11 March 2016 Why Did I Choose Delta?

My day started wonderfully. I was up early to cover office items and leave time for a pleasant park walk before a trip to the airport and a late morning flight to Atlanta and on to Cleveland. I was in the woods talking on the phone with Ali when she asked if I had seen my flight was delayed. I said sure, it looks like I'll be a little late out of Atlanta and home maybe a little later than planned. There was a quiet pause and she commented, "No, the delay is for your Tulsa to Atlanta flight." WHAT? That meant I would be leaving Tulsa after my connecting flight from Atlanta took off. This wasn't what I had planned.

I usually fly United or American to Tulsa. They are the predominant carriers. For this trip, there was a reasonably priced Delta flight with connections through (shudder) Atlanta. At the airport, I soon realized the error of my decision. With only five flights to Tulsa each day, Delta had few options to get me anywhere near home on the same day. After an hour of frustration at the ticket counter, a rep from United came to save the day by saying they were routing a large plane to Tulsa and would be able to take most of us. United was able to book me to Chicago and on to Cleveland on the last Cleveland flight (although I had no seat out of Chicago).

There's not much to do in Tulsa's airport. :( I had remembered I needed to pull my laptop charger from my checked bag then forgotten to do so leaving me with about three hours of battery life and a six hour wait.

It's'= bright, open, and very tiny.

Had I need it, there was a conference table. ;) The kid-sized furniture was actually really popular with the youngsters.

I was able to spot more 747's in a cargo plane area across the tarmac.

The re-appearing rain was a concern.

I resisted buying a Tulsa hoodie. I wonder what happened to this proposed law?

Can it be a full meal on a plane? If I had only known.

Chicago was quite interesting. My ticket was confirmed, but I had no seat. I shared this distinction with another passenger. When I arrived at the gate in Chicago, I was a little concerned to see there were 51 people on standby, oops. By the time they began boarding, there were 62 people on standby, over half again the capacity of jet bound for Cleveland. Among the 62 standbys was the angriest traveler I have ever seen. He was number one for standby and enraged that the gate loading was held for two passengers inbound from overseas and enraged the two passengers with confirmed seats, but no seat assignments were going to board while he was not. I was one of those two people and incurred his wrath as did the incoming international travelers, the two gate attendants, and a couple who offered to turn in their seats for a voucher and a later flight.

I also learned the code word for bring police to the gate now. It was the first time I have seen a gate attendant sent into the jetway to protect her from a passenger. It was distressing. In the end the irate passenger probably got to spend the night in a Chicago jail rather than a hotel.

At long last I was on the plane...

and into the air.