So Close, Yet So Far...

I should have been spending the night in my parents' spare bedroom. Instead, I'm in a hotel room in Edmonton. I should have spent the evening playing board games with my family, enjoying some great Christmas baking and maybe watching some TV. Instead, I spent it on airplanes and in airports.

It started with a flight from Kelowna to Edmonton. I was not on that flight, but for whatever reason it was delayed from leaving for 20 minutes. I was supposed to connect with this flight in Edmonton, which then would take me to Saskatoon.

Not only was that flight late leaving Kelowna, but there were technical difficulties when the plane was going to leave Edmonton. By the time we were finally taking off, it was an hour later than it should have been departing.

And then came the weather. While we were enroute to Saskatoon, it started to rain. Freezing rain. As the Captain was starting his descent, he learned that the runways had frozen over. Plus, there were strong winds too. Definitely a bad combination, so he turned the plane around and headed to...

Calgary. Once in Calgary, we all deplaned while we waited to find out what was going to happen. And waited. And waited. It was determined that, unless individuals decided to make their own alternate arrangements, we all would be flown... Wait for it... Back to Edmonton.

Of course, that meant more waiting, as they needed to bring in a new crew and sort out everyone's luggage, to sort out what was and wasn't going back to Edmonton. At least I was certain that my luggage wouldn't be lost, as I personally watched it being reloaded.

It was appreciated that the Captain and crew for this extra flight injected extra humor into everything they said to try and lighten the mood. There were lots of laughs to the Captain's comment that the Customer Service folks in Edmonton were already donning their tackle gear and hockey pads... But it was indeed very much appreciated that the Captain took the time to explain the situation and what happened, not to mention that he and the crew probably gave up their own evenings with family for us.

After getting into my room, at about midnight local time, I checked for my updated boarding pass online. The passengers from this flight were being put in to any empty seats on flights to Saskatoon the following day. It looks like I'm on the 3:20PM flight—exactly 24 hours after my original flight was supposed to leave Edmonton. Oh well. At least I do have a couple food vouchers, so I can have a nice lunch at the Chili's in the airport.

I guess I can say that today was a bit of an adventure... Just not one I hope to repeat anytime soon. It's a little frustrating to think that if the flight had even one less delay, it may have beaten the icy runway conditions. I hope and pray that things go smoother tomorrow. That would not be fun at all, to be turned away from Saskatoon two days in a row!