Hijacked or hoodwinked? Call it what you like but the airlines have it down to a science. What was supposed to be a 6 pm departure became a delay, a delay, a diversion, a delay… well a mess. Hours before my scheduled departure I received a courtesy call notifying me that my flight had been delayed. Not a problem as it gave me a few extra hugs and kisses with the little guy. Once at the airport with bag in tow, a voice over the intercom became the bearer of bad news– a series of maintenance issues and safety checks would extend our delay. Better safe than sorry, the international group of flight 732 waited patiently and finally boarded the plane sometime close to midnight.

Up, up and away was quickly squashed. It was more like down, down and Philly? As the pilot so calmly put it, “We’re having some mechanical issues were just not happy with so we’re going to stop in Philadelphia for a new plane.”  Hmmm… maybe I should have asked more questions when a last minute passenger sat down beside me (the airline mechanic). What was the plan? Hop out mid-air and fix it? It’s US Air not NASA.

After four sleepless hours on a cold terminal floor and a handful of protests from a band of Brits, a new crew arrived to take us to our final destination. They say ignorance is bliss, but I wonder if the ones we trusted with our travel safety used our pit stop as a cover for the inability to tackle repairs. Or was the terminal floor a cheap alternative to lodging for such a massive group? To put it nicely UGHH! I do plan to put it plainly in perspective for the airline. And I will not be using the fine stationery– unless I can whip up a personalized greeting with a suitable message like “Be sure your sins will find you out!”