Another nightmare business trip

[JavaBrewer]

So I have a new customer in Omaha NE.

Monday the 27th I fly out of San Diego connecting Phoenix to Omaha (US Airways). San Diego airport has heavy fog and all morning traffic is delayed. I miss my connection to Omaha and have to wait 6 hrs in PHX Skyharbor for the next flight. Arrive in Omaha at midnight and I have a 8:00 am meeting.

Meeting goes till 7:00 PM and my eyes are rolling in my head...

Wednesday the 29th after working in the customer lab all day I fly the return trip at 6:00 pm. Fog advisory for our 9:30 PM arrival into San Diego. We're within 30 seconds of landing...I can see Petco park...and full throttle abort the landing. Too much fog. 15 minutes later we try a North-Westerly approach that also fails. Captain comes on says LAX and Ontario are also fogged in (B.S.) so we fly back to Phoenix.

I'm now sitting in a hotel in PHX with a return flight tomorrow at 2:00 pm...drinking a Bass Ale posting on Pelican OT. Wish I was home.

[HardDrive]

Sorry man. Travel can be awful.

[cstreit]

David that's BRUTAL. Can't believe they turned your around RIGHT.THERE. I've got more than 500k miles of biz. travel and I'm happy to say that never happened. Everything else did but that's just rough.

I don't understand if they can do instrument landings why is landing in fog such a huge deal? I guess since ATC can't see if planes are on the tarmac?

[masraum]

Wow, that really sucks. At least you've got a Bass and Pelican. It could always be worse.

[Noah930]

Maybe the pilot has a GF in Phoenix?

[cstreit]

Don't they carry them on the plane with them (FA's?)

[rattlsnak]

Originally Posted by cstreit

I don't understand if they can do instrument landings why is landing in fog such a huge deal? I guess since ATC can't see if planes are on the tarmac?

Because ILS landings are based on visibility requirements, and if its thick fog, you don't have enough forward visibility to land. (unless you have cat 2 or 3, which SAN does not have) You usually can see straight down, but not forward. It looks like Rwy 9 needs 1 mile, and rwy 27 (the favored rwy) needs 1 3/4 miles of visibility, which you are not going to get in fog. These are higher than normal minimums however, as most ILS's are @ 1/2 mile or such, but I'm sure the parking deck/buildings at the approach end of 27 might have something to do with the higher requirements.

http://204.108.4.16/d-tpp/0810/00373L27.PDF

http://204.108.4.16/d-tpp/0810/00373IL9.PDF

And USAir has a hub in PHX, so its natural for them to go there.

Either way, I'm not sure why people always rant about having a bad airline travel when it mother nature to blame, not the airlines.

[Neilk]

I have landed (as a passenger) in Zurich where I thought we were still in the clouds until about 50ft over the runway. Pretty amazing what technology can do.

[Scott R]

It will get even better if you have to go to Omaha in the spring, our secondary datacenter is there and on a few occasions we have flown back to Denver due to tornadoes on the runway.

[tcar]

Originally Posted by rattlsnak

And USAir has a hub in PHX, so its natural for them to go there.

USAir is the old AmericaWest, headquartered in PHX. AmericaWest bought USAir and kept THAT name instead of AW because it was more recognizable.

Pilot may live in PHX, but he can't divert away from San Diego just because he feels like it.

[JavaBrewer]

I posted to vent my frustration with this week's bad luck flying. I don't hold US Airways accountable for weather though I don't believe that LAX or Ontario were also fogged in. That was verified when I was getting re ticketed for today and the customer service radio said that the SD flight after ours was at LAX and the airline was organizing ground transportation to SD. I could have rented a car and been home in one hour... I think the airline made the decision strictly for cost savings...at our expense.

I managed to get a discounted rate at the airport Hilton and am right now sitting in Sky Harbor finishing my starbucks and very tasty blueberry pastry from this place called Paradise Bakery & Cafe. So it certainly could have been worse - stuck in airport with no hotel. That's why I fly US Air (was an America West FF). PHX airport rarely/never closes to weather and with my frequent trips to DC area I refuse to connect in Denver, Dallas, or Chicago. Plus I have a customer in Philly which US Air services non stop from SD. Sounds like SD needs to upgrade their equipment (cat 2/3 whatever that means) as the airport is prone to fog.

[911boost]

That sucks man.

I am also in an airport.

I flew into North West Arkansas yesterday, landed at 1 pm, had a meeitng until 6 pm.

Then I got up this morning to drive to Little Rock, Arkansas for another meeting. I have a 2:16 pm flight back to Denver where the 911 Turbo is nicely tucked away in the garage parking at DIA. It is supposed to be really nice, so that is what got me through the 200+ mile drive this morning in a 4 door F150 rental. Why they reserved me a truck when that isn't what I asked for, is beyond me.

Bill

[nostatic]

fwiw we had pretty heavy fog last night in Santa Monica - I'm willing to bet that LAX was impacted to some extent. ONT should have been fine though.

[teenerted1]

why sittng in a hotel? rent a car for the same rate be home before the flight even leaves tomorrow?

[Scuba Steve]

You've had far better experiences than I have with that airline... last time I flew with them the first leg of the flight was delayed due to a mechanical problem in the A-320/319 we flew out with. Missed my connection, managed to get to my destination at 5am via the first 737 to roll off the line.

Outgoing flight, 6am flight canceled completely because the A-320/319 we were supposed to fly out with was broken down. Got bumped to Delta or United and made it home (woohoo!).

[JavaBrewer]

Originally Posted by teenerted1

why sittng in a hotel? rent a car for the same rate be home before the flight even leaves tomorrow?

I considered that for about 1 minute. Combine my lack of sleep with already long day and it's getting late. Driving 6 hrs across the desert didn't sound like a good idea.