I know it would be my worst nightmare.
As most of you know, my parents are
snowbirds. As soon as we'll let them after Christmas, they like to
head down to their place in Florida and bask in the sunshine, the
watercolors, and the Pickleball. This year, they were scheduled to
head back down there Tuesday morning, so they could ring in the new
decade with their friends.
At the rate things are going, we're
hoping they're able to get down there by 2030.
They received a message Monday night
that their flight from Marquette had been canceled because of the
horrendous weather. That in and of itself wasn't a surprise; they
were kind of ready for that possibility. What they weren't ready for
was the fact that their airline (not the one I usually fly, American)
couldn't get them out of Marquette until Friday morning because there
aren't any seats available.
They're having to spend an extra three
days in Marquette because an airline can't get enough planes up here.
That's a good business model, right?
While it's a horrid inconvenience and a
pain in the you-know-what for my parents, at least they have
someplace to stay, and people they know with whom to hang out. Can
you imagine if you were visiting Marquette for the holidays and
trying to get home, they told you had to spend an extra three days
here because there weren't any seats available? You'd have to find a
place to stay. You'd have to find things to do. And you'd leave
with one of the worst impressions you could ever have of a place.
Every time we fly that thought is
always in the back of my mind. What if some kind of natural disaster
or human-made conflict or (he says sarcastically) the lack of
available seats caused us to be stuck somewhere for a day or more?
While I'm sure we would make the best of it we would still have
things that needed to be taken care of at home, responsibilities that
could care less whether or not an airline caused us to miss them.
It is not a situation that I would ever
want to live through. And yet my parents get to do it this week, as
does every other single person who couldn't fly out.
Now, I know the weather is beyond
anyone's control. I am well aware that you can't land a plane on
ice, that you can't fly through a thunderstorm, and that your
passengers' safety is of paramount importance to an airline. I know
that, I get that, and I appreciate that. But if you miss flights
when the weather is bad, shouldn't you make them up when the weather
is good (like, say, today)? You have the planes, you have the crews,
but because it would cut into your bottom line by using them you
decide to strand hundreds of people for one or two or three days.
And yes, I know (trust me, I know) there are other variables in play,
everything from landing slots to mandated rest times for flight
crews, but it still doesn't make it any better for those affected.
Is it any wonder people list flying as
only slightly less painful than, say, a root canal?
Ironically, my parents could've driven
to Florida in the time that they're being forced to wait. However,
they drove down there in October and left their vehicle there,
planning on driving it back when they come home for the summer. So
that's out of the question. The airline also said that if they could
get to Detroit there are plenty of flights with open seats to get
them to Florida. But if you don't have a vehicle to get there (or
friends or family with two days to spare to drive them there) that
option isn't of much use.
What are you gonna do, right?
So my parents get to spend an extra
three days in the U.P., not because they want to but because they
have to. I'm sure they'll make them most of it, playing with my
brother's kids and hanging out with whatever friends of theirs are
still up here. It's just such a fubar'd system that led to it
happening that I wouldn't wish it upon anyone.
Least of all my parents.
No comments:
Post a Comment