boarding, the Delta gate agent takes the microphone and announces that the plane will be delayed.  She will notify us when we can board.  Note that she does not bother to give the passengers a reason, nor does she give us any indication of how long the delay might be.

I walk up to the gate agent and ask her what the reason for the delay is.  She says that it is “mechanical.” My sense is that she has no idea what the reason is.  She has probably heard from the captain that they have an issue that they need to resolve before passengers board.

ONE HOUR LATER.  The agent comes on the loud speaker again and says that she is happy to report that we are ready to board the plane.  Yahoo!!

ONE HOUR LATER.  All of us passengers have taken their seats, stored their carry-on luggage, fastened their seat belts, and sat there for one hour while the plane has not moved.  It has not departed from the gate.  The door to the aircraft has not closed.  We have been sitting in our seats for one hour.

The Captain comes on the plane’s speaker system and tells us that we have probably noticed that we have not taken off.  Yes, indeed!  He apologizes and says that he is waiting for the paperwork from maintenance.  He explains that the computer screen in the cockpit just would not turn on this morning and that is what needed to be fixed.

ONE HOUR LATER.  The captain comes on the speaker again, noting that we have not moved from the gate yet.  He apologizes again, this time informing us that there is wing flap that they are having trouble with.  He tells us that maintenance is on it, and we should be able to move soon.  But, he says that it could take up to an hour more.

The head Flight Attendant gets on the speaker and says that anyone who wants to get off the plane may do so, but you have to take all your belongings with you.  you may not leave them on the plane.  If you plan to reboard the plane you will have to repeat the boarding process we all used originally to get on the plane.

ONE HOUR LATER.  The captain comes back on, this time apologizing again, saying that they appear to have resolved the problem, and he is just waiting for the paperwork from maintenance.  He expects that we should be able to close the door, depart from the gate, and take off for Seattle.

ONE HOUR LATER.   The plane had not moved.  The door to the boarding ramp has not closed.  no one, not the Captain, not the head Flight Attendant has said a word during the last hour.  Total silence, when we were all anticipating being able to finally get going, after a tortuous delay.  Finally, the captain comes on again, apologizing, expressing the fact that they have identified a new problem, a door that cannot get shut on the wing.  At this point the Captain says that he has no idea how long this could take.

ONE HOUR LATER.  The Captain gets on the speaker again, giving a status report. He says that a part is needed and that maintenance is having someone drive the part from LAX.  He does not know how long this may take, given Los Angeles traffic.  My experience tells me that this could easily take 2 hours.

He further adds that he cannot hold us “hostage” (his word) any longer.  He says that anyone who wants to get something to eat can get off the plane without having to take all their belongings.

Finally, I get up from my seat and walk to the front of the plane, exit to the on ramp, and walk to the door on the airport’s concourse where the gate agent stands checking people onto the flight.

The gate agent says to me “where are you going?”  I respond, “to get some food.”  Whereupon she proceeds to tell me in no uncertain terms that if I leave the plane I will not be allowed to reboard for another 2 hours.  Frustrated, I explain to her what the Captain had said, that we could go out and get food and come back.  she said, “sorry, our procedures do not allow that.”

I immediately turn around and walk back down the on ramp to the plane and to the cockpit. Talking to the Captain, I tell him what just transpired, and to his credit he says “let me go with you and see if I can get this resolved.”

We walk up the on ramp together and he approaches the gate agent, asking if there is some way that she could allow me and others to get some food and return.  He suggests that she call us “early boarding” to get around her insistence that the plane has to be reboarded in its normal way, since a new departure time two hours from now has been set.  She says no.

At this time another passenger, a woman in her 20’s, approaches the gate agent and asks if she can go back on the plane to get her suitcase.  The agent says no.  the captain immediately breaks into the conversation and says that he will go get it for her.

The Captain then turns back to me and says that he would be glad to go get food for me and bring it back to the plane.  “What would I like to eat,” he asks.  I instinctively object.  “No, no.  you should not do that.”  But he insists.  So I say “Anything.  Fish and chips or grilled cheese would be great.  But anything will do.”

Then I say “how about we split duties?  What if I get the suitcase while you get the food.”  He quickly smiles and says “deal.”  Phenomenal.

ONE HOUR LATER.  The passengers that are still waiting for the flight start coming back on the plane.  The Captain gets on the speaker again, and says that we are ready to take off.  The Flight attendant tell us to fasten our seat belts, close our laptops, bring our seat backs up.  They then say that they are required to show the opening video which is all about how Delta is all about the customer and serving the customers’ needs.  Needless to say, there were a few groans in the cabin.

But, believe it or not, this odyssey is not over yet.  The door to the plane finally closes.  Everything seems geared to get us going.  However, we continue to sit at the gate for another 30 minutes.  The door to the plane is closed.  the Captain finally comes on the speaker once more telling us that the delay is because they are waiting for the airport’s ground crew to move the plane back from its position at the gate.  Another delay.

Our Delta jet took off exactly at 1:20pm, some 7 hours after it was scheduled to depart.  A 7 hour delay, 6 of which were spent in my seat on the airplane.

What does one take away from this sadly true story?

One, promptness is important in life, but so is patience. I need to work on both.

Two, if you have to be somewhere, such as boarding a cruise ship to Alaska which was the case with several passengers, make sure that you book your flight a day ahead of time just in case.

Three, it takes a village to get an airplane flight off the ground.   Pilots for sure, but also just as important, maintenance personnel, purchasing agents for parts, gate agents, flight attendants, ground personnel at the airport, to name a few.

Four, I don’t know whether this Captain was unique, but I came away from this experience with a tremendous respect for him in particular (Lane is his first name) and for the role that he must play in a situation like we encountered.  How often do you have the Captain of the aircraft walk off the plane, go get you a sandwich, pay for it with his own money, and then personally deliver it to you at your seat on the plane with a smile!

Finally, I have to report on the good things that came out of this excruciating experience.

• One, over the 7 hours of waiting, I was able to catch up on some sleep. I had gotten up at 3am to catch the 6:20 flight.  I needed the shut eye.
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• Two, this is the first time I was able to see 3 movies on what was supposedly a two hour flight.

• Three, one of the movies I saw was Mama Mia, which is one of my all time favorites. This triggered tear upon tear from me, but this time I did not have to try to conceal my crying from the people sitting on either side of me in the airplane.  They had abandoned the flight, so I had the entire row of three seats to myself!
• Four, the delay gave me time to write this blog!

Epilogue. Only 50 of the original 180 passengers stayed the entire time.  We arrived in Seattle safely around 3:30 in the afternoon, just 7 hours behind schedule for a 2 hour flight.