Sorcia says, “THIS is a blizzard?”
I may very well eat my words if I wake up tomorrow (not too long after this post is published) and discover 4 feet of snow outside, but at 10pm on Sunday night, the Big 2010 Christmas Blizzard seems to be a Big Nothing. Yes, I will admit, it’s pretty windy outside, but there’s not much in the way of snow.
However, thanks to the snow, we get to have my brother-in-law an extra day or two. My sister’s family is visiting from Kansas, but her husband had to leave ahead of the rest of his family. He was supposed to fly out of Philadelphia for business this afternoon, and at the last minute his flight was canceled. His airline, USAir, was surprisingly candid about the reason.
Apparently, the flight crew boarded the plane; the pilot took a gander at the conditions and declined to fly. USAir told the waiting passengers they were working on two alternative plans:
Plan A: find another pilot who was willing to fly in the snow and wind
Plan B: wait 20 minutes and ask the current pilot if he was willing to change his mind
At this point, my brother-in-law called the car rental desk to reserve a car to drive back to our house. Good move!
So, tell me, if the original pilot thought it was too dangerous to fly, would you hang around waiting for them to dig up a more reckless/compliant/stupid one?
And – what were they doing in those 20 minutes to try and change the original pilot’s mind?? I have a picture of them taking him to the bar and buying him a stiff drink to bolster his courage.
Plan A, Plan B … would you want to know their Plan C?
I’m thinking if the pilot refuses to fly he’s got a pretty good reason and I should follow his lead!
I agree with Vicki.
We got a bit of a blizzard here – at least it looked like one driving home from my brother’s last night!
hi miss dianne! wow could you believe we got a whole big bunch of snow on christmas!! it was soooooo pretty. for that flying stuff for sure if that pilot says that plane is grounded im grounded too. the only pilot id fly with in that weather is santa! ha ha.
…hugs from lenny
Um, not only wouldn’t I be on the plane if either plan A or plan B worked, I’d think twice about ever flying USAir again. If they aren’t listening to their pilots, who are they listening to? Hmmmm . . .
Well, sure, it makes sense now, but what if the pilot was simply a fraidy cat or maybe didn’t know how to fly at all and was just thinking of an excuse? I’m betting it was the green apple quick step and the pilot didn’t want to say that over the PA system.
Malcolm
My guess is at the drink he at least 4 shots. Then his blood alcohol would make his mind up for him….unless he had nachos.
BTW…made you new blog of the day.
Part Two of this story involves Keith’s luggage. After they cancelled the flight, USAir informed the passengers that they would *not* be unloading the luggage. The luggage would fly to its intended destination without the passengers, as soon as the plane next took off.
Keith’s been trying for 2 days to get word on where his luggage went and finally flew out today with only the clothes on his back.
What a fiasco!