Elephant In Exile

Still Flyin'...sort of...

While the news keeps saying it's smooth sailing for Northwest Airlines during the mechanics strike, my experience yesterday, although generally positive, seems to indicate that there are some cracks in the 'all is well' facade put out by management.

First, and most embarrassingly, I arrived at the airport yesterday to return to DC at about Noon, thinking that my flight departed at 12:52pm. My bad, it arrived in Detroit at 12:52 pm and departed my location at noon. Oops! The counter lady quickly, and without grief, put me on the next flight. That flight departed on time, but upon arriving at the hub in Detroit, our plan had to wait on the taxi way for about 20 minutes because the plane at 'our' gate was experiencing mechanical trouble. We pulled in pretty close to my connection time, but thankfully my connecting flight to DC was also delayed. So I made it home about an hour and forty five minutes late. Looked like a lot of other flights were late as well...

If I were a betting man, I'd be wagering that Northwest and Delta will both declare chapter 11 by the end of the 3rd quarter.