Originally Posted by Flying Buccaneer
It's easy to say "stuff happens" when it happens to someone else.... [I have never before had] over 8 hours in a plane on the ground with no hope of taking off. Again, say "stuff happens" when it happens to you. I doubt you'll be as forgiving as you are now.
Well, the last time it happened was with NW aboard a balky old DC10 at AMS during a major wind/rainstorm; we sat on the tarmac for close to eight hours, sat around the airport a lot longer, and finally departed 24 hours late. Was I unhappy? Yes. Was the quality of communication good? No. Was NW trying to drive me crazy? No. Were they doing the best they could? I think probably.
It was bad, but I lived. So will you. Stuff happens.
I have only once believed that the employees of an airline were actively out to get me and deliberately seeking to make my life worse, and that airline was United Airlines. It was the summer of 2000 and I was right. Every other time I have had major, terrible delays, it was just stuff happening and a lot of tired, imperfect people generally trying to do the best they could with the info they had.