I had decided a six month hiatus was far too long, and that with the New Year I would start writing regularly on my blog again. I had no idea I would start with such a newsworthy story to write about…

It had been a long day already and I had gone for a run earlier in the day, so I was pretty exhausted and looking forward to sleeping for most of the flight home to Seattle. I had settled into my seat on Continental Airlines Flight 1881 at Newark Liberty International Airport, and soon was asleep. All was right with the world…
I awoke to a PA announcement from the pilot. We were still on the ground. He was saying something about getting off the plane, going through security, it would take two hours. I was still waking up so it didn’t make a lot of sense. But people started getting up and gathering their carry-on baggage.
I asked passengers around me what was going on, and they clarified that there had been a “situation” and we would need to get off the plane, exit the secure area of the terminal, and then be re-screened by security. Oh boy. I already knew what an “efficient” process that could be, and under these circumstances surely it was going to be much worse. Our captain was clearly a certified optimist if he thought we would be back in our seats in two hours.
When I say “we” would have to be screened I don’t just mean me and the people around me on the plane. I don’t just mean everyone on the plane. I mean everyone on every airplane and in every corner of the secured area at Terminal C at Newark. Everyone. That’s a lot of planes and a lot of people. You might call it a mob scene.
After getting off the plane and heading toward the exit, there was a crowd like I had never seen at any airport. And this time the crowd was trying to exit the terminal, not enter it. This was insanity.
We started to hear rumors that someone had walked into the secure area through the exit of the security screening area, and that the TSA personnel lost track of him and didn’t know where he was. Other than the PA announcement from the pilot, there were no further announcements. Ever.
After exiting the secure area, it suddenly looked like a Red Cross shelter during a natural disaster. People were everywhere, nobody knew where to go, and nobody knew exactly what was going on.
Finally working through the mob, I sat on the edge of the baggage claim carousel and tried to settle in for a very long wait. People were already lined up to go back through security, but there was no movement. Security personnel had even blocked access to most of the escalators, so you couldn’t move easily between the several floors of the terminal.
Still not a single announcement about the situation from anyone. I got all my information about what was going on by getting online and checking the major news websites. The lockdown at Terminal C was the top story on all the major networks.
I kept checking the status of my flight on my iPhone. I had an incredibly difficult time placing phone calls (simply too many people trying to make calls at the same time, I’m sure), but was able to get a data connection. The estimated departure time for my flight kept getting moved out, half an hour at a time. It was as if the airline was perpetually suggesting we would be leaving in an hour, except their clock apparently wasn’t moving. That magic hour never passed.
Of course, I’m an information junkie, so I kept checking the status. And then I saw a word I really didn’t want to see: canceled.
There had still be absolutely no announcements, so I figured most people on the flight didn’t know it had been canceled yet, and I rushed to find an airline agent who could get me on another flight so I could get home to teach the first night of the class I was to teach at the University of Washington Extension. A woman at the International counter told me I had to go to the Domestic counter, but that my flight was indeed canceled and it would be at least a couple days before I could get a flight home.
I went to stand in line at the Domestic counter, and everyone in line was equally frustrated and appalled at the situation. When I got my turn with an agent, he said I could be put on standby for a later flight that night, but that I would never get on it. He said the next flight he could get me on was Thursday morning. This was on Sunday night. I couldn’t get another flight home for over three days. I asked if there were any other airports I could go to so I could get an earlier flight home. Nothing.
I asked about my bags. He told me to go downstairs to the Baggage Service counter and they could pull my bags for me. He made it sound so simple…
At the Baggage Service counter I was told my bags would go on the next available flight to Seattle. I told the woman I wasn’t able to get on a flight until Thursday. She said, “No problem, they’ll be waiting for you there when you arrive.” I explained that I really needed my stuff, but she said there were tens of thousands of bags affected by this situation, and they weren’t retrieving bags for anyone. I told her I thought it wasn’t legal for my bags to be on a flight without me, and she told me it wasn’t legal for a passenger to do that, but it was legal for the airline to do that.
I did get a toiletry kit from the airline, but no change of clothes. And they wouldn’t provide any ground transportation, hotel, spending money, money for clothes, or any other benefits. She explained that since this situation was not the fault of the airline, they were under no obligation to do anything about it. So I was on my own…
I had arrived at the airport shortly after 4pm for a 6pm flight (which had been delayed due to strong winds). I boarded the flight at close to 7pm, had to get off the plane at around 8pm, found out my flight had been canceled at about 10pm, and didn’t actually leave the airport until 1am.
I can’t say this whole situation has done anything to improve my already less-than-favorable opinion of TSA, airport security, airline personnel, or airline customer service. I can say it reinforces my opinions about why the airlines consistently have such a difficult time earning a profit, despite all those fees they pile onto the cost of your ticket.
To add insult to injury, when I checked in for my flight at the airport, the nice little computer told me the flight was overbooked and if I agreed to take a later flight they would give me a $300 voucher. If only I had known…