On the way to see my Mom, on Christmas Eve, the second leg of my flight to Charlotte got cancelled in Memphis. Do they actually put the word “cancelled” next to the flight number on the screen? No, they simply remove the flight altogether from the display to keep us guessing. There was nobody at the gate to tell us shit, and the other Northwest employees at the nearby gates couldn’t or wouldn’t tell us anything.
So we started walking to the ticketing counter, and as we are about to go through security we are told the security system is shut down and we would not be able to get back to the gate.
So we had to make the choice; do we take the chance that the flight was cancelled to go through security, and maybe miss it if it wasn’t because we can’t get back through security? Well, we got the info via cell phone that the flight was indeed cancelled, for fuck’s shouldn’t we have not had to use a phone? KEEP THE FLIGHT ON THE GODDAMN SCREEN WITH THE WORD CANCELLED, YOU TWATS! I’m not pitting them because the flight was cancelled, Memphis was iced-over, which is not their fault. But they should have had some way to goddamn tell us it was cancelled.
And then I only got my checked-in luggage today, so I couldn’t give my family their gifts until an hour ago. I’m not too terribly mad about that though. But I’m still incensed at how they handled that cancellation.
Earlier in the evening, they actually had flights up there, from the same airline, that were cancelled and had the word “cancelled” next to them. I guess it was costing them too much money keeping those pixels lit…
Hmm… yeah, I can see why they would want to avoid that.
Flight Dest. Departs Gate Status
1735 Indianapolis 5:08pm A6 On Time
1615 Atlanta 4:48pm B4 Delayed
988 Jacksonville 5:55pm A22 On Time
1102 Charlotte 6:08pm B7 CUNT
1496 Richmond 4:45pm C3 On Time
We got stuck in Cinncinatti- the first day, our flights actually showed as cancelled. The second day the two stand-by flights we had also showed up as cancelled (we have photos of all the terminal displays showing just about every flight out cancelled.) The third morning, the flight that we were confirmed for, after the two cancelled standby flights, just plain disappeared. So you’re not alone in that particular piece of horrible communication, Revtim! Of course there were no gate agents, so off we went for our second 4 hour long re-ticketing queue.
It was jolly. And also merry. I found out that if you get three hours of sleep in an airport gate lounge, it is entirely possible to nap while moving in a queue.
If this sounds like a big whine, it’s not really. I am happy as a clam that we were safe and well, and warm, and fed, and not in peril. Many, many people had a worse holiday than we did. I really WISH Delta would have provided better information than just yanking that flight off the display, but hey, at least their ticketing system didn’t crash like Comair’s did the day after we finally got out. I hope all the Dopers who were travelling this holiday season got where they needed to be, eventually, and were safe and not too endangered by the storms. I’m glad you finally got your luggage, Revtim.
Yes, please do. They need to understand what a difficult situation they put people in when they remove the flight from the screen.
Memphis was cold and seemed to be icy, from what I saw on the shuttle ride to the hotel, but I’m not sure the flight was cancelled from weather. I thought they didn’t give you a hotel voucher if it was cancelled from weather, because it’s not their fault (God’s fault, I guess), but they did give me one. Is it possible they did so anyway because it was Christmas Eve?
Very true. Of course it could have been disaster-worse, like with the tsunami, but it could have been even just travel-worse. One of the folks on my cancelled flight Friday had been stuck in Memphis trying to get to Charlotte since Wednesday.
This was the first time in my life I missed Christmas morning with my family, which depressed me, but I certainly see it could have been worse. At least I didn’t miss the big Christmas dinner with the extended family. It was close though, I literally didn’t even sit down after I got to my Moms before we drove to my cousin’s for the big event.
