There people are APackOfFrickinScrewups. I've never been on a United flight that wasn't delayed, cancelled, or otherwise screwed up because of some stupid failure on their part.

The latest idiocy, on 2000-04-18, was that our flight out of SpringfieldMissouri was delayed for well over an hour because someone noticed that the would-be flight crew had exceeded their allowable working time. An hour's delay isn't normally that much of a problem, but in this case it meant that we couldn't make a connecting flight, and there were no later flights from any airport in North America (that our admittedly helpful counter-person could find, anyway) to our destination. Result: We had to scrap any hope of arriving on the original departure date, and settle for leaving early (6:05 AM) the next morning. That also meant getting a ride back from the airport to our house, then getting a new ride back to the airport the next day, and making new arrangements to be picked up at our destination.

That's inexcusable. I mean, I can understand that a flight could be delayed by mechanical difficulties. I had an old car once, and these things happen. However, failing to plan in advance for well-known Federal requirements that are followed every day is just plain stupid. I mean, didn't anyone realize that the problem existed before the time came to delay my flight? If not, then why are the responsible parties allowed to keep their job? If I did something that bone-headedly dumb, I'd be out on my ass.

-- KirkStrauser - 18 Apr 2001