One reason I flew Alaska Airlines to Seattle last week was because it was one of the few non-stop flights that were available. I was determined not to have to fly through Chicago's O'Hare, especially not in January. Why? Because I have been stuck there almost every time I've had to connect through Chicago, either for hours on the runway or overnight. It's not Chicago's fault; it's just a mixture of weather and being a very, very popular airport. And, of course, it's not a problem limited to the Windy City--pretty much every airport ends up with stranded, ticked-off passengers at some point.
So when I read this articleabout airline executives getting together to make getting stranded a bit less onerous, I had to applaud their effort. From the article:
- Those steps are measures like making sure airports know the location of all available air stairs, the stairs that can be driven up to a plane on the tarmac, and ordering airport shops to stock diapers, baby formula, simple medicines and food.
Getting stranded will never be fun, but at least it may become tolerable.