Gettin’ Carried Away

After spending a beautiful week in Mexico, I’m back home in Chicago, where the wind dies down and the humidity skyrockets during the summer. I am going to take a break from posting about Mexico to tell you a little about my experience flying home using Delta Airlines, connecting at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport.

My flight from Puerto Vallarta to Atlanta was pretty typical. Long lines, full flight, free water/soft drinks. When we landed in Atlanta, however, everything fell apart.

The pilot claimed we were 40 minutes early. According to his announcement (about three hours earlier), we we were to arrive in Atlanta in exactly… you guessed it… three hours. I remember checking my watch, and it was 2 p.m. in Mexico. When we landed in Atlanta, I promptly turned my phone on to discover it was 5:50 p.m. Atlanta is an hour ahead of Mexico (and Chicago), so we were actually 10 minutes ahead of schedule, not 40.

We waited on the runway for about 30-40 minutes for a gate to open up. I remember my mother telling me that ATL Airport was the biggest in the country, and she wasn’t joking. When I finally got off the plane and arrived at customs, the line was (I’m not kidding) a mile long. I’d say at least 100-200 passengers missed their connections. However, the customs agents were efficient at putting people through; after all foreigners entered through their designated lines, U.S. citizens were allowed to step into the Foreign Visitor lines to speed up the customs process.

~* I was so busy, I didn’t have time for photos! *~

I finally made it past customs around 8 p.m. I checked the monitors and saw that my plane was already at the gate and we would be boarding in less than an hour. Knowing I didn’t have a seat assignment yet, I grabbed a quick breakfast/lunch/dinner (I hadn’t eaten all day) and then headed to the gate. When I got to the gate, there was no ticket agent to be found, but I did see three flight attendants sitting in the corner.

A man, who I assumed was the pilot, kept peeking his head outside the jetway, looking a bit confused. I thought he might be looking for the ticket agent or the flight attendants. At 8:55 p.m., when we should have been boarding, someone alerted the flight attendants to the man constantly poking his head out of the door. One of the flight attendants walked over to the desk and picked up the phone. I overheard a conversation that sounded like the ticket agents were waiting INSIDE the plane with the pilot for the flight attendants. The flight attendant said that she and her colleagues were waiting OUTSIDE for them to come out of the plane and give them clearance to go in. A big miscommunication between Delta employees delayed our flight by 45 minutes.

I will openly admit it: I have a brand loyalty when it comes to airlines. I always choose Southwest first and foremost. Mostly because of the cheap airfare, but also for the free checked baggage. If Southwest doesn’t fly where I need to go, I pick American Airlines.

Do you have airline brand loyalty? Have you had a bad experience with Delta? How do you maintain patience in a crazy busy airport like Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta?