seawolf
Aug 11, 00, 11:14 pm
Heading home from STL.
Got to STL 90 minutes before the 1455 departure and was surprised it has not cancelled. However, it was delayed by an hour. Incoming aircraft, no big shock there. I was also surprised that the UA check-in area was relatively empty (I guess I shouldn't be surprised). 3 passengers in the economy line and 1 in first/premier. This flight is usually full. The incoming finally arrived at 1450 and they turned it around in 15 minutes. We left around 1520 and sat at the threshold for another 10 minutes. Not too bad. I've seen longer at STL. Flight service was usual, beverage service and that's about it. We did however had two FA "trainees" and for one of them, this was her first flight. I think this is probably her second flight since I don't think anybody is based out of STL and she probably flew in from ORD. The purser did announce connecting gate information ask passengers staying in ORD to let connecting passengers off first as we were on final. However, some genius at dispatch decided to park us in E concourse at 1714. The couple behind us had a connecting flight at C3 (and I thought B1 to B3 was a long commute). I hope she made the connection.
Walked over to B concourse and noticed that my 1800 ORD-LGA had no gate listed but was ON TIME. Knew something was wrong and decided to check out the 1700 flight which was listed as BOARDING. Got to B concourse and noticed that it was surprisingly empty. Even the RCC was quiet. Two conclusions: Either UA flights are leaving on time or passengers are finally avoiding UA....
The 1700 gate had three people in front of me. Everybody apparently boarded already. After standing in line for about 20 seconds, they announced that the 1700 flight is completely full. Decided to walk to RCC to find out why my 1800 had no gate. They told B6, so I to B6 and found them closing out a MSP flight. After they closed it, they announce that the 1800 flight to LGA is on decision at 1900.
So, I walked back to the RCC and they put me on the the 1900 ORD-LGA but it was delayed till 1930 as the agent was changing my reservation. Got a meal voucher, walked out and looked at the departure screen and noticed that the 1730 ORD-EWR was boarding a couple of gates down in B concourse. I got to the gate just as they called out boarding all rows. Asked the agent what the waitlist looked like and handed her my 1900 ORD-LGA boarding pass. She looked at it and then told me that she'll upgrade and confirm me in F for being a 2P. My ticket was booked in M. She printed out the DM for Y, then a DM for the upgrade, and then the boarding pass. I thanked her and boarded.
Got to my seat and was settling in just as the purser was quieting telling first class that it looks like we'll be pushing back around 1815 but will be sitting on the tarmac till 2010 because of weather on in the East. That was not good news.
Between the time I boarded and the time we pushed back, another 10-12 passengers boarded and went into coach. I'm guessing those are the standby passengers. So, Premier does have its advantages.
In any case, we pushed back around 1830, and began taxing down to our waiting area. Second officer came on and annouced the bad news to the rest of the cabin. Told us we were going to sit around with the engines off but with the APU running till 1945.
We stopped in second place away from the active runway to wait for traffic to clear up before we can proceed to our waiting area. Be before we started again, the second officer came back on and told us that ATC suddenly released our flight for immediate departure. Even the captain was surprised as I heard him asked ATC again if we were really released. ATC confirmed and clear us for immediate takeoff since we happened to be at the active runway by the time we got the confirmation. Talk about being at the right place at the right time.
Flight itself was uneventful. The flight got into EWR 39 minutes late but I was down by only 14 minutes if my original flight was not delayed. Pretty impressive considering my previous UA delays of 4-5 hours. After I got home, I found out that my original 1800 flight which was on decision at 1900 got cancelled; the 1700 ORD-LGA that was full got into LGA got into LGA 38 minutes after I got into EWR. I guess they were sitting on the tarmac for a while. Finally, the 1900 ORD-LGA the RCC put me on just arrived at LGA 5 minutes ago. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif I guess I was also at the right place at the right time.
Got to STL 90 minutes before the 1455 departure and was surprised it has not cancelled. However, it was delayed by an hour. Incoming aircraft, no big shock there. I was also surprised that the UA check-in area was relatively empty (I guess I shouldn't be surprised). 3 passengers in the economy line and 1 in first/premier. This flight is usually full. The incoming finally arrived at 1450 and they turned it around in 15 minutes. We left around 1520 and sat at the threshold for another 10 minutes. Not too bad. I've seen longer at STL. Flight service was usual, beverage service and that's about it. We did however had two FA "trainees" and for one of them, this was her first flight. I think this is probably her second flight since I don't think anybody is based out of STL and she probably flew in from ORD. The purser did announce connecting gate information ask passengers staying in ORD to let connecting passengers off first as we were on final. However, some genius at dispatch decided to park us in E concourse at 1714. The couple behind us had a connecting flight at C3 (and I thought B1 to B3 was a long commute). I hope she made the connection.
Walked over to B concourse and noticed that my 1800 ORD-LGA had no gate listed but was ON TIME. Knew something was wrong and decided to check out the 1700 flight which was listed as BOARDING. Got to B concourse and noticed that it was surprisingly empty. Even the RCC was quiet. Two conclusions: Either UA flights are leaving on time or passengers are finally avoiding UA....
The 1700 gate had three people in front of me. Everybody apparently boarded already. After standing in line for about 20 seconds, they announced that the 1700 flight is completely full. Decided to walk to RCC to find out why my 1800 had no gate. They told B6, so I to B6 and found them closing out a MSP flight. After they closed it, they announce that the 1800 flight to LGA is on decision at 1900.
So, I walked back to the RCC and they put me on the the 1900 ORD-LGA but it was delayed till 1930 as the agent was changing my reservation. Got a meal voucher, walked out and looked at the departure screen and noticed that the 1730 ORD-EWR was boarding a couple of gates down in B concourse. I got to the gate just as they called out boarding all rows. Asked the agent what the waitlist looked like and handed her my 1900 ORD-LGA boarding pass. She looked at it and then told me that she'll upgrade and confirm me in F for being a 2P. My ticket was booked in M. She printed out the DM for Y, then a DM for the upgrade, and then the boarding pass. I thanked her and boarded.
Got to my seat and was settling in just as the purser was quieting telling first class that it looks like we'll be pushing back around 1815 but will be sitting on the tarmac till 2010 because of weather on in the East. That was not good news.
Between the time I boarded and the time we pushed back, another 10-12 passengers boarded and went into coach. I'm guessing those are the standby passengers. So, Premier does have its advantages.
In any case, we pushed back around 1830, and began taxing down to our waiting area. Second officer came on and annouced the bad news to the rest of the cabin. Told us we were going to sit around with the engines off but with the APU running till 1945.
We stopped in second place away from the active runway to wait for traffic to clear up before we can proceed to our waiting area. Be before we started again, the second officer came back on and told us that ATC suddenly released our flight for immediate departure. Even the captain was surprised as I heard him asked ATC again if we were really released. ATC confirmed and clear us for immediate takeoff since we happened to be at the active runway by the time we got the confirmation. Talk about being at the right place at the right time.
Flight itself was uneventful. The flight got into EWR 39 minutes late but I was down by only 14 minutes if my original flight was not delayed. Pretty impressive considering my previous UA delays of 4-5 hours. After I got home, I found out that my original 1800 flight which was on decision at 1900 got cancelled; the 1700 ORD-LGA that was full got into LGA got into LGA 38 minutes after I got into EWR. I guess they were sitting on the tarmac for a while. Finally, the 1900 ORD-LGA the RCC put me on just arrived at LGA 5 minutes ago. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif I guess I was also at the right place at the right time.