Under Construction
Our planned travel schedule was:
Our trip started out fairly uneventful-- we arrived at Newark International Airport with enough time to check-in and get a quick breakfast. From there, we proceded to our designated gate and boarded our flight at the appropriate time. Our departure time was to be at 6:55AM. However, by 7:30AM, the captain made an announcement saying that the was a mechanical problem that had to get checked out and that our push-off (gate departure) would be at 8:30AM. People were allowed to temporarily leave the plane for 45 minutes. At the gate, several people were expressing their concerns as to whether they would be able to make their connecting, international flights. The gate attendant assured them that, since, we would be pushing off by 8:30AM, there would be no problem. My wife and I had no concerns, since our connecting flight in Miami was much later than our expected arrival.
My wife and I decided to go out and browse some of the travel shops. About a half an hour minutes later, we headed back to the gate.
With everyone reboarded, we proceded to wait for push off. 8:30AM... 8:45AM... 9:00AM.... At 9:00AM, the pilot announced that, although the air conditioning problem had been repaired, they were having problems refitting and testing the unit. He informed us that, regrettably, our push-off would be delayed until 9:30AM. I now performed some quick math:
9:30AM Push-off
+ 1 hour for any ground delay
+ 3 hours in transit
= WE WOULD MISS OUR FLIGHT BY 10 MINUTES!!!
OK, OK... Turks and Caicos are small islands. How many flights go to Turks and Caicos? And how many of those flights leave Miami after 1:30PM? With luck, they would most likely hold our flight for an extra ten minutes. ...9:30AM... 09:45AM... 10:00AM!!! The pilot then announced that, although the unit had now been repaired and ttested, there was now and HOUR delay for all traffic leaving Newark. At this time, there was a fine line between when the murmurs of the passengers would reach critical mass and turn in to a full-scale riot. Many people were upset (especially those who had asked to been transferred or re-routed to a different flight).
By 11:00AM (having now sat for over 4 hours), we departed. We reached Miami by 2:30PM. We now had to get to Turks and Caicos. A quiet riot was beginning with the passengers and the gate attendants.
... to be continued....