DETROIT – The problems withour flight from DTW to Port Columbus really weren’t (comparatively) that bad. In fact, they were rather routine. Jessica and Brian arrived at their gate (A21) and sat down. Brian went to McDonalds to scrounge for food; Jessica began chatting up our future traveling companions.
About 20 minutes before boarding, they finally announced that they didn’t think we’d be flying from that gate. The plane arrived and its passengers disembarked looking frazzled and stressed. After a respectful delay, they announced that there were mechanical problems with that plane. They’d look for a new plane – and new gate – for the flight to CMH.
We were sent to gate A9 where we were told that Northwest had found a new plane for us. They even offered that the plane was in the air from Memphis. Brian called home quickly (his parents were picking us up for the two hour drive to St. Marys) and learned that his parents were arriving at CMH at that minute.
Jessica and Brian’s plane finally arrived, and (with several other slight delays) we were finally airborn to Ohio. We were supposed to arrive at 10:48. We arrived a little after midnight. (Not bad, considering.)
By the time we had the luggage, left the parking garage line, and nearly sideswiped two deer near Wapakoneta, we arrived home at 3 a.m. It’s normally about a 9 hour drive from Scranton to St.M. Driving – we would have arrived around midnight.
This entry written on Brian’s cell phone in the Detroit airport on the return trip. More on that in parts 3 and 4 (and 5!)
Merry Christmas from Ohio,
Jessica and Brian are spending Christmas with Brian’s parents in St. Marys. (It’s Jessica’s first Christmas-day visit with the Clarks, and Brian’s first December 25 in Ohio since 2003.) The trip to get to the Buckeye State was full of set-backs (delays) but no lost luggage.
Several months ago, Jess and Brian decided to fly to avoid any nasty winter weather on Interstate 80. They arrived at AVP (Wilkes-Barre-Scranton “International” Airport) for their 4:10 flight. They found a check-in desk that was booking people on taxis to the airport in Binghamton, New York (70 minutes away) so they could make their connections in Detroit. The airline was so happy to learn we had a long layover in Detroit because it meant we’d make both flights. We checked our luggage and headed to the airport’s bar and arcade to kill the next three hours.
While sipping drinks and swapping travel stories, we heard the airport’s announcements to other holiday travelers:
- The U.S. Air flight from Philadelphia was in the air, then back in Philadelphia, then in the air, then at the gate. But the return flight was cancelled. Anyone with tickets to fly from Scranton to Philadelphia got to ride the bus (courtesy of the airline) at 5 p.m.
- The United flight from Scranton to Chicago was delayed because of fog. Then the story changed. The airplane was stuck in Akron, waiting to take off to fly to Chicago. From Chicago, the plane would fly to Scranton, where Pennsylvania passengers could board for their flight to Chicago.
We considered ourselves lucky when we went wheels up at 7 p.m.
Watch for Part II: Stuck in Michigan
