Trip Reports - 12 cancelled flights and three days later, finally back from Chicago

I was on board an ORD-JAX flight Tuesday at the day's tragic events began unfolding.

No one at the airport had any idea if our flights would resume that day, so I got rebooked on a flight home for 6 a.m. the following day, just in case. I insisted I wanted a paper ticket, which the agent reluctantly agreed to give me. That would be my saving grace later in the week. I went to the President's Club to watch the news.

Within 90 minutes they announced all flights were canceled and the airport needed to be evacuated.

By this time, all nearby hotels were filled and all rental cars were gone. Fortunately, my friends in Barrington, 45 minutes north of the airport, were home and were willing to take me in.

Because traffic around the airport was a concern, I took the CTA and the Metra to the Barrington station. The trains were operating free and the Metra was packed with downtown workers who had been sent home.

Immediately, I began calling UA to find out if my flight the next morning would depart. It was canceled and I was rebooked on a flight later Wednesday. This was a routine that would repeat itself more than 12 times. I tried Amtrak and was told I couldn't get a seat until Sept. 21.

Finally, Friday morning I had a 9:15 a.m. flight to SFO that had not been canceled by the time I left Barrington at 6 a.m. By the time I got to the airport, things had changed. It was now canceled.

The lines out front were horrendous. I only had a carry on, but I had heard there would be no gate check-in. Then someone announced that anyone on the 8 a.m. flight to LAX with carry-ons only and tickets could go to the gate. Now 7:25 a.m. I went through security (they ran the wand across everyone and the wire in my bra set it off), ran to the gate and got a stand-by card for the flight. I was told it looked good.

While I waited, the place was amazingly quiet and empty. Police and bomb sniffing dogs wandered through, but the ramp and concourse were still. A dark-skinned man was pulled out of the LAX line and questioned for at least 15 minutes.

By 8 a.m. the flight had not started boarding and there was now a much larger crowd of people, including Alex Trebeck. It didn't look good anymore. A short time later they announed the plane would be delayed several hours due to a mechanical problem.

There was almost no one in the terminal (aside from those at the LAX gate) and no one in line at customer service. I asked to be put on stand-by for flight to Seattle and Portland leaving about 9:45 a.m. The agent started to accommodate me when a bulletin came out stating that only passengers with confirmed reservations for a flight that day could go stand-by and then only to their original destination or co-terminals. Seattle and Portland were no goes.

I met someone at the counter who had a rental car so he could drive to Denver if he didn't get a flight. I said I'd split the car and the driving if I couldn't get out any other way. Fortunately, it didn't come to that for either of us.

Because my flight was canceled, the agent told me I no longer had a confirmed reservation and so could not go stand-by. I wondered why I would need to go stand-by if my confirmed flight had not been canceled. One agent said those of us in that situation should just leave the airport because we couldn't get out that day. I went to a different agent.

A sharp supervisor pulled out some codes from her arsenal that changed the canceled flight to something else - flight held or something - so I could show I had a reservation and now get a stand-by card for a 12:15 flight to SFO, the only flight there that hadn't yet been canceled. The first confirmed seat they could give me was for Sunday.

I then noticed there was a flight to OAK at 11:44. I got a stand-by card after explaining that co-terminals were OK. She saw I had been waiting since Tuesday for a flight, took pity, and decided I should be boarded before 1Ks who had not been waiting at all.

In all there were about 50 stand-bys and probably 25 got on, including myself. I was never so happy to set foot on a plane.

As we taxied out, I counted at least 60 UA planes sitting on the ground.

During flight I chatted with the FAs in the back. One, probably in her early 20s, was very nervous. She didn't sleep all night, worrying about the flight, she said. The others were less concerned.

The only obvious changes on board were that knives are no longer part of the cutlery offered with meals, pillows and blankets are in short supply as they were removed to make searching the planes easier and pilots were very late boarding because their new security screening takes a considerable amount of time. I was surprised Channel 9 was on.

We landed uneventfully in Oakland, where I was happy to finally be able to hug my family and grieve for the nation and the victims of Tuesday's tragedy together.

Just wanted to add that for those who are still stuck and eager to get home to their families, as I was, consider going to the airport even if the flight you are booked on for that day is canceled. I knew the only way to get on a flight was to be at the airport and even if my flight was canceled I had two stand-by chances, the first of which proved successful. There are numerous cancellations on all of these flights, so stand-by is a good possibility.
Keep in mind though that the rules and FAA orders seem to change hourly, so nothing is guaranteed.
Safe travels.




[This message has been edited by letiole (edited 09-14-2001).]

letiole,

Glad to hear you made it home (finally!).

Seems like those paper tickets still come in handy - I still request them as often as possible.

You spoke about the FAs on your flight - what was the general atmosphere in the plane like on your way back to Oakland? Just wondering.

Glad to hear you made it home safe and sound.

-David

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">what was the general atmosphere in the plane like on your way back to Oakland?</font>

Surprisingly enough, based on people's demeanors it seemed like just another flight, with just a couple of exceptions. A few of us were very excited to finally get on an airplane and when we landed a few people clapped. No one appeared nervous except for the one FA. I kind of expected people to be helping each other out more or be a little kinder, but there were still overhead space disputes and people moaning and groaning about their upgrade chances or lack of an upgrade. Some people were angry at UA for being so slow to restart flights and for having maintenance delays on flights they were restarting - our flight was delayed about 30 minutes while a mechanic looked at a fuel pump.

Unfortunately, UA did not give priority to people who had been stranded, except on waitlists and then status still seemed to be the most important factor. So many of the people on this flight were people who had booked the flight well in advance of the attacks and had their travel plans undisturbed.

Glad to learn that you are safe at home at last! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Welcome home, safe and sound!