I was on a very delayed flight from NY to Boston earlier tonight. It was 7:15 PM on a scheduled 5:30 flight, we were all sitting on the plane but it hadn’t pulled away from the gate yet. In fact, the engines were still off. We had been given updates about every 15 minutes with new wheels up times – 7:20, 6:30, 7:05, 6:45.
It was maddening and torturous.
Every seat was taken. The plane was packed and it was unseasonably warm in NY so people were edgy and sweaty.
Suddenly the pilot got on and said that air traffic control gave a new wheels-up time of 8:45. EIGHT FORTY FIVE. Huge groan from the packed plane. Women screaming. Men crying. Someone fainted. Chaos. An empty 12 ounce water bottle was thrown from the back of the plane. It was like Lord of the Flies but with Blackberries and sports jackets, pant suits and copies of the Wall Street Journal.
About 30 seconds later a flight attendant got on and said the pilot meant 7:45. And we needed to get ready to take off.
DOH!
We landed in Boston about an hour later.
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