At 3:44 a.m. yesterday, an e-mail arrived informing me that my 8 a.m. flight had been cancelled. Two minutes later, I was rebooked onto a 12:44 p.m. flight. Too bad my brain doesn’t have an inbox, because I didn’t see either of these messages until I was awakened by the alarm clock at 5 a.m.
Because I had to be in D.C. for an evening meeting, the rebooked flight didn’t work and I found my way into an 8:30 a.m. flight. All seemed good, until I tried to check in and there was no ticket for me. Apparently, my travel agent thought “rebook the flight” meant “Reserve the seat, don’t book it.” Argh!
A few calls later I was on my new flight. When I found out my original flight’s cancellation was because of United’s maintenance inspections, I felt better about my morning’s travails. ”Better not to be on it if it’s not safe,” I consoled myself, as I boarded my new flight on American.
The new flight even pulled away on time.
Then it sat.
For 40 minutes.
Behind a plane that couldn’t seem to dislodge itself from the vehicle that had towed it away from the gate.
Guess United wasn’t the only one with maintenance issues that day.
Lo Que Dijeron