Balls and Walnuts
more than you ever wanted to know
Walnut Has No Underwear…
because the airline lost his luggage. God only knows when the Delta is going to find it. I asked Jake how often they lose our luggage and we estimated about 33% of the time. They have approximately 24 hours to find it before having to cough up some money to replace it so, of course, they dig it up after 23 hours.
It could have been worse, I suppose; he could have booked a flight with JetBlue. To quote from the AP article,
JetBlue is offering refunds and free flights to passengers who were stranded on airplanes [at New York’s JFK airport] for more than three hours during an ice storm. The airline is under heavy criticism for leaving hundreds of passengers on planes for up to 10 hours…Many of the stranded passengers didn’t make it back to the terminal until 6 p.m. Most had boarded their aircraft before 8:10 a.m. Some of those jets were incoming flights that had been on the ground since 10 a.m. Six flights were stranded for more than eight hours.
JetBlue wasn’t the only culprit this time; American Airlines stranded passengers on a Miami flight for more than three hours. And last December, according to this AP report,
A similar incident happened on Dec. 30 [2006], when American Airlines and American Eagle diverted 121 flights found for Dallas to other cities because of thunderstorms. About 5,000 passengers were left sitting on parked aircraft, some for eight hours. One of those advocating for a passengers’ bill of rights, Kate Hanni, a California real estate agent, was stuck for hours on the tarmac on American Flight 1348, with her family.
And before that, according to this USAToday article,
The delay that intensified pressure on airlines in 1999 involved the so-called “prisoners of Northwest” — thousands of passengers who sat grounded in airliners during a winter storm at Detroit Metro Airport. Some planes had no food or water and overflowing toilets.
On Jan. 2, 2002, passengers on dozens of planes at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta waited up to 10 hours during a snowstorm. Delta apologized for inconveniencing 50,000 passengers, saying it had underestimated the storm and the time it would take to de-ice planes before departure.
I could probably dig up even more egregious examples of this type but I think the point is made. Of course, the airlines will fight any legislation to regulate their behavior as they did in 1999 when they promised to follow voluntary guidelines (worked really well last Wednesday, right?). So what to do? Rep. Mike Thompson and Sen. Barbara Boxer will be offering legislation on a Passengers’ Bill of Rights. Write and/or email your legislators in support of this bill. If you scroll down on the left, you’ll see the links under Don’t Worry ’bout the Government.
Regarding the lost luggage scenario: I just flew Delta to London. I was joking with the luggage handler in Raleigh and asked him to make sure it gets put on *my* plane. The guy said, “Oh, you think you’re going to get this on the other end? Don’t you know that Delta stands for ‘Don’t Expect Luggage To Arrive’?” And this guy works for Delta. (In fairness, my luggage did arrive, so I shan’t complain.)
That’s why….carry on all the time. While I know this isn’t always possible (it is for me for obvious reasons), it’s almost worth carrying on what you can and just buying the rest when you get there. Except for confiscating my BRAND NEW Oil of Olay last time I flew because it was a half ounce (or something like that) too much, I have no complaints.
Next time, I’m flying naked.
Delta is the main one that specializes in losing luggage. They have courses in it. Nay, Masters Degrees. It is called going through Dallas.
I don’t fly often, only a couple of times a year at most, but I’ve never had any luggage lost. But, then again, my main luggage is carry on, mostly books and heavy stuff checked.
I prefer to fly Northwest, whenever I have a choice. American is #2. I’ve never flown Delta.
Eh. I never have a choice. This time, in order to avoid flying via San Frnancisco (Corn Dog probably knows all about that miserable mess of an ‘international’ airport), I drove two hours to fly from Medford.
Have I mentioned yet that the meeting is a great success? I’m learning lots of things which are relevant to my patients. Oh, at least 13 things 😉 Or would people find a Thirteen on sleep medicine boring?
Agreed. Everyone does all kinds of weird things to avoid SFO, even and especially fly out of Oakland in this area.
13 on sleep medicine would be fascinating.
you didn’t say panties.
Linking to your naked blogging photo today. On topic, for some strange leap.