I hate flying thru Chicago
December 29, 2005The spoke-and-hub system used by most modern airlines is really efficient except when there’s problems at the hub. Then it all goes to hell quickly.
This truism was illustrated to me once again today, when I had to fly from Louisville to Los Angeles by way of Chicago. See, Louisville is not a major hub so inevitably to get anywhere requires transit thru some hub city like Atlanta or Chicago. My Mom booked these tickets and she tends to use United for everything, and that of course means going thru the Chicago hub.
But today there was very low-lying clouds and rain in the Chicago area, limiting visibility at the airport. So they flow-controlled inbound flights from other cities. Meaning essentially they kept planes on the ground to limit the number arriving at Chicago. My 1:40 p.m. flight from Louisville did not board until about 3:30 p.m. and didn’t get off the ground until after 4:15 p.m.
Missed my original connecting flight in Chicago, and barely made the standby call on the 5 p.m. flight. Which itself did not depart until past 6 p.m. Basically I got into LA over 3 hours later than planned.
The one good thing to come out of this–the hotel we’re staying at is right next door to an In-n-Out Burger that’s open until 1:30 a.m. So I was able to get a quick bite to eat after a long day of waiting at airports.
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