How my trip to Key West ended in the back of a police car, thanks to US Airways

 

Leave it to US Airways to turn an otherwise wonderful trip to a friend’s wedding into a nightmare, right as it is about to end, and cause me to end up in the backseat of a police car.

Now, I would not normally use this space to comment on a business, but I will make an exception this time.  If I were not so angry about this cluster cluck, it might be a funny story:

Returning to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from Key West, Florida in March is traumatic enough. To go from palm trees and 75 degrees to 40 and rain in a matter of hours is a shock to one's system by anyone's definition. .However, the trip started smoothly.  In direct contrast to the TSA officers in Fort Lauderdale and in Charlotte, the officers who staffed the security checkpoint at Key West International Airport were friendly and professional, not to mention very efficient.  Our flight on Silver Airlines from Key West to Orlando left the airport almost exactly on schedule, just in time to watch the sun rise over the horizon.

We arrived in Orlando almost perfectly on time, with a reasonable amount of time in which to relax and have something to eat before our flight to Charlotte, North Carolina.  Unfortunately, there were few places to sit down and have breakfast in the Orlando airport without leaving the secure zone and having to go back through the security checkpoints again.  We did find a small shop that offered some healthy (and some not so healthy) snacks--but no coffee.

We boarded the plane in Orlando right on schedule. While waiting at the gate, I watched our checked suitcase get loaded onto our plane. More about the luggage shortly…

The flight from Orlando to US Airways' hub in Charlotte was fairly smooth, even though at one point the Captain cautioned that we might hit turbulence due to rain showers around Charlotte.  There was very little turbulence, and we landed in a fog, but right on time. 

Then the nightmare commenced.

We had, according to the schedule, one hour and 45 minutes in which to grab something to eat and stretch our legs before the flight home to Pittsburgh.  Right as we found our departure gate, we noted that our flight back to Pittsburgh had been delayed by an hour and a half. That didn’t seem too bad, and it did allow us time to actually find something good to eat and take our time eating it.

We returned to the gate after eating, only to find that our flight had been delayed two more hours. We sat down to relax and read because there was very little else to do.  While we were sitting there the flight was delayed one more time, eventually to be canceled.

No one at the US Airways service counter was willing to tell us why the flight was delayed.  At first they implied that there were delays because of weather in Charlotte.  It seems that some flights were delayed in departing from Charlotte and therefore subsequent departures using those gates would need to be delayed.  

Those same US Airways employees would not tell us why the flight was eventually canceled.  The skies had cleared.  A few of the passengers overheard the customer service representatives talking among themselves, saying that there was some problem with the crew in Washington DC.  Another passenger heard that there was not a crew at all to be had.  The reason for the lack of a crew does seem rather irrelevant when one considers the question of how in the hell does a national airline schedule a flight without knowing who its flight crew will be and providing a backup just in case?

The crowd of about 140 passengers virtually ran to the US Airways customer service booth, about a football field length away from our gate.  We stood in line waiting to see what they could do for us.

When we eventually got to the desk, the best the frustrated service person offered was to fly us to JFK in New York on Sunday, and then a flight from JFK to Pittsburgh that same day, which would not get us into Pittsburgh until after 7 PM on Sunday.  I asked if there were any guarantees that we would not be bumped again, only be stranded in New York City, and of course there were none.  The customer service representative was pushing that option almost as firmly as I was saying I would not accept it.  Tired of being polite, using a very testy tone of voice, I told that representative to get me as close to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as she could in the shortest time possible and that I would rent a car and drive to Pittsburgh.

She booked us on a flight to Columbus, Ohio that would leave in about 90 minutes. She also told us that our baggage would be offloaded in Charlotte, so we would have to recover it, then recheck it and go back through security.  We promptly went to baggage claim to find no bag.  When we inquired at the baggage service counter we were told that our bag had already been routed to Columbus and that it would be waiting for us when we got there.

While standing in the long line at the Hertz counter, where only one clerk was working, I called another company and made a reservation in Columbus to be picked up later that evening.  At least someone in this airport could do something right.

We returned through the security lines where the not so friendly TSA personnel treated each passenger in a very abrupt, rude manner, and both my wife and I were patted down for some unknown reason.  I was a government employee for 35 years doing a very trying job, but no matter how stressful that job got, and no matter how many damned fools I had to tolerate, I never treated anyone with the disdain of the TSA personnel in Charlotte and those we encountered in Ft. Lauderdale on the flight down.  

We went back to the gate to await the flight to Columbus, but kept checking for delays to that flight.   There was one, but then they rescinded the delay so that we were only 15 minutes later.   Here we went again…

The flight to Columbus left the terminal pretty well on time, and, being a nighttime flight, in fair skies, was a delightfully smooth one of a little over an hour.

The Port Columbus, Ohio airport is undergoing a renovation and expansion.  It’s a good thing that it is, because as it stands, it seemed more confusing than any hospital I have ever been in, and hospitals are notorious for being difficult to get around.  After some searching for the baggage area, my wife waited at the baggage carousel while I went to locate the rental car facility.

I secured the car easily, and even had a pleasant surprise. Since I was delivering the car to another city for them, I could pick any vehicle I wanted for the economy car rate that I had reserved.  I chose a very well-equipped and very comfortable SUV.  I was assured by the rental car clerk in Columbus that when I got to Pittsburgh to turn in the rental car, that they would shuttle me to my car in the extended term parking lot at Pittsburgh International Airport.

Right.

My wife waited patiently for the bag, which did not materialize.  We spoke to a very polite baggage service clerk who informed us that our bag had indeed been placed on hold to be transferred to our flight to Columbus.  She took our information and assured us that the bag would be brought to our house in Pittsburgh sometime Sunday. 

A three-hour and two-minute drive later, after a day of travel, I arrived at the rental car drop-off in Pittsburgh only to find it closed.  It was now after two in the morning and the drop-off facility had closed at midnight.  I parked the car and dropped the keys in the after-hours lock box, then my wife and I proceeded to walk in the cold, wearing only sweaters because our winter coats were in the bag that US Airways had lost.  The walk from the rental car drop-off to the terminal was about one quarter of a mile.  We walked across the street to the lower lobby of the nearby airport motel where I left my wife because she was shivering in the cold, telling her that as soon as I got the car I would come back around and pick her up and that I would call her on the cell phone and let her know when I would be coming.

I walked up the side of the road  – there are no sidewalks – to the terminal, only to find that the parking lot shuttles stop running at midnight.  Facing the prospect of a long walk to the car was not what I wanted to do at this point. At this point, I had been awake since 3 AM Saturday.

As I was considering my options, a police officer pulled up.  Perhaps he could tell me what I might do.  Couldn't hurt to ask, so I summoned what manners I still retained and asked.

The officer was very polite and professional as I gave him the "Reader’s Digest" version of the story of the flight cancellation.  He suggested that I might just be stuck walking out to find my car, but when I asked, he assured me that, although no one would ride me to my car, they would certainly be there to take my money for the parking when I left.

The officer must have seen the frustration and fatigue on my face. He looked both ways then lowered his voice, and said, “I am not supposed to do this but I will ride you out to your car.”

The upshot of this kindness was that the officer, probably just to cover himself in case he was spotted doing something he was not supposed to do, told me I would have to sit in the back seat of the car behind the screen and that he would let me out when I got to my car in the parking lot.

At this point I didn’t care if he put me in handcuffs for the ride.

I told him what section, and near what shelter, the car was, and he drove almost directly to it.  He also let me out of the backseat of his car promptly when we arrived, and waited until I was certain it was my car and that it started.

I don't know if angels exist.  I never expected one to help right when I needed it the most, and I sure did not expect one in a gray uniform and ballistic vest, carrying a Glock.  The officer asked that I not reveal his name as the only thanks that were necessary.  Being the only person I encountered in this entire episode that went out of his way to help, I will certainly honor his request and also pray that every day he returns safely to his family at the end of his shift. 

Sure enough, there was someone at the booth to collect my money when I went to get my car. I was originally to return around 2 o’clock Saturday afternoon, but it was now 2:45 AM on Sunday morning and as a final insult, I had to pay for one more day of parking. 

Now, back to the bag.

I was assured that the bag would be transferred to my flight to Columbus.  Sometime in the wee hours of Monday morning, the US Airways "lost luggage fairy" delivered the bag to my front porch, it was out there at 6 AM but we did not hear anyone deliver it. 

When I went to pick up the bag to carry it upstairs to empty it, I looked and noted that the bag had been sent to JFK in New York.  At the service counter in Charlotte, I was adamant that I was not going to New York, so one wonders if my bag going to JFK was just one final slap from the person at the service counter, a slap at probably the only person in that line who was as polite and businesslike as they could be under the circumstances.

And that, my readers, is how my trip to Key West ended in the back of a police car.

UPDATE:  I wrote a letter to US Airways and received a totally inadequate, even insulting response recently.  They offered no real explanation for the cancellation, implying that weather was a factor (it was generally clear all up and down the eastern seaboard) and sent two vouchers for use  for baggage fees on a future flight.  Since I stated that I would not use their airline in the future, the baggage vouchers are essentially useless.