The email I sent to out lamenting my ill fated return flight from Fresno, CA on America West Airlines.
Gordy’s return from Fresno
Gordy’s return from Fresno (aka, why I’m annoyed at America West Airlines)
If this is too long to read, see the ‘Cliff Notes‘ at the end.
So, its the morning after Jeremy and Joanna’s wedding. Figuring that they were going to continue to enjoy the complementary hotel room, I didn’t really have any reason to stick around. As soon as I was packed, I asked Steve, Joanna’s brother, to take me to the airport. Fresno has a rather small terminal, so I admit getting there 2 hours early was more than a little optimistic. Being as I was flying America West, it was REALLY optimistic.
This next call was a bit too late: just about to the airport, Joanna called Steve’s phone (it seems that everyone in Fresno has a cell phone, I almost felt like I was in Finland :-). She and Jeremy were planning on rushing from the hotel to the apartment to see me off. Ooops. We say our good-byes over the phone. All the while I’m kicking myself, thinking that I could have easily stayed at the apartment another 15 min. Darn.
I check my baggage in, and all seems well. They plan to board the plane in about an hour, it should leave on time at 9:45a. I head to the gate and find a seat in the waiting area. A few moments later, I get up and find another seat, this time away from any kids.
About 9:30ish, they announce that there will be an hour delay for additional maintenance on the plane. Anyone with “tight” connection times, should head to the front counter to get re-routed. No biggie, this is America West, I often anticipate this kind of thing. Although, usually, the load us up in the plane first, so being able to stay in the terminal was a bonus.
I wait a bit, do the math, and realize I wont be anywhere in time for lunch. Perhaps that is not an issue for the average person (who Jonathan tells me can go several days without food), but for me, this begins to create a minor challenge. I look about, and locate a food place, one of only four in the entire airport, and discover that in spite of the sign listing its hours as being open, in fact it’s closed. Search some more, and I finally find a place where I can buy some banana’s. At $1 each, I decide to only get two. This should tie me over for the extra time.
While continuing my wait at the gate, this should have been a clue: a mechanic looking type walks in, says something to the flight crew, they all grab their bags and walk away. But, being naive and a little tired, I didn’t really put a lot of thought into what I just saw transpire.
It begins to approach 10:45, and there is still no sign of a flight. In fact, there never will be: the flight had been canceled. But, no one ever saw fit to fill me and my fellow Phoenicians in on that detail.
Finally, a friend of one of the passengers went out and asked. He came back and suggested that all of us should head up to the front desk to find out what’s happened. I finally put it together with the flight crew leaving, and I quickly head out to the font counter.
I found a rather dishearteningly long line. After a bit in a line didn’t move, I decide I would just rather meet up with Jonathan, and ride back home if I could. I find a pay phone, and call. Sure, Jonathan will wait for me while I try to retrieve my baggage. Heading back to the line, I begin to really regret leaving the line, its now much longer with all of the other people who were waiting at the gate. Oh well, all I need it my baggage right?
While in line, I learned that we could be put on standby for the 6:45p flight. Hanging around an airport for the rest of the day, without food (or with really expensive food) just didn’t really appeal to me. Speaking of food, by this point I had ate everything with me including my two bananas. In the frustration of the moment, I would have gladly ate even more.
After a little over an hour in line, someone behind the counter heard me say all I wanted was my baggage, and called me over to have it retrieved. The fellow from the back was a little confused that someone wanted their baggage rather than just having it re-tagged for another flight. I finally convince him it was okay to give it back to me.
I rush to a pay phone again. When Jeremy answers, first words out of my mouth are “I’m hungry.” Jeremy tells me that Jonathan can be here in 15, maybe 20, minutes. All right, I decide I can hold out that long to avoid the high prices. I agree to meet him outside in the arrivals area.
About 45 minutes later, still no Jonathan, it begins to hit me. ‘It’ being the general effects of hypoglycemia. No, I’m not officially hypoglycemic, but at moments like this, I might as well be. Nowadays, few people ever see me get to this point, mostly because I do a reasonably good job of preventing letting myself get there. Those few times when I do, I usually have the resources, or some control of the situation, to deal with it quickly.
However, this day was not one of those instances. When Jonathan finally arrived, perhaps an hour after I had called, I had been crying on and off for about 10 minutes. Understand, I’m not crying about the situation, although in some ways it probably deserved it, I’m crying because (as I understand it) my body continues to produce extra insulin, but I have no food in my system to use it. I’m sure, from a medical perspective, there is more to it than that. The bottom line is it interferes with my ability to think rationally, and I usually either curl up and sleep or stay awake and cry.
Turns out I wasn’t emphatic enough with Jeremy about my need for food, and he never passed on the information to Jonathan that I was hungry. Jonathan chose to get all of the details (gas, food) etc. for the trip done on the way to the airport. In the general case, that would have been a reasonable thing: the freeway wasn’t too far from the airport.
Ultimately, I really don’t blame anyone beyond myself. If I had simply brought more food with me (I was flying America Worst after all), or had some way of getting information out, the whole situation might have been a lot better. Sense then, I’ve ordered a cell phone (but thats another story with a happier ending).
While I was waiting at the Fresno airport, America Worst canceled my return flight. But, they delayed (by about 2 hours) notifying those of us waiting at the gate.
By the time I got everything worked out, I was rather screwed up from a lack of food. My own fault, I had planned ahead: even figured that the flight might be delayed, but I hadn’t planned for it to be outright canceled. I ended up just riding back with Jonathan.