This afternoon at DFW airport, American Airlines apparently lost our plane. I was booked on the 4.30 pm flight from DFW to Sacramento, terminal A gate 19. I arrived at the gate, to find what looked like a fine example of an aicraft parked at the gate. I thought this would be an on-time departure. No such luck. Before long the plane was pulled back from the gate, and the tannoy crackled to life with the news that our flight was delayed. The announcement might have said something about mechanical issues, but then again it could have said that the plane was being stolen for another flight...I was too far from the gate to hear the full story. Then the usual run-around commenced. At 4.15 pm we were shifted to gate 21, so we all trooped along the concourse and settled down for a wait. The gate agent at gate 21 claimed that the flight was delayed until 4.50 pm, but since we reached 4.50 pm with no sign of a plane at gate 21, it soon became apparent that we were now in Bullshit News territory.
The next announcement was that a plane was being rushed over from a hangar. Then came an announcement that the plane was trapped behind another plane in the hangar...this now had me convinced that somebody somewhere was making up BS excuses and passing them down. The gate agents apparently seemed to think so. After the last explanation, she paused and said "Sorry, I know it's not very good as an excuse but that's what we have got".
Eventually a plane showed up. Despite the gate agent request for people to get out of the way at the gate to let passengers on in group order, people kept hanging around getting in the way. What is it with some people that when they enter an airport they have to behave like total oorons? It is almost as if they leave their brains kerbside.
We eventually took off 1 hour and 15 minutes late. I was shoehorned into row 31, behind a lady who instantly deployed her seat recliner, but in front of a seat blocked by a baby carrier. So I could not use my laptop. Grrr. I contented myself with paper writing and listening to which tunes on the iPod are currently corrupted.