21: MCO & AA2285
Jumping off the jetbridge into MCO, we were immediately confronted with a mixed crowd, half on their way home from disneyland, half delayed due to weather in basically every airport that existed. So the mood was pretty sombre. No AC here, so we found a booth in between the two wings of the A gates, and ended up having a nice conversation with a couple on their way home from a trip to Peuorto Rica, who were on their 12th hour at the airport; and a lady on her way to Boston. It was nice having a chat with some fellow delayed pax.
As we sat, our flight was bumped back an hour but the screens at the airport did not update, causing a bit of uncertainty on our part. I got the dreaded phone call from AA but this time it was just notifying us of the delay. We grabbed a coffee and later a slice of pizza, and both went for a walk around the terminal to stretch our legs.
The planned take off of 6:56pm came and went and we headed down to the gate around 7:15 as our next scheduled departure time was 7:45. When we sat down, a gate agent started to make an announcement before it was muffled by a Jet Blue announcement that decided to go on top of ours. That announcement in turn was muffled by a third announcement for a flight to DFW. Needless to say, nobody had any idea what was going on.
Not long after that a subsequent announcement advised that we'd then get further information in 20 minutes, and that we were being merely held up by an ATC ground hold at JFK (perhaps cleaning the runways after what happenned earlier today). About 10 minutes after that, I approached to check if any seats had opened in F (the ORD lounge agent had advised she would waitlist up, but the screens in MCO don't list upgrade/standby waitlists so I wasn't sure). The agent advised there were no free seats in F but we were indeed on the waitlist.
Another 20 minutes or so came and went and then all of a sudden, boarding commenced. With no upgrade list, we were unsure what was going on. F cabin was called, and boarded, and then.... we were called to the desk over the PA! "I hope you and your wife don't mind sitting apart, all I have are two seats in F but they aren't together." Needless to say we weren't interested in MCE over the offer of F. We took the seats, being scheduled to be on opposite sides of the plane on 5A/5F.
AA2285: MCO-JFK, 2h:34m, F, 5D/F, 737-800
The entire F cabin was seated when we boarded - and there were only two seats free. We had really been looked after by the upgrade machine today! We kindly asked the gentlemen in the aisle seats of 5C/D if either would swap so we could sit together, and one eagerly volunteered as he then got a window seat. It's times like this I wish I carried around "Thank You" cards. I feel like I've needed about 7 of them today.
Boarding took a while but we were in the air by 8.33pm, so about an hour and fourty minutes after scheduled departure. Unfortunately we'd miss our scheduled dinner with a family member in NY, but at least we'd get in tonight. It was an extremely full flight, making me extra grateful for being in F. We also could see some bags being loaded as we waited for take off.
I started with another glass of bubbly, and my wife had a cranberry juice I think. Our FA was a friendly New Yorker we'd had a few flights earlier, and we enjoyed his company again.
After push off we were the first flight in the line at MCO to depart so we were out quickly. We had a fairly steep ascent and a bit of turbulence on the flight in general, but overall it was quite good. I really like hot towels!
Meals were "The Beef" (sic):
And a Cheese Pasta (which had some spinach and mushroom in it):
The salad that came alongside was nice too, and some sourdough bread joined later in the game again. The alternative - "normal bread" - is quite sweet (adding a bit more to the extra sugar in everything conspiracy).
I had another glass of wine with dinner, this time I checked what it was and I'm fairly sure it tasted the same to the previous flight. It was a 2013 Sav Blanc, Castle Rock 2013 (California). A bit sweet but I liked it.
The in-flight movies were a toy story short and then 101 Dalmations - suiting the kids that were winding down from disney world well.
The flight continued to be a little shaky but overall I can't complain about the turbulence - but now, the fun began!
As we got close to JFK, we were put in a holding pattern "for up to 30 minutes" prior to our final approach, as they had temporarily closed all runways due to weather. It must have been bad as the snow outside was quite heavy, we could see thick crystles as they glistened in the plane's wing light as we flew around in circles. It did make me a bit chilly, I did worry about how cold it would be when we got off the plane!
The FA encouraged me that due to the hold, it would be best my wine was filled. Having heard in the IFE Safety Video that it's important to comply with crew member instructions, I couldn't say no now, could I?
However, shortly after this, we were advised that our descent had commenced, so I only got a few mouthfuls in before it was taken away. It looked like it was the end of this mad adventure.... but that was not to be. While the runways had indeed been re-opened, the winds were now just pushing the limits of our little 737. Having used up all our holding fuel, we needed to go to the nearest open airport to refuel, which would turn out to be Bradley Hartsford-Springfield (BDL), a mixed use civil/air force base in Conneticuit. This brings the states so far today to.... 4! And now I'm ever thankful for the seat in F.
Our approach to Bradley was smooth, the weather was nowhere near as bad up here and the runways were clear. Initial instructions were that we would re-fuel and de-ice if necessary, before trying to return to JFK or Newark (LGA being curfewed by now, I suppose). We'd end up being on the ground for an hour and a half or so, and having mobile reception meant we weren't too bored. The laptop had died by this point and the MD80 only had 12v Car-style charging sockets so I couldn't recharge.
Just before 12.30am, having refuelled and being cleared and possibly de-iced (wasn't paying attention), we took off getting ready to head towards JFK, on instructions that we would 'circle until the winds were within limits, or otherwise, we'd been instructed to land in Boston (yes, Boston) which did not go down well with some passengers. Thank goodness the gentleman had agreed to swap seats as one of the loudest complainants would have been next to me if not. He, in fact, lived only a short way from BDL and indicated he would have preferred to disembark there (though the airport itself appeared closed with only the runway staff in operation to refuel us and get us back in the air). After loudly complaining to our friendly FA, the FA replied 'Sir, I agree, but have no control over this so I can't help you' which didn't calm the gentleman down though he did briefly quieten.
It was about half an hour back to JFK, where we once again jumped into the holding pattern. The snow was still falling relentlessly, and we held for what must have been 10 minutes or so before the captain announced that the runways had been reopened and we would attempt to land once more. And I'm pleased to say that the winds held back and we finally touched down safely in New York! Of course, our friend across the aisle claimed that "We could have easily just touched down the first time" and that "it was a waste of time going to Bradley", but hey, I guess the pilot, air traffic control and those working in CASA or the equivalent can't be nearly as smart as he.
Anyway, when we finally landed, there was snow everywhere, this was the taxiway we were driving to our gate on:
You can almost understand how the DL flight slid off LGA. Anyway, it seemed like a slow taxi but we eventually made it to the gate.
