Runway Reverse

Arrived at Reagan National Airport, excited and ready several hours before our first flight and overnight in Dallas/Fort Worth. All looked good for our departure and the boys and I headed straight for BurgerMania.


After just a few moments of burger bliss, we began to notice large groups of passengers idling by their gates long past their departure time. I go check the departure boards again. Dallas/Fort Worth.........Cancelled.......Dallas/Fort Worth...........Delayed...........Dallas/Fort Worth..............Cancelled......Miami..........Cancelled.


Help! Apparently, as reported earlier in the week in the Wall Street Journal, flights all over mid-America have been cancelled for a week due to thunderstorms. Thousands of passengers delayed for days with no seats available for four days after their original flight.



"Excuse me, maam," I said to the gate clerk, "Will our flight be leaving soon?"



"Maam, the departure has been delayed for an hour. There is no way to tell if it will be cancelled. At this time, we expect the flight to leave in an hour."



"And, if it does not leave....can we get on a different flight?"

"I can get you on a different flight in four days. There are no other seats on any airline, in any city in the Eastern U.S. until Sunday. There are people camped out in airports all over this half of the U.S. Let's just hope your flight goes."

Bart and the boys chill. I freak, I pray, I pace the floor. If we don't catch our connection to Tokyo from Dallas before Sunday, we may miss our non-refundable flights to Beijing. Not to mention missing four days of our trip of a lifetime to Asia with the boys.

Two and half hours later, we hear an announcement, "All passengers on flight 345 to Dallas/Fort Worth, your plane is arriving at the gate."


"Whooopppeeee!!!!"

"All passengers please proceed to the gate for boarding."

Ten minutes of standing in a long line. We are just thrilled to be going. Spent most of that time talking to a senior Congressman from Texas who entertained us with stories and campaign coins for the boys. He has my vote.


"Passengers, due to lightning on the runway, the plane is pulling back from the gates. NO boarding may be accomplished when there is lightening on the runways. Due to legal restrictions in the District of Columbia, planes may not depart after ten p.m. We have forty minutes before that curfew. If the lightning stops, we can begin boarding the plane but we must depart the runway before ten p.m."


The clock is ticking. 9:25, 9:30, 9:36.


"Passengers, we will now begin boarding. The lightening has passed. The faster you can board safely, the better the chance we can get off tonight."


We line up, we pass tickets, we file onto the plane, we stow our overhead bags, we watch the remainder of the passengers behind us do the same. Slowly, slowly the plane fills. Quickly, quickly the clock's hands fly towards 10 p.m.


9:52 "Passengers, we are departing the gate, prepare for departure." The plane slowly backs away. 9:56. A plane to our left backs out just before us, turns onto the runway and heads down it. 10:02 by my watch. Our plane is slowly backing up, almost to the runway, it slows, it stops, a crackle... "Passengers, this is your captain. We almost made it. However, it is 10:02 and we must return to the gate. No one is more disappointed than your crew but, unfortunately, in D.C. we cannot leave the runway after 10 p.m. I have checked with the control tower and it is after 10 p.m. So, I am very sorry but we will have to return to the terminal."


Arrrgghhhh! What does this mean? A four day delay in our trip that we can never regain? After completing the boarding in reverse, line up in stuffy plane, unload carry on luggage, wait for passengers in front to disembark...we re-enter the terminal. "Passengers on flight 345, your flight has been rescheduled for 7:20 a.m."


Off to the lobby hotel phone, guess what? No hotels. Bart finally finds one in Old Town at 1:00 a.m. and we hitch hike on another hotel's van. Asleep by 1:30 a.m. Oh yea, the boys usual bedtime--not!

5:30 a.m. RINNNGGG!! RINNGGG! Your wakeup call. 7:20 "Passengers on flight 345 rescheduled from last night. The plane is at the gate. However, we do not have a crew. I am trying to locate a crew and will update you when I know more." 8:20 "Help, we will not make our 12:05 flight from Dallas to Tokyo if we don't leave soon." 8:55 "Hello, American Airlines? I am at Reagan National and it looks like our rescheduled flight to Dallas/Tokyo/Singapore may not leave again. Are there any other flights you can get me on?" "Maam, I don't think I have any seats on any flights to Dallas for three days." "What about Philadelphia to Dallas, Dulles to Dallas, Richmond to Dallas, NYC to Dallas....?" "I'm afraid there is nothing. Oh, wait, I can get you on a flight from Dulles to Tokyo leaving this afternoon. I have five seats but you need to take them now. If you do, your seats on the flight you are waiting for will be cancelled immediately. These seats will not wait. Maam, I need to know now."


"Yikes....," I'm thinking, "That flight could be cancelled too....what should I do?" I'm frantically looking for the hubby. "Honey, should we take seats on a flight from Dulles?" "Wait, look, it's the pilot from last night. He's entering our area."

10:00 a.m. Take-off! We gain an hour during flight, arrive two hours before our flight to Tokyo, I take two boys to the gate, Bob waits 1.8 hours for our bags, races through security and barely runs to the gate in the international terminal seconds before they close the doors. Ah, the drama. Who cares about luggage, we've got the clothes on our backs, three weeks of exploration and we are on our way!