CrazyEddie

Not sure if this is the right place for this, but any other FT members on this flight yesterday? Would love to compare notes.

For the rest of the group, flight from MIA was delated ~2 hours, then diverted from ATL landing to Macon due to pop-up shower in ATL. Landed with plan to add fuel and go to ATL. Paperwork and fuel took over 3 hours (we sat on the tarmac). Then just when we are taking off (10pm), the pilot hit the brakes and announced a mechanical. We sat for a bit, then they had to call the airport manager to open up the "terminal" (a yellow cinder block room with chairs, a bathroom and water fountain). Three hours later there were still no buses en route, no way to access bags, so we left on a self-help arranged mini-bus to ATL. (Not easy to find good transportation at that time in Macon!)

We got to ATL at 2:30am, then took Lyft home by 3:30am. (My car was at airport, but my keys were in my checked bag stuck in Macon. Idiot!) As of 11am today the plane and bags are still in Macon.

It. Sucked. Really. Bad. But I thought it was a valuable lesson for my 14 year old son. He got to see how people act under poor conditions ("let's sue them!" "how could they do this to us?" "I know how to open the baggage compartment!") and got some early lessons on travel (several of which I failed to follow):

1. always charge your phone when you can, even if you aren't low;
2. NEVER check a bag if you can avoid it (a rule I broke for the first time in years); and
3. plan for contingencies (even if I'm doing same-day return, I always have back-up contacts, some cash, etc.)

BTW, I don't blame Delta for the above, for a variety of reasons.

Ocn Vw 1K

As your best chance of finding other FTers on the same flight would likely be in the Delta forum, I'll move this there. Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator, TravelBuzz.

mridley2

I don't understand the logic in landing in Macon. Surely there was a better airport within 100 miles that had more adequate facilities to handle 150 PAX.

And of all the flights inbound to ATL at 7pm on a Friday yours was the only one to get diverted??? Talk about unlucky. Geez.

Robbyb03

Your options are CSG, MCN, and CHA within 100 miles of ATL. As someone who was working flights (ATC) yesterday, there were a lot more diverted than just CrazyEddie's. At one point, there was somewhere between 80-100 holding in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and South Carolina to try and get into Atlanta and somewhere between 120-140 waiting to depart Atlanta during the microburst alerts.

CrazyEddie

Thanks Robbyb03. We knew others had been diverted elsewhere, and I initially considered us fortunate because we were so close. If it hadn't been for the mechanical (which I was told today might require an engine replacement), then the capabilities of the faciltiies would not have had such an impact. Not sure if you can help, but any idea why it took so long for the flight plan and paperwork to go through? I don't know what's involved, but suspect with that many planes delayed or diverted, it might have had an effect on us. Something that would have been good to know when we were waiting. And waiting. And wondering!

sethb

Over 3 hours on the tarmac. Isn't that illegal?

Did Delta promise buses? Is that why you waited 3 hours only to find that they still hadn't actually done anything?

Robbyb03

I have no idea why it took so long for the flight plan and paperwork to go through because that's on the airline. As far as filing a flight plan, I can do that and clear an aircraft in less than a minute. However, I do know that if they blame a "delay" on ATC, it doesn't count as being "late" so a lot of the time you'll hear "ATC delay" and it is nothing of the sort. I was sitting on the CSG sector for a while and the MCN controller was constantly trying to get aircraft off MCN and to ATL, but some aircraft (I think like 3 diverted there) couldn't depart for a little while. Diverts get priority in an event like this and we try to do everything possible to get crew time limited aircraft even more priority (example: flight from Brazil or wherever diverting to say CSG and they only have a hour and a half left of eligible flight time).

emrdoc

In addition to the above, Delta diverts to many other airports. I have personally been diverted to CSG, MGM, BHM, CHA, and TYS in the last couple of years.

Robbyb03

Yep, Delta figures out how many can go to each airport based on facilities, runway length, proximity to airport, et cetera. I think they seem to do a really good job especially with weather events in Atlanta. I've seen B767s and larger aircraft divert to SAV, MEM, BNA, CLT, JAX, et cetera.

CrazyEddie

I'm not sure whether it is "illegal". I did a quick search on the plane for the rules of the "Passenger Bill of Rights" and found an informal source that said 3 hour delay is the limit on the tarmac before which passengers have to be allowed to deplane, but I don't know the remedy for missing that time limit, if it is in fact correct. At that time I didn't really care about the compensation, if any, I might be due. Since then, Delta has awarded me 17.5k Skymiles and my son a $175 travel voucher (he doesn't have a Skymiles #).

I don't believe that they hadn't done anything. Delta wasn't promising anything for a while, as we were told they were trying to figure out whether to get mechanics to MCN, get us hotels or get us buses. When they decided they had to go with buses, we were told that they had a very hard time finding a local company that could handle the PAX, at least at that time of night. They eventually went with an Atlanta company and when we decided to bail, they had just been told that the drivers had left to go to the terminals - so the buses weren't yet en route.

Based on the bus we took, I can anticipate that one issue was finding a *reputable* company to take the pax. The guy who drove our bus looked like he had lived a pretty rough life, and in hindsight, I don't know it was a great idea to go with a company whose driver bragged they were "way cheaper" than a well-known competitor. I was pretty concerned the entire ride and sat in the first row to watch his speed and make sure he didn't fall asleep. He still almost wrecked when he exited 75 for 285. With a better quality company, I would have been sleeping soundly.

CrazyEddie

Thanks - good to know. Sounds like if there was any DL caused delay, it was at this point. We were getting few updates, and we were made to believe that the personnel in MCN had to physically print out papers and bring them to the plane. "We are now just waiting on one more piece of paper, which we expect any minute."

pricesquire

A good friend of mine was on this flight. Will post a screenshot of her FB post when I get to my computer. Long story short, she said it was her worst travel day in 25 years (she's in the travel business, too).

EDIT: this is what my friend posted at 11:40 last night...

Surreal travel day on Delta. Thunderstorms in Miami caused our inbound aircraft to be diverted to West Palm Beach. That was a 2+ hour delay and three gate changes. Finally headed toward Atlanta but storms and low fuel diverted us to Macon. After 2+ hours on the ground in Macon, we start down the runway and the pilot has to abort because of a system failure. Another hour on the runway before they can get someone to open the Middle Georgia Regional Airport and get us off the plane. So now we are off the plane and they are sending mechanics from Atlanta to fix the plane. You can't make this stuff up.

CrazyEddie

Thanks. Did she wait for the buses? I'm curious as to whether leaving early was the right move. My bag hasn't been delivered, but is apparently back in ATL.

sethb

And your car is still at the airport so you have to go there anyway?

kettle1

I agree. Your car, keys and bag(s) are at the ATL airport.

Who checks their car keys, (meds not in this case) in checked bags? WOW!

KETTLE MOVE!