20 Fights, 4 Days, Too Many Delays

DELAYED...Now there's a word you never want to see on the airport screen! Unfortunately, Mother Nature decided to have a nervous breakdown and someone decided mechanics needed more work to do...leaving me with a lot of unhappy people. My trip was going so well. Originally a two day with ten flights. The first day was great, all five flights with no major issues. A nice overnight in Winnipeg, and I was ready for day two.

Of course different day, different story. Arriving back in Minneapolis, we had an aircraft swap. We walked down to the gate, and our plane was still not there. Pretty soon we learned that the plane was actually still in Rapid City. It hadn't even left the gate yet. As I was sitting there waiting, another flight attendant joined us at the gate. She was there to do my line check (where an instructor rides on your flight and makes sure you are doing everything right). Because of the delay and other flights she had scheduled she was only able to do a spot check (they make sure you are compliant and have all of your required items). So I would still have to anticipate another line check...lucky me! The worse part of this delay is that the flight was just a short, 74 mile hop. The flight was eventually cancelled, 2 hours later, long enough that the passengers could have already been home (by car).

After flights two and three for the day were cancelled, I had about a three hour break before we had to leave again. More quality airport time. (I think I might hide a tent somewhere in the airport, and set up a little home) Pretty soon it was back to the gate for the next flight. Again...the plane was not there. This one was 45 minutes delayed. Eventually it made it there and we were on our way. The passengers were all pretty nice and understanding with me. I think it helped that I gave them cookies and peanuts on a technically non-service flight...shhhh. As soon as those passengers were off the plane, I went into turbo speed to get that plane out and hopefully make up some time. But then the Captain had some bad news, weather in Minneapolis had caused a ground delay. The airport was shut down. Seriously! As I sat there facing a very good possibility of being stuck in Sioux Falls, I was very glad that I had taken advice from other flight attendants and packed my bag for longer than my scheduled trip. It can happen people...be prepared! Luckily we were boarding and cleared to go 45 minutes later. Again, I had to bribe people with snacks, but hey, whatever it takes. When we finally touched down in Minneapolis, most of the passengers were very close or had already missed their connecting flights. I was just as ready as they were were to be done with this day, and not a fan of being delayed all day. But as we were taxing in to the gate more bad news...lightning strikes close to the airport had shut down all the gates. So 15 more minutes on the tarmac. By this time people really had to go to the bathroom, and I had some desperate requests to get out of their seat and use the lav. I called the pilots and begged for my passengers relief and they said it would be all right, just let them know when everyone was seated again. This is a moment when more than one bathroom is needed. I ended up having to cut off the lav line because the gates had opened again, and when those windows of opportunity open up on a day like this, you do not hesitate. We were finally home, and I was definitely ready to get back to my residence at the hotel!

After a day like that, I was pretty exhausted. I didn't really anticipate that I would get called out the next day, but sure enough, 6:22 a.m. my phone rang. I answered with a groggy hello, and a woman, with a voice that was way too happy for that time in the morning, informed me that I had another trip in two hours. Another two day with ten more flights. It was a pretty gloomy and raining morning, bad weather that meant the potential for more delays. Well they didn't start until the third flight. Another aircraft swap (they seem to be bad luck for me) and we were waiting for a motor on a windshield wiper. Two hours later, we were on our way. It was just a short flight to Duluth, and as we were nearing descent the passenger call button rang. I made my way down the aisle to a woman holding a sleeping baby. She asked if there was a bathroom where she could change the baby. I told her where the lav was and that it was really small and we were almost descending, but if it was really necessary she could get up and change the baby really quickly. She then informed me that the diaper was leaking, and it was acidy. Way too much information! Before I could say another word, she handed me the child. The poor baby was just dangling there in my arms (I am terrified of children, especially ones with overflowing diapers). The guy sitting next to the lady was like, "You don't have children do you?" "No," I said, "What was your first clue?" The lady then realized that she did not have any diapers. She looked at me and asked if we had them on the plane. "No ma'am we don't." She then went on to tell me that this was an emergency and she really needed to change the baby. There were no other babies onboard. I'm not quite sure where she wanted me to magically make a diaper appear from. I went through the plane trying to find anything that would work. I handed her maxi pads, wipes, paper towels, anything that would maybe help. She just looked at me and said, "Your delays suck!" So now it was my fault the plane was delayed, she didn't have extra diapers, and her baby was miserable. I was on a roll. She had the poor baby just sitting there in front of the lav as I was trying to find her something to use, so I also now had to ask another passenger to hold the poor child, she was definitely up for mother of the year! Finally she gave up and realized that since we were only 15 minutes from landing it would be better to wait than to somehow strap maxi pads to her baby. I wished her luck as she deplaned. Good thing the baby slept through this whole ordeal. She may have been traumatized for life!

Back from Duluth was even more unpleasant. Already delayed by two hours, some connections were already gone, and others weren't looking good. This is the flight where I received my first negative encounter with a passenger. We will call her Betty. The first thing Betty did when she boarded the plane was hand me a coupon for a free drink and requested it NOW. On this particular aircraft we don't do pre-boarding drinks and this was also a non-service flight. I told her I could not get her drink. She then proceeded to yell at me for five minutes on how she couldn't use this coupon on her last flight and it expires so she was going to use it now, and that I was going to get her drink for her. I told her we were boarding and trying to get the flight out faster since it was already delayed. She then told me I could have gotten the drink while I had been there arguing with her. Then she wanted me just to give her the mini liquor bottle and she would just take it with her. I told her we can't allow passengers to take them off the plane. Still arguing/yelling at me I just gave up and turned around and walked away. I was able to get her drink to her during the flight (it was not as turbulent as anticipated). As I was walking down the aisle, the passenger sitting behind Betty motioned for me to come here. She whispered to me that Betty had taken my name and information and was probably going to file a complaint on me. She told me that she had witnessed the whole thing and that she would be willing to write a witness statement to support me and provide her  information if I needed any backup in case I got in trouble. I will probably keep this note forever! It was so great. She said that the lady was rude and scary, and that Betty had harassed me and was very insistent to get alcohol. Instantly she became one of my most favorite passengers! As the passengers were deplaning this amazingly nice lady stuck a good job star sticker on my hand. I stuck it to the note she wrote me. A permanent reminder that for every one rude passenger, there are hundreds of amazing ones willing to help you out. As I got to my hotel that night in Grand Forks, I filed a report about the altercation with Betty. So if you're out there Betty...you file a report on me I will go ahead and file one on you!

The rest of the trip went pretty smoothly. Just some funny passengers. There was the guy sitting in the front row who would sleep with one eye open. The whole time it creeped me out because I wasn't sure if he was looking at me or asleep. Then there was the cute old lady who I had to lift out of her seat. Generally this wouldn't have been difficult, but It was my last flight of the 20 and I was beat! And on the last flight there was a special assistance passenger who kept me busy and entertained as I rescued him from the lav, and gave him a safety briefing where he would repeat everything until I acknowledged him. I really do love every moment of this job, and all of the amazing people I meet!

After that long exhausting trip I was able to go home for a few days and relax. Glad to have survived 20 flights in 4 days!