Returned Late Tonight; Canceled Tomorrow
Dec. 28th, 2021 11:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerOahu travelog #21
Back home - Tue, 28 Dec 2021, 11pm
What started as a seemingly normal, on time flight home today turned late and worry-making. Yes, while we were in the air it looked like we'd be landing at least 15 minutes early. In fact we did land 15 minutes early. But the sad fact the past few years in US aviation is that any early arrival is negated by having to wait for a gate to open.
"Our gate will open in about 5 minutes," the pilot said. 15 minutes later he said, "It'll be another 4-5 minutes." 15 minutes after that we started rolling toward the gate.
"I'll bet there are a lot of delays tonight," I said to no one in particular. Once in the terminal a quick glance at the arrivals & departures board confirmed I was right. Nearly every flight into & out of OAK was delayed.
As if it weren't bad enough our 15 minute early arrival was dashed and replaced with an 18 minute late arrival, baggage then took a long time to be delivered. From the pacing of how fast bags appeared it seemed there was only one baggage crew working the ramp. I suspect that's part of why there were such widespread flight delays— crews weren't able to unload & reload aircraft fast enough. It's another example of the Shutdowns, Planned or Not situation I wrote about yesterday.
Our bags ultimately appeared on the carousel 57 minutes after the flight arrived. "Big deal," you might think, "Luggage is always slow." Yeah, but here's the thing. Nearly an hour is really slow. You might think you've waited an hour multiple times before, but have you actually timed it? I've had 20-25 minute waits that sure felt like an hour. This one was more than twice that.
The upshot of these delays was, after running an errand on the way home, we didn't get home until after 10. With another flight to catch tomorrow morning at 6:30, that hurts. But here's the other thing: we're not going to go. 😨
Specifically, it's the risks of exposure while flying. Sharing a house with a dozen other people whom we know and know are vaccinated, we're fine with. Making occasional trips outside the house to shop for groceries and supplies, while wearing masks, we're fine with. But flying with the Covidiot wing of the American public, no. Not until the risk level drops back below this surge.
Update: More about our thought process in my next blog.
Back home - Tue, 28 Dec 2021, 11pm
What started as a seemingly normal, on time flight home today turned late and worry-making. Yes, while we were in the air it looked like we'd be landing at least 15 minutes early. In fact we did land 15 minutes early. But the sad fact the past few years in US aviation is that any early arrival is negated by having to wait for a gate to open.
"Our gate will open in about 5 minutes," the pilot said. 15 minutes later he said, "It'll be another 4-5 minutes." 15 minutes after that we started rolling toward the gate.
"I'll bet there are a lot of delays tonight," I said to no one in particular. Once in the terminal a quick glance at the arrivals & departures board confirmed I was right. Nearly every flight into & out of OAK was delayed.
As if it weren't bad enough our 15 minute early arrival was dashed and replaced with an 18 minute late arrival, baggage then took a long time to be delivered. From the pacing of how fast bags appeared it seemed there was only one baggage crew working the ramp. I suspect that's part of why there were such widespread flight delays— crews weren't able to unload & reload aircraft fast enough. It's another example of the Shutdowns, Planned or Not situation I wrote about yesterday.
Our bags ultimately appeared on the carousel 57 minutes after the flight arrived. "Big deal," you might think, "Luggage is always slow." Yeah, but here's the thing. Nearly an hour is really slow. You might think you've waited an hour multiple times before, but have you actually timed it? I've had 20-25 minute waits that sure felt like an hour. This one was more than twice that.
The upshot of these delays was, after running an errand on the way home, we didn't get home until after 10. With another flight to catch tomorrow morning at 6:30, that hurts. But here's the other thing: we're not going to go. 😨
Tomorrow's Trip: CANCELED
Tonight's flight helped us decide to cancel our New Year's trip. Traveling on the plane for 5 hours with people coughing and hacking around us, many of them not wearing masks properly or leaving them off when they thought nobody was looking, coupled with the Omicron surge of the past few weeks that's only gotten worse since I wrote about it a few days ago, has led us to decide this isn't the time to take another trip.Specifically, it's the risks of exposure while flying. Sharing a house with a dozen other people whom we know and know are vaccinated, we're fine with. Making occasional trips outside the house to shop for groceries and supplies, while wearing masks, we're fine with. But flying with the Covidiot wing of the American public, no. Not until the risk level drops back below this surge.
Update: More about our thought process in my next blog.
