Back to the Ghetto

As my flight was scheduled to leave at about 5:30, meaning that I wanted to be at the airport by about 4:30, I was decided to set my alarm for 3:30.

Upon waking, I checked the flight status and learned that the flight was still listed as on time. I then proceeded to make the final preparations for my departure. Fortunately everything went very smoothly, actually well ahead of schedule.

About fifteen minutes before we had originally planned to leave, my father, brother, and I headed out. Our first stop was a local fast food restaurant so that I could pick up some food to help me through the trip. Just a few minutes later, after completing my meal, we arrived at the airport.

As I had checked-in online I was able to use the short baggage drop-off line and proceed almost directly to the security area. While going through the security area I noticed that the protocols had changed since my last trip through the St. John’s airport, and even since my trip to Halifax in October. Of course none of these new changes made me feel any safer as all they did was prove the fundamental weakness of the system.

Anyway, once through security I claimed a seat near the gate area and proceeded to wait for the upcoming boarding announcements. Unfortunately, the next announcement was about delays that our flight would be experiencing because of mechanical problems. After several more similar delays they finally told us that the flight was cancelled and that our baggage would be returned to us.

After notifying us of the cancellation, which they only did about 15 minutes after the same information was posted online, they requested that we wait around the gate area so that they could inform us of re-booking arrangements.

After some number of minutes they informed us that a replacement flight was scheduled for 4:00 PM that afternoon. We were requested to head down to the baggage area and reclaim our luggage and then return to the check-in counter to hand over our baggage for the next flight.

Strangely, when I arrived at the baggage area I noticed that much of the baggage had already been unloaded and placed next to the carousel, indicating that it had never even gotten near the plane. The rest of the baggage took a surprisingly long time to appear, particularly as a fair portion of the batch had never even been loaded. In the end I think it took me about an hour to receive my one bag.

With my bag in hand, I proceeded to the check-in counter to hand over my bags and receive my new boarding pass. After about a half an hour or so I was nearing the front of the line. With only about three parties in front of me the airline announced that they would not be checking anyone else in for the make-up flight, some kind of computer delay was the stated reason. What they would be doing was giving us all breakfast and lunch vouchers, though from a different line.

The problem then was whether I should leave my position and possibly lose the chance to ask the ticket agent about the flight or hit the back of the voucher line.

Within a few minutes I noticed that the people in the voucher line were taking advantage of being able to ask agents questions more complicated and pertinent than where they could use the vouchers. I decided that it might make more sense to join that line, which I did and quickly was able to talk to an agent.

The agent gave me my vouchers and informed me that I would be able to check-in online, once the flight became available. It also seemed that the flight had been bumped back from a 4:00 PM departure to a 6:00 PM departure.

With my vouchers in hand I hopped in a cab and headed up. By about 9:30 AM, six hours after waking, I was finally back home and ready to return to sleep. Once home much of the day was spent in and out of sleep, trying to deal with the previous night significantly abbreviated sleep.

At one point I was woken by my brother to take a phone call from Air Canada who was calling to inform me that the flight had been further delayed. The flight was now scheduled for an 8:30 departure. My plans of a day in Montreal before the resumption of classes were quickly falling apart.

Before dinner I checked-in online and then returned to the airport to drop off my bag (which I only had to check because of my pocket knife). Shortly after dinner I returned to the airport for the third time and proceeded to the security line. My brother, father, and sister instructed me to look for the observation area once I had completed the security process.

Upon entering the secure area I noticed that the café was about to close. Completely forgetting about my commitment to wave to my family, with voucher in hand, I went to the café and ordered a coffee. The cashier informed suggested that as I couldn’t get change I might want to buy a few more things. As the only items available were bottles of pop I ended up with three.

With my free goods in hand I realized that needed to go and fulfill my previous commitment. As I approached and my father and brother saw my coffee they started to laugh, thinking that I had some kind of coffee addiction, not realizing that it was just an example of me taking advantage of free goods.

Within a few minutes I was back to waiting for flight announcements. As I continued to wait and the time passed the normal boarding time I began to worry about the likelihood of the rescheduled flight making it out. Eventually we were informed that there would be a delay because of a mechanical issue.
After what seemed likely a exceedingly long period of time we were allowed to board, only to find that they had still not fixed the mechanical problem and that the delay was likely to continue. The fortunate aspect, as the captain informed us, was that the problem did not relate to safety and would not cause us to remain in St. John’s. I did see a guy with a toolbox going back and forth from the back to the front of the plane.

Eventually we took off, without ever being informed whether or not the problem had ever been solved. At that point I don’t think anyone on the plane cared, we just wanted to be on our way to Montreal.

Early in the flight a relatively long announcement was made, presumably about the delay and how they would be making it up to us. Unfortunately, as I was sitting next to an engine I didn’t really hear much of it. When the started handing out $100 travel vouchers and free drinks I started to get the gist of what must have been said.

Amidst heavy fog we landed in Montreal just before 11:00. Unfortunately, I then had to wait over an hour for my bags to come from the plane. The waiting was made less pleasant by the fact that the baggage area was over-filled with people from a range of flights and hundreds of unclaimed bags. The other downside of this was that my bag was one of the last to be unloaded. By the time I left I recognized no one from the flight, many of the people having left many minutes before.

I quickly then found a taxi and started the final leg of my trip. The taxi ride was relatively uneventful, except at the very end when there seemed to be some confusion about which way certain streets ran.

The only remaining obstacle was gaining access to my apartment. Contrary to what had been promised me earlier in the day by the superintendent, my apartment had not been unlocked for me when I returned. I had to wake up the concierge at about 12:30 and get him to let me in, an experience that I am sure he would have quite pleased to skip.

By the time I made it to sleep last night it was well over 24 hours after I originally awoke for my early morning flight. Hopefully I won’t have too many such experiences in the future, particularly with relatively short direct flights.