I'm Sick of Flying

I just got back to our apartment here in New York after my trip to San Fransisco and Palo Alto.

The trip was wonderful, but the flight home was simply horrendous. What should have been a 4 1/2 hour flight was delayed, stretching it out the entire day. I arrived at the San Fransisco airport this morning just before 6:00 a.m. I arrived back at our apartment at about 11:00 p.m.

Highlights of my day included:

1) After boarding the Jet Blue flight in SF, the pilot announced that because of bad weather in the Northeast, we would be taking a different route. We were delayed 45 minutes while "the computer was programmed" for the new route. Did we really need to be in our seats on the plane for that?

2) Jet Blue is known for their satellite televisions for each seat - it was broken. Lovely. I watched the new Alvin and the Chipmunks movie three times. I have horrid high pitched screaming stuck in my mind right now.

3) When it became obvious that we would be delayed significantly from landing at JFK, the pilot decided to give us a tour of Canada. Seriously.

4) After a few hours, the plane began to run out of gas, so we landed in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Yes, the Scranton made famous by "The Office." After landing, the storm then moved to Scranton and we could not take off again.

5) The tanks for the lavatories filled up, preventing people from using the restroom (after an hour in Scranton they emptied the tanks).

6) Jet Blue ran out of drinking water and all liquid refreshment.

7) Jet Blue does not provide meals, and ran out of all of their snacks. So, we all were stuck in an airplane with no lunch and no dinner. Fortunately, I bought a huge sandwich at the airport to carry on board with me (the firm is paying for it).

8) When we finally landed, JFK (which was currently 5 hours behind for all flights on the schedule) was doing TRAINING on the runway, so it took an extra 30 minutes to taxi to our gate. The pilot referred to this as the "perfect ending for our day." When all flights are five hours delayed, why is the delay being increased with training?

Let's just say it was a fun day.