Jeff Stahler for July 02, 2022

Or, you could drive to someplace you can reach by driving. Or you could put on your big-kid pants and have a staycation. Again. Because smart and careful beats stupid or desperate every time.

When the airlines pay the pilots fair compensation.

So, enjoy the one week of the two weeks you had reserved.

What’s a vacation resort?

Recently as June 9th, my SIL and grandson were coming back from California..because of the very long lines, they missed their flight…had to wait 4-6 hours on stand by to get on another flight to their other connection in .Austin Texas! After arriving there there was another delay and waited another 4-6 hours for connecting flight. They boarded the plane but delayed another hour for some reason, then finally took off.

Got home @ 2:30 am and woke up with covid….they just both went back to work.

This sounds like our 50th anniversary trip last year. It was supposed to be first class with one stop coast to coast. The second leg was replaced with a flight to Des Moines, Salt Lake City then onto Spokane.

So first class on a jumbo jet to first class on puddle jumpers. We got to Des Moines and spent $100 at the bar waiting for the 6 AM flight to Salt Lake City to depart. It was noon when we arrived. By 4 PM and the Salt Lake City flight now scheduled for a 9 PM departure, we managed to get booked to Minneapolis then onto Spokane.

Of course we were bumped to coach, and the airlines (Delta) said, “Thank you for paying thousands of dollars for the cheapest seats we have.” KA-CHING!.

Actually we had a superb person helping us at Des Moines who somehow cut the red tape and did get us booked in “premium” coach seats. She even invited us to partake in the sandwiches she had delivered to the gate for the passengers who arrived at 5 AM for the original departure time. I cannot say enough good things about this person. Yes, they do exist.

The problem was a part that was being DRIVEN down from Chicago.

We made it to our hotel the same day (11:58 PM) instead of our scheduled noon arrival.

We scheduled our arrival two days prior to the time we needed to be there.

P.S. the last we checked, right after checked into the hotel, the 6 AM Salt Lake flight still had not departed.

But the trip was not without its merits. We learned a lot about Midwest geography, especially every city in the Delta network.

There once was a time when I commuted to Texas every other week. I changed programs and abruptly stopped flying. American Airlines called me and asked my why I stopped. I told them that I was sick and tired of getting bumped for cargo. (Due to “weigh restrictions” … “If you have flexible plans” … No, why doesn’t the cargo have flexible plans?)

The AA policy was to fly us to another city and expected us to rent a car and drive it to our destination. There was NO compensation for the car rental.

In one case, they bumped 30 passengers off a 45 passenger jet for cargo and after holding the flight for another couple of hours bumped 3 more passengers so they could accommodate a “deadhead crew” that needed to be in a nearby destination city (I guess they had to rent a car and drive) the following day.

Ride a bike!

The bigger question, knowing the problem with the airlines.. is why bother booking a vacation at all.

Rereading some of my older Aviation Week and Space Technology magazines(I have had a subscription since 1973) I discovered that one reason airlines cancel flights- scheduled even when tho they knew they did not have enough pilots-has to do with keeping gates at Airport terminals. No scheduled flights for X period of time, they lose the gate. And currently there is quite a shortage of pilots due to airlines drastic cutback-retiring and laid off-during the pandemic. If they try and rehire laid off pilots, those pilots-after some amount of time not flying the specific model of aircraft, have to requalify. I for one would rather not fly in any aircraft which the pilot has not flown for a couple of years. I know that Because I was an aircraft owner starting in 1974, I was out of the country from 75 to 78, so left my plane at the Beechcraft dealer I bought it from to rent out. When I came back, before I started flying again, I reread the owners manual, got a few hours of ground instruction and flew with an instructor for 5 hours over 3 days before I was comfortable-especially with IFRmostly practicing Instrument approaches and landings. So I can well imagine how rusty those laid off pilots are

When I fly, if possible, I book direct flights with no connections, which are often cheaper than those with connections anyway. My other rule is: if my destination is within 6 hours of where I live, I drive. I also drive a fuel efficient car, so that, even at these fuel prices is cheaper than the airfare anyway. As it is, with the hour trip to the airport, which one has to arrive at least 2 hours before ones flight to ensure making it through the security checks in time to make the flight. The flight which would likely be about an hour or two (including taxiing and hold time, possible delays) for that distance. Coupled with retrieving luggage, picking up rental car and such. To which, I likely have already arrived in my car with all my luggage in the trunk. With the added bonus of being able to take more luggage at no expense. Especially important in spring and fall when weather changes might require a larger variety of clothing and jackets.

Longer distances, well, that depends on how fast I need to get to my destination and if there is an ocean to cross. If traveling in country, there may be places I want to stop at on my way.

First world problems . . .

Unfortunately, we bought our tickets seven months ago for our trip in two weeks long before the current troubles. I am feeling more and more nervous about how this vacation will go. Really wish we had decided to stay home again this year.

You get to take vacations!?