Adventures in flying

[fbhjr]

Yesterday I did a day trip to Atlanta.
6AM out with a scheduled flight back at 9PM.

The 6AM Monday morning flight was everything expected. Everyone was tired and grumpy.
People came up to the gate and asked for help.
"No, I’m doing something else," the Delta Airlines woman told them.
They ran out of luggage space when only half the folks were on, so forced the other half to check theirs, even though they were on the jetway already.
They forgot to log international travelers passports, so a bunch had to come back and do that.
They ran out of space, but some folks took the $800 so no one got dragged away.
We left 1/2 hour late.
They must have cranked the throttle to full as we landed more than 20 minutes early.
But, folks just stopped in the aisle, so I still got off the plane at the scheduled time.

The good news was that my inspection of the supplier went very well and I finished early.

I got to the airport about 4 and asked for an earlier flight. They said no. So I walked through the secret art museum in the basement. (I spend a fair bit of time in the Atlanta airport and know about secret museums and such…)

As I walked about, I saw that in the terminal I was walking under had a flight leaving for home in only 40 minutes.
So, I walked up the stairs, went to the gate and looked for someone who could help me.
A bunch of folks in airline uniforms were standing around, but no one seemed interested in talking to me.
Finally, one guy turned around and looked at me.

"You look like you need help," he said. "I’m the pilot of this flight to Boston. Can I help you?"
"I’m trying to get on your plane," I said.
"You need a seat?" he asked, shaking his head. "I don’t know about that shit. That’s some magic well beyond me. I’m only just smart enough to fly the plane."
"He’s not lying," the uniformed person next to him said. (Turned out to be the co-pilot.)
"That woman can help you," he said, pointing to a woman in a Delta jacked. "I’ll go get her for you."
He broke into the crowd of other Delta people she was talking with and pointed at me.
"Help that guy get on the plane," he said.
She looked at me, then at him and shrugged.
"We’ve got 20 seats left and 18 people on the standby list," she said. "So, there is a good chance you’ll get on, but I can’t promise."
"Sounds good to me!" I said.
"But, it’s $50 to be put on the list and you still might not get on."
"You said I should though."
"Yeah, you probably will."
"That’s less than $10 per hour I’d wait, so sure. That’s about the same rate as going to the movies."
"That’s the spirit!" the pilot said.
I handed the woman my credit card.
She ran it and frown.
"It says I give too much away for free and the new fee is $75," she said. "But, I told you $50, so that’s all I’m charging you."
"Thank you."
She handed me a standby pass and told me to wait on the side.
"I don't’ know if you’ll get on," the pilot said. "But, I promise if you do I will get you to Boston!"
I got on.

As I got off the plane in Boston the pilot was saying goodbye to passengers.
"Good as your word, Sir!" I said to him.
"Thank you for flying Delta," he said and shook my hand.

I hear it went differently on United:
http://gizmodo.com/hired-goon-drags-man-off-united-flight-after-he-refuses-1794168868

For me, I got home at 8PM instead of 1AM. Since I left at 3:30AM, that was a good thing.