Let's call it... "Interesting"

Well...   I'm in Dubai, after a long a very trying travel experience...

Let's start at the beginning.

Trying to hail a cab in Calgary was near impossible, every phone number was busy.   In crappy weather at rush hour though, I suppose that's to be expected.  I managed to get a cab by driving down to the taxi lane at one of our other airlines on the same road.  I shouted out the window "Want a fare to the airport???   Then follow me!"  Loaded up and gone.  Again in rush hour, a very slow drive to the airport.

I arrived at the airport, checked-in, and got through security with no issues.  But, this is when the fun begins...

The weather is not very good.  Poor visibility, with low ceilings and snow falling, and fairly strong winds.

They close the door and the Captain announces that we must de-ice.  So a spray of Type I (Removes the Snow and Ice), and Type IV (Protects Against New Falling Snow) is done.  This takes about 20 minutes...   Big Plane!

They start the right engine, and the captain comes on again.  Apparently there is an indication problem in the cockpit and we must have it looked at.  Right engine gets shut down, and we sit for a while.

Issue resolved, but the Captain comes on again...   Our "Holdover Time" has expired and we must get de-iced again.  In layman terms, that means the de-icing fluid is no longer reliable to protect us against new snow that's falling.  The snow and ice on the plane dilutes the fluid, and it loses it's effectiveness.  Depending on the temperature and the rate the snow is falling, this can happen quite quickly.

So, another 20 minutes goes by as we get sprayed again.  Now people are starting to get upset...  Shaking their heads, etc etc.   I leaned over to one person who was especially upset and said "Look, there's 2 possible scenarios here...   We get de-iced again and take a few more minues, or we crash on takeoff just to save some time...   So just be paitent, we'll be on our way soon."

Airborne... Finally...  The flight is very nice for the most part.  A few bumps, but overall, a good smooth flight.

Until...

We arrive in the London area.  The first officer informs us that there is very windy weather in London, and that we must enter a holding pattern to wait our turn for the approach.  So for about 30 minutes we circle around over London's Northwest Corner, waiting for our turn.

The first officer comes on again...  "Our approach time keeps slipping and slipping, and we've burned up most of our reserve fuel, so our best option is to land at Luton Airport at this time..."

Off we go to Luton now.  Land, and sit...  Stack up the holding delay, and we're now almost 2 hours behind schedule.   Now, we sit on the ground in Luton for almost 2 hours while they figure out what they are going to do with us.

Take on more fuel, back to Heathrow we go!  Land at Heathrow... No ground crew to meet the plane.  30 more minutes goes by.

Now we're almost 4 hours late...   Finally they manage to get some people together and get us off the plane.  All in all a very supportive team at BA though.  Exceptional cabin crew and flight crew given the circumstances.

Off to Heathrow to go to my little pod and try and get a couple of hours of sleep.  Taking the bus to Terminal 4...   I get to the terminal and realize that the Yotel is outside of the secure zone, and must clear Immigration.   I arrive at the Immigration line, and end up in the cue by a little sign that says "Wait Times Up To 1 Hour From This Sign"   Well let's think about that...  "Uhm, No"

Back to Terminal 5...  On the bus we go...  Oh but wait, there's a vehicle broken down on the airport and has snarled up traffic everywhere!!!   Stuck in the tunnel for another half hour.  Thank goodness I have a long connection layover!

6 PM rolls around, I finally arrive BACK at Terminal 5 for my flight.

I eat some dinner, and get on my way to board my next plane...  We depart on time, and are off and away!

Everything's going fine in cruise, the meals are good.  Suddenly a lady a few rows up has an asthma attack on board.   Over come the F/A's with oxygen and all that fun stuff...   All I could think was "Man I hope this lady is ok so we don't end up diverting...  That would just be the cherry on top of this amazing day so far."

She made it, and we made it to Dubai just fine in the end.  Another ATC induced delay with a last-minute runway change, and we land on time.

It's not all bad though, I did meet a wonderful girl that was on the flight all the way from Calgary.  So at least we had something to talk about!

That's all for now, I'm going to try and get some rest to get ready for Kabul tomorrow!