In all of my years of traveling, I’ve never had an itinerary-altering diversion.
Sure, I’ve had minor ones — landing at Washington, D.C.’s Dulles International Airport (IAD) instead of the expected Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), for example — though that was easy enough to fix.
But when my Dallas-bound American Airlines flight diverted to Shreveport, Louisiana, last week, that began a true “irregular operations” experience that I had never had before.
What was supposed to be an early afternoon arrival at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) instead became an expected 12:44 p.m. touchdown in Shreveport — where I’d remain on the plane for the next five hours and 34 minutes before we were finally cleared to continue on to DFW.
The culprit: a line of particularly severe storms that blocked DFW’s flight paths. During my two decades as an aviation journalist, I’ve covered these types of stories numerous times. Perhaps inevitably, I was finally in one myself.
It wasn’t fun, but the crew was solid. Passengers were mostly understanding. And the carrier did bring stairs to the door of the jet to allow customers to deplane as we neared the three-hour tarmac delay limit.
And it wasn’t just me. My traveling companion had departed from Washington, D.C., intending to meet me at DFW so we could be on the same flight to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Alas, his flight was among numerous others that diverted — his to Austin. We both eventually arrived at DFW, but long after the last Puerto Vallarta flight had departed.
That meant an unexpected night at the DFW Hyatt Regency, which set us back nearly $400 for the room. Because the diversion was weather-related — and beyond the airline’s control — we had to pay out of pocket.
It wasn’t the end of the world. We made it to Mexico 24 hours later than expected, and with a travel tale to tell anyone who’d listen.
But it’s a good reminder to know what to do if irregular operations affect your flight. Have a plan. Be patient. Know your rights.
Elsewhere, it’s been busy as usual on the airline news front. Scroll down to see the biggest stories from the past week, covering everything from exciting new airline routes to Southwest Airlines’ new seats and increased fees.
Until next time …
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