Were YOU Affected By The Massive Flight Cancellations?
If your answer to my blog’s title question is YES, then, a) I feel your pain, and b) I hope you made it to your destination safely with all your (physical) baggage. As of this writing, the flight delays and cancellations have waned, but the damage is done: families like mine had to adapt after the worst air-travel cancellation debacle in history. I’m sure other families had it worse, but it was still jarring to have our flight to St. Louis canceled on our way to the airport. That set into motion the beginning of the end of our carefully-designed Holiday Plans…cancellations of our Air B’n B, rental cars, activity and event tickets, and seeing our youngest son Brett and his partner Sydney’s family. Then the cherry on top of this poop sandwich: cancellations of the flights to take our sons back to New York from St. Louis. My amazing and determined spouse Meg stayed on hold for three hours with the airline, and eventually got a real human with whom she negotiated re-routed (and fully refunded) flights to get our sons back to NYC…with their correct luggage! Nothing short of an aviation miracle. She and I on the other hand, made lemons out of lemonade by taking in the 49er’s vs. Washington Commanders game at Levi Stadium on Christmas Eve, and having low-key holiday shenanigans with our stranded son Jake. I’m fully aware that this short story of my family’s travel woes represents true First World problems: many more people were left renting cars, taking trains, missing family and work obligations, and paying borderline-illegal prices for rescheduled flights on various airlines just to get back home and get ready for 2023. If you were one of those people, please accept my sincere condolences…if we can collectively make it through that final “test” of 2022, we’re surely ready to take on whatever challenges 2023 has in store for us 🙂
John Young
