Flying home
6 March 2026 06:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
expedition_retirementAt the end of our extended ski trip we were scheduled to fly home from the Eagle County Airport (which we'd never used before, so I've updated our list of airports we've used to include it) on American Airlines, with a connection through Chicago. We managed to get everything packed and were ready when our shuttle arrived to transport us to the airport. We got our bags checked without any problem, and then had to wait for TSA to open the security checkpoint. While we waited, we watched the overtime of the gold medal men's ice hockey game from the Olympics, which a lot of people were streaming while we waited.
Once through security, we began our wait for our flight. As we waited, the flight kept getting more and more delayed. When our aircraft finally landed, we were well past our original departure time, and we were facing an *extremely* tight connection in Chicago. However, the flight crew on our flight from Eagle to Chicago deserves credit for going above and beyond the call of duty. They had a list of passengers with very tight connections, and moved those of us in that situation into empty seats at the front of the aircraft. When we landed, they asked all the other passengers in the front 13 or 14 rows to allow us to exit first. As a result, we were able to make our connection, which was already boarding before we reached our arrival gate, and made it home on time. Unfortunately, that short connection meant that our checked bags did NOT make the connection, but they were all delivered to our home by the next afternoon.
The next time I moan about the death of good customer service, I need to remember the efforts of this flight crew, who understood how frustrating it would have been to have missed those connections and did everything possible to make sure we caught our connecting flight.
Once through security, we began our wait for our flight. As we waited, the flight kept getting more and more delayed. When our aircraft finally landed, we were well past our original departure time, and we were facing an *extremely* tight connection in Chicago. However, the flight crew on our flight from Eagle to Chicago deserves credit for going above and beyond the call of duty. They had a list of passengers with very tight connections, and moved those of us in that situation into empty seats at the front of the aircraft. When we landed, they asked all the other passengers in the front 13 or 14 rows to allow us to exit first. As a result, we were able to make our connection, which was already boarding before we reached our arrival gate, and made it home on time. Unfortunately, that short connection meant that our checked bags did NOT make the connection, but they were all delivered to our home by the next afternoon.
The next time I moan about the death of good customer service, I need to remember the efforts of this flight crew, who understood how frustrating it would have been to have missed those connections and did everything possible to make sure we caught our connecting flight.