Nolan,
[Re: "Matt's Rail", this issue] I'd like to share my US Air Experience that ironically occurred when I flew
down to visit Matt in late 1989. My flight from Tampa to Baltimore, via
Pittsburgh, left late and I arrived in Pittsburgh just as my Baltimore bound
plane took off. I expressed my disappointment to the gate attendant and
inquired as to whether or not they could have delayed the flight out as
there were several of us heading to Baltimore that now had to: A. -- wait for
the next flight and, B. -- hope there was room because we were now on standby.
The gate attendant told me that US Air can't hold up departing flights
because if they did, they would never be on time. Thankfully, we all got on
the next flight which was scheduled to leave at 9:30. At 9:50 we were still
at the gate and I asked an attendant why we hadn't left yet. She told me
that we were waiting for another plane to land because there were some
people on that flight that were catching our flight. I told her that I was
told that US Air doesn't hold up departing flights due to scheduling
problems and she just laughed. 18 minutes later, a group of 3 teenagers,.
each toting a musical instrument, boarded the flight. To make the story
even more ironic, like Matt's incident, they lost my luggage. A week later
I received a phone call from a man in Canada. Seems he worked at the
Montreal airport and, after seeing my suitcase just sit in the middle of the
luggage office for a week, took the initiative to open it and discovered my
wallet inside with my business card. He had called me to see I wanted my
luggage returned. After we made arrangements we shared a laugh when he
informed me that US Air didn't even fly to Montreal!
Now you know why I'm driving to NolanCon!
Michael A. Smith
To send an email to Letters to the Editor write to: Crazedfanboy1@aol.com. Any emails sent to this address will be assumed intended for publication unless you specifically instruct me not to. I can and do respond privately, if that is your preference. Frequently, it's both ways.---Nolan
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