CLT Meltdown
 

CLT is a disaster tonight; I'm not exactly sure why.

I'm flying MCO-CLT-PHL. We got out of MCO a few minutes late and hit the ground at CLT 3 minutes after the scheduled arrival. We then took 40 minutes to pull into a gate.

There were at least 100 people in the line in terminal C for customer service, and I heard one person say "We're going to Des Moines, and they said there's nothing tonight and nothing tomorrow."

My flight, 2523, was originally delayed only a little, from 8:21 to 9:00, then the word was that we're waiting for a crew to clear customs. We were at gate A12, which is part of the Delta area. They've just moved us to B13, while apparently the Charleston flight that was supposed to go from B13 is now going from A12.

Hoping I get home tonight! Anybody know what's going on? Bad weather somewhere; it's fine in CLT.

Update: We did get home after another gate change, and the flight departed around 10:15 for what was supposed to be an 8:21 departure. But we all know that a 2-hour delay is not the worst thing in the world, compared to the alternatives.

Weather.

I would guess that the crew in customs is deadheading on your flight in order to work a flight tomorrow. I wouldn't expect a crew arriving from working an international flight would be able to immediately work a domestic flight without a rest period. Alternatively, the crew could have been deadheading on the international flight before working your flight, but that seems less likely due to rest rules and the implicit cost of having a crew deadhead from an international airport rather than working an international flight from their location.

CLT has a lot of short intl flights though… maybe the crew is from the Caribbeans?

The chaos rippled everywhere yesterday - we were an hour late out of MIA for inbound crew, and, as far west as AUS, 3 hours for delayed inbound aircraft.

Long day.

All the best, James

My DCA-LGA flight got cancelled. No other options today :(

Train, or (shuddering) bus?

Definitely take Amtrak. There are several options to New York Penn today, though it looks like there may only be a few seats on each train, so I'd book ASAP.

Wow. Glad I booked my connections through ORD for next weekend.

Any airport can implode, I don't think it's unique to CLT. When I was working and traveling a lot, I pretty much assumed I would have one trip per summer with major SNAFU due to bad weather. I don't think the weather in CLT was bad; I think it was in feeder routes.

I felt bad for the people in the customer service line. FTers know the protocol for getting rebooked in IRROPS, and it does not involve waiting in line for two hours to have an AAgent tell you "I will gladly fly you Tuesday for your confirmed ticket for today."

I did notice a sign though, basically saying the the Admiral's Club was pretty much closed for F&B service, but AC members could go there to get rebooked, and it's axiomatic that the AC AAgents are more like AAngels.

This happens all the time where the international flight is from the Caribbean or Mexico.

Yes, but from the stories here it seems like CLT is running much closer to max capacity with little margin for error these days. At least compared to the other hubs. And next weekend is Memorial Day weekend which will likely be even worse than this weekend.

I am actually heading to IAH. LGA was a layover.

​​​​​​AA was able to book me on the UA flight out of IAD. Get in a few hours later than planned, but at least we're not arriving tomorrow afternoon

Plus, now you don't have to connect.

If you're visiting, hope you get the chance to enjoy D.C. and our unseasonably Houstonian weather for a couple more hours.

It's my fault. I brought Singapore weather to Houston and now DC. It's leaving with me.

And yes, visiting and as always, enjoy it. Some of my family lives here, so make several trips (when I can)