07.25.05
My Airborne Adventure
While the flight to Charleston was relatively uneventful, the return flight was … problematic. We left Charleston pretty late, arrived in Houston with very little time to spare, then waited on the tarmac for over half an hour before we were allowed to exit the plane. I missed the flight to Sacramento, and spent the night with a couple of fellow stranded passengers before a morning flight, which fortunately included an upgrade to first class. My new friends Darian (a nurse from Davis) and Hervi (an architect for Gallo wineries in Modesto) made the wait bearable, and I managed to catch a couple hours of sleep on the floor of terminal E-8 despite the inescapable blare of CNN on TVs throughout the airport.
Slate provides a little insight in an article today about why so many flights are delayed at hub airports—and sure enough, Houston is one of Continental’s biggest hubs.
Also: there must be something about me that tells my seatmates I want nothing more than to hear about their religious beliefs for the duration of the flight. This is incorrect. Please make a note of it.
MiguelD Said:
July 25, 2005 at 12:14 pm
I’m not sure if you were traveling on Friday through Houston from your posts. I was. To bad if so we didn’t connect – I was in the airport for a couple of hours. It took us an extra 30 minutes to get out because of all the delayed connecting flights. Once it gets started, it is pretty much downhill – there is no way to recover in the “split” system hubs provide.
On the good side though, despite the Emily leftovers that are plaguing the Midwest – we got a warning on the flight in from Morelia that there would be “extreme turbulence” (?) and we all needed to stay in our seats, backs upright, tray tables up and ready. Nothing happened.
Shortly after we were warned that Houston was “closed.” It wasn’t and we landed on time.
Sometimes I would rather just not be told.
Nicholas Said:
July 25, 2005 at 12:21 pm
Yes, I was there Friday—pretty late, though; most of the restaurants were closed by the time we figured out that we weren’t going anywhere that night. We were able to get salad and beer at Pappadeaux, which was pretty tasty.
Emperor Norton Said:
July 25, 2005 at 2:18 pm
I’m pretty sure they were talking about the turbulence in your stomachs after being in Morelia. Hahahaha.