Recently on a Friday afternoon Darlene and I flew from Charleston bound for the Beverly Hills Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles for a real estate keynote. It was a routine travel day via Charlotte with a 2 hour lay over. Except, this summer and thunderstorms do build.
Our LA flight arrived at the gate late and had to be cleaned and refueled prior to boarding. Our original departure was pushed back 30 minutes. En-route to our assigned seats, a young man struck up a conversation with us. It was his first time to LA and he was excited.
We were among the last to board and fueling was nearing completion when the lightning began. Immediately the ramp was closed and fueling ceased. The FAA rules are if no lightning strikes within a fifteen minute period, operations resume. The lightning kept striking and the fifteen minute clock kept being reset. After a lengthy period in my seat I was getting stiff and needed to move about before our 5 hour flight.
I walked to the rear galley and the young man we met was standing back there too, striking up a conversation. Soon the flight attendant joined in, then Darlene and someone else came back and we were having good laughs about the weather. The flight attendant opened the starboard door to get some fresh air into the area and I peaked out to see dozens of plans on the apron awaiting either gates or permission to move to aprons and runways. The mess had began as the weather deteriorated.
A young blond woman came to the rear looking for a cocktail. She had just woken up and learnt that booze could not be served on the ground. Soon there after we were told that the airport had re-opened and that the last of the fueling could be completed and off we would be. Back in my seat, we were pushed back and began taxing towards Los Angeles with dozens of aircraft ahead of us. Then the lightning started up and a ground stop was imposed. We were told that if the wheels were not up by 6:30 pm, our captain would time out and a new captain would be found. We were still on the ground at 6:30 pm and heading back to the gate, this time to have no maneuvering room, nor a gate that could handle the size of this aircraft open. Another hour passed before we were at the gate, waiting for news of a new captain, when the news got worse. After sitting on the plane for over three hours, the flight was cancelled and we were to return to the ticket counter to be rebooked.
In the airport the chaos was rampant. Lines at customer service were extremely long. The young man I met walked off the plane with me and I offered him to tag along to the US Air Club where I had membership and we could get help. We were waiting for Darlene when the cocktail blond came up and began chatting to us. She followed and joined us in the club, and got her cocktail. Darlene headed back to the gate as she wanted to know about our bags. At the club desk, we found out that there was a flight to Phoenix, Arizona, but the jet way had already been pulled off. The blond begged and a call was made to a supervisor. The Phoenix flight had already been delayed 2 hours, but would wait a few more minutes. I headed for our bags the others took off for the flight and when Darlene saw them, they were able to hold the flight till I was aboard.
We arrived in Phoenix at midnight with temperatures of 100 degrees. Nothing was flying to LA at that hour, so it was off to find hotel rooms. Darlene and I went our separate ways to be rebooked and find a hotel, only to discover no rooms were available through the airline help system. Just then a stranger asked if we were looking, and informed us that she had just gotten a room. She offered to call for us and we tagged along behind heading to a shuttle. The other couple was on the same shuttle, and had gotten a better rate, which we also received.
Next morning back at the airport at 5 am. We ran into the woman who got us the hotel room and got chatting. She was with the training department of a car manufacturer, and was intrigued by my business card we gave her the previous evening. She uses motivational speakers.
Beth, Darlene and I spent the next hour chatting, sharing our stories and laughing. The bigger picture of our airport challenges was about connections with people. We could have been moaning about the weather we could not change and our discomfort. Instead, we helped people by seeking solutions together and making new friends. Too often we focus only on ourselves and miss the bigger picture that life is a journey and with it many destinations we may not have considered. We see only the challenges and not the exciting adventures that come our way disguised as inconveniences.