Not if they read my OP! I said: "The weather was awful north of Florida. They really should have canceled the flight and had us stay in Miami. Taking off was a bad decision!"
I’ve had flights cancelled before. It’s the wise thing to do in bad weather. Duh!
Listen people! My main rant is I want my fucking bags.
I’m so fucking sorry I gave the full story! Thought a little back ground would present a totality of my situation. Guess I was wrong.
But knowing that the landing gear was stuck, I think I have a right to be a little freaked out by that!
Tell me why they can’t fucking find my bags after almost 4 days. And tell me why I shouldn’t be pissed?
I only have one thing to say: Never, never put your film (or anything that is irreplaceable) in your luggage. Because you never know. I consider the pictures that I take (if they are on a vacation, especially) to be pretty irreplaceable.
My good thoughts and wishes go out to you in the recovery of your luggage. Glad you are alive and well!
These days, you do know! The scanners that are used on your checked luggage will instantly fog almost any photographic film, exposed or not. Guaranteed disaster! Film always, always, always goes in the carry-on bag.
Early Out: Wow, I did not know that. I always brought the film with my in the carry-on because I didn’t want the airlines to lose my luggage. Had no idea that the film in checked luggage was screwed up. Wow—just one more reason to not keep the film in the checked luggage.
Did I say film?:smack: D’oh!
A rant is always watered down when you fuck up the facts!
My wife developed the film the night before we left. What was in those bags were pictures! Memories!
And our carry ons were filled to the max! We couldn’t fit anything more in them!
Since all my photos are digital I put the pics on the hard drive, then burn a couple CDs on the road after I’m done taking pics. Easy and cheap to do. Of course, you have to be one of those people who is surgically attached to their notebook PC, like me…
Heh. My Dad’s a mechanic for AA (he’s not in Chicago–he works for the repair center in the UP where AA sends their planes). I expect I’ll hear some bitching from him any time now about the asshole pilot who didn’t know how to use his damn landing gear properly…
Somewhat off-topic, but useful: here’s Kodak’s take on the effect of security scans on film. The high-intensity machines used for checked luggage are instant death, and the lower-intensity machines used for carry-on bags aren’t completely trustworthy, either.
Finished prints, of course, are immune to such damage - it’s only the film that can get clobbered.
I’ve taken to buying fresh film for each trip and just throwing out any unused rolls when I get back, since the “five scans” limit is pretty easy to exceed, even on one long trip!
Six years ago I tried to fly from Toronto to Los Angeles on January 4, the day after a large snowstorm hit Toronto.
The line up at the check-in desk stretched all the way down the entire length of the terminal, then back again to where it started, then all the way down the entire length of the terminal again. I spent three hours standing in line just to get my boarding pass, and then had to work my way through customs, immigration, and security. The only reason I didn’t miss my flight was because every flight at the airport had been delayed. It was a total of seven hours before I and my fellow passengers actually got on the plane.
And then we wait…and wait…and finally an Air Canada employee (who at least had the decency to sound sheepish) got on the intercom to explain that we weren’t taking off. Because the flight crew had been waiting for this plane even longer than we had, and someone had done the math and figured out that if we took off, by the time we landed in Los Angeles the crew would have been working for more than twenty-four hours. Which was apparently illegal under the regulation of the Ministry of Transport.
So we have to wait for another flight crew. But we can’t get off the plane, because we’ve already gone through U.S. Customs and Immigration, and if we were allowed to wander around in the departure lounge we might wander into a part of the airport that wasn’t technically part of the United States. So we sit on the plane.
And wait…and wait…
It was another seven hours before the airline could find another flight crew for us. Fourteen hours total, and we haven’t even gotten the damned plane into the air for the five-hour flight to come.
And by way of apology, Air Canada gave the passengers…free drinks.
It’s about fucking time! They just delivered our bags at 1:00p.m. today! Then the guy who brought them stood around like he wanted a tip! Okay, I know it wasn’t his fault (or was it? ) that they were lost, but does he really think that someone who didn’t get their bags for almost 5 days is in any mood to give out tips?
This bullshit is finally over!
Okay, having worked in different positions for several airlines (including Arrogant Airlines and a wonderful little airline that AA ran out of business), I can say that weather fuckups happen. Landing gear sticks. And, I can assure you that there is a shitload of extra fuel on every flight for just such an occasion (enough to fly to your destination, from there to your alternate airport, plus another 45 min or so). One question: you live in Milwaukee… why the FUCK didn’t you take Midwest Express?
Words to live by (from the mouth of a former baggage handler):
“If you value it, don’t check it.”
As far as the delays (guess what, I was also a crew scheduler), I can tell you that that shit happens. The rest requirements for airline crews are very strict, even worse for the pilots. Chances are, the schedulers had to a)locate another crew, b)make sure they were “legal” eg: hadn’t worked too recently, had decent sleep, etc, c)talk them into doing extra work (unless they had reserves to spare, but when the weather everywhere is fucked, guess what, you run out of reserves), and d)get them to your airport.
That said, I understand your anger. I hate Arrogant Airlines too (something about being unemployed for several months because the bastards ran a better airline out of business will do that to ya)
Not all the luggage gets scanned (though these days, chances are better that it will), but if it does, your film is definitely toast.
I wouldn’t worry about the scanners they put your carry-ons through. I’ve brought 3200ISO film through multiple passes without any trace of fogging on my film. Of course, you can always request a hand check if you’re worried.
What a bunch of whiners.
Was stuck in one sperated part of an airport for 3 days (About 30 X 40 with a few junk food machines, yes, three days) waiting to get out on a flight. Were cleared out of the country, the weather was too bad for takeoff, then the density altitude got too high for the aircraft weight, then 6 of us had to get off, then 3 got back on, then we could go but our bags could not go too, then we were off again. then ther plots were out of time, then everybody got off and were in the 30 X 40 then they all got back on, smelling and rumpled just like everyone else, and nothing but complaining and grumbling. At the last minute, the last three of us got to board with our bagswith a step ladder as the planes sat with engines running just beofr eleaving the terminal. Tehn I stood up for almopst the whole way across the Pacific Ocean except for the time I got to be in the cockpit. 33½ hours flight time to CA. I can’t ride something sittiing backwards and all the seats except the cockpit were facing the rear.
What a bunch of whiners. Was stuck in one separated part of an airport for 3 days (About 30 X 40 with a few junk food machines, yes, three days) waiting to get out on a flight. Were cleared out of the country, the weather was too bad for takeoff, then the density altitude got too high for the aircraft weight, then 6 of us had to get off, then 3 got back on, then we could go but our bags could not go too, then we were off again. then the plots were out of time, then everybody got off and were in the 30 X 40 then they all got back on, smelling and rumpled just like everyone else, and nothing but complaining and grumbling. At the last minute, the last three of us got to board with our bags using a step ladder as the planes sat with engines running just before leaving the terminal. Then I stood up for almost the whole way across the Pacific Ocean except for the time I got to be in the cockpit. 33½ hours flight time to CA. I can’t ride something sitting backwards and all the seats except the cockpit were facing the rear.
Oh, it was a MATTS DC-6 from Japan to CA. (4 piston engines for the kids here.) About 6700 miles from Japan to Wake to Hawaii to CA.
It was not a commercial plane, but a private plane. My father and I were the only passengers, and while we both survived, it was a damn close thing. Dad’s survival was uncertain for the first 3 weeks.
I had little time to prepare. Mainly I thought “we’re going to die”. Then I was surprised to wake up at all, and a bit unhappy about the degree of pain I was feeling.
) that they were lost, but does he really think that someone who didn’t get their bags for almost 5 days is in any mood to give out tips?