11.21.20
Once upon a Time you took a flight and your odds were probably pretty good that you would get to your intended destination on time, with the majority of airlines being prompt 95% of the time. On time, by the way, is defined as being within 15 minutes of the intended arrival.
The official stats say that most airlines over the last 10 years (up to 2018), had an “on time rating” of somewhere between 70-90 percent. Today there is nothing you can depend on.
I recently took a business trip to San Antonio, Texas, with the first leg taking me to Houston, Texas. My Cancun, Mexico departure was an early one, 7:30, and I thought that surely it would leave on time, since many delays are caused by the ones coming in. Generally, getting an early morning flight gives you the greatest guarantee of staying on schedule.
But not this time….
It’s hard to imagine a major airline like United would have a flight delayed over four hours, yes, that’s right, four hours, because of a needed emergency landing beacon, but that was the culprit. And unfortunately, since Covid, airlines have all been working at less than peak efficiency, which includes inventorying of parts.
This I found out since I stayed with a friend in Houston who was an FAA flight controller. As I shared my story, he told me that airlines are working with the absolute fewest number of people they can, and whereas they used to keep three or four of the same items in stock, now they maybe have one. So in my instance, the Cancun airport did not have the necessary landing light, and it had to come in on another flight.
Just one of the trials and tribulations of flying during these challenging times.
I spent two days in Houston and then moved on to San Antonio and hoped that this next flight would leave on time.
Nope, did not happen. But at least it was not four hours late, just one, not a tragedy or noteworthy complaint.
A few days later my return trip to Cancun began. Intending to leave from San Antonio back to Houston about 1:30 in the afternoon also did not happen as planned, and the big problem was, even if everything unfolded as scheduled, I had about 75 minutes gap to catch my connector flight to Cancun. Time was not on my side!
As I nervously shuffled at the departing gate and watched the clock tick minute by minute, first they announced 20 minutes late, then 30 minutes late, and it finally took off about 45 minutes late. The good news is that we made good time back to Houston only to find that there was no available gate! We sat on the runway for first a few minutes, then too many, as I saw my window shrinking to catch my last leg home.
We finally got to the terminal and my departing gate as people stood in line for the last of my four flights. I had visions of sleeping at the airport or getting a room in Houston for the night and leaving the next day, since this was the last flight back to Cancun. My last flight WAS delayed, but only by a handful of minutes, so I was able to get back into Cancun at 11:40 p.m.
Normally I am not prone to anxiety or worry, but this tested me more than I wanted to be tested!
Four trips, four delays. What used to be the exception to the rule now seems to BE the rule!
Add to that the problem of returning on one of the last arriving Cancun flights of the day and finding a shortage of options for shuttles and taxis back to Puerto Morales.
Oh, how we all long for the good old days! Most of California has now returned to their most strict confinement, called purple level. Meanwhile, here in Cancun, we are blessed with very lenient standards and Mexico, right now, is one of the few places that Americans visit.
The Caribbean and most of the islands are closed, and many places that people vacation for winter are not an option this year.
No question, Travel Younger’s hands have been tied, and both of us are getting itchy feet, wanting to move on, at least for a while. To where, we are not sure, but Central America seems to be the most obvious direction, plus South America, and then hopefully back across the ocean to Europe.
Like all of you we live day by day, week by week, and sadly, month by month. Let’s hope that 2021 gets us back on the road to recovery.
