Terrible Flights - 28 Hours of Hell

Recently, I went to a conference for alumni relations professionals. It was in Austin, Texas, which was warm and sunny for my entire visit. And the conference helped me connect with people and discuss issues and develop ideas. (Pictures on a future blog.)

But before you get jealous of the 85 degree weather, the great hotel, the tasty restaurants, and the unique shopping, I wanted to share with you my return trip from hell.

I was scheduled to leave at 8:30am from Austin, fly to Detroit, and land in Erie at 3:00pm, with plenty of time to celebrate my 25th birthday with my family (and Spaghetti & Meatballs and cheesecake). This was not to be. But this will be a birthday I will never forget.

Below is a picture of the first plane with problems.

At boarding time, the Northwest Airlines worker came on the loud speaker and instead of calling our flight to board, she said there were "mechanical problems" on the plane and we were all going to be re-routed. Personally, I am glad we did not fly on a dangerous plane, but this certainly put a damper on my celebrating 25 years on the 25th of February.

After standing in a long line of disgruntled passengers, I got to the desk, I learned I would be traveling to Memphis, Tennessee, on a 12noon flight, connecting to Detroit, and landing in Erie at 10:40pm. This was terrible news because it will not allow for any birthday cheer and it doubled my travel time - 14 hours in airports and planes - definitely not the way I wanted to spend my birthday.

I was quite happy to land in Detroit at 8:00pm; I walked straight to TCBY and got myself a celebratory frozen yogurt. I had a pity party for myself all day and was ready to be home.

Normally, the Detroit-Erie flight is a short one - maybe about 45 minutes. Twenty minutes in the air, the pilot came over the intercome and said a warning light came on in the cockpit and we were turning around and heading back to Detroit. After the scary 20 minutes back to Detroit and several minutes maintenance, we de-plane - these "mechanical problems" could not be fixed.

Fortunately, NW found another plane and we were all going to head out on that at 1:00am, but, unfortunately the crew timed-out.

We were then all put up in hotels for the night and scheduled to fly out on the 8:45am flight from Detroit to Erie.

But the story does not end here. After boarding, I learned that there was a light covering that had loosen and popped out of place above the seat in front of me. The man sitting next to me had pushed it back in - to avoid the inevitable delay. Maintenance was called in and the captain announced there would be a slight delay because of a minor "mechanical problem."

I was (and still am) absolutely sick of the phrase "mechanical problems," but, luckily, it was fixed in about 15 minutes and we arrived in Erie at 10:10am - 28 hours after my initial arrival at Austin's airport.

I am glad we did not fly in unsafe planes and it also makes a wonderful "Trip from Hell" story to tell my friends, family, and blog readers. It will be a birthday I will never forget and I thank all the not-so-strangers on the Erie flight who comforted me after the final pity party I threw for myself - where I was audibly and visibly sobbing. Things could have been a lot worse and I am happy I am safe and sound.

The good news: with all the confusion, re-routing, and de-planing, the airline did not lose my luggage.

I know these types of trips happen more often then people talk about. Do you have any stories? Or do you have any words of comfort?