“Iffy” Flights
This is a story of my travel nightmare. It’s a long read but a good one, so read it! I’m sure people have had worse, but it was my first and worst so far.
This past Sunday I was dropped off at the San Diego airport by Mark, thanks Mark, to leave on a business trip to Little Rock Arkansas. My flight was to leave at 1PM. We boarded the plane on time and it taxied out to the runway. Just then the Captain says on the intercom, “Well I have some bad news. Wouldn’t you know it, the left engine won’t start.” Generally this is not a good sign. From this point forward my travel plans got flushed straight down the toilet.
They pulled the plane off the runway and mechanics took a look at the engine as we waited. The captain said that they found an “Iffy valve.” They replaced the valve and were able to start the engine. Yay. by this time we’re running late but not so late that any connections would be missed. We taxi out to the runway… “Sorry, the engine won’t start again.” Now at this point, two passengers actually got off the plane! We were told that the engine is in good condition and the broken part is just the part that allows high pressure air to spin up the engine to start it. This time the mechanics hot wire the valve open and manually start the engine. Now we were delayed even further because the ground crew is minimally staffed to avoid bankruptcy. By the time we were drug out to the runway with the left engine already started ahead of time, we were SUPER late. At least 2 hours late I think!
I arrived in DFW 1 hour after my connection to Little Rock. I was placed on the standby list for the last flight to LR which was to leave at 9:30PM, but of course it was late asell by about 20 minutes. Only then did I find out that there was no room for any standby people. Now I’m stuck. AA provided me with a free hotel room at the Wingate hotel because my delay was due to mechanical failure.. The wait for the shuttle van to the hotels was VERY long and it was crammed full of people. I had to squat between the seat and the door of the van. By time time I got to the Wingate it was probably past 11PM and all I had was the clothes on my back and my computer bag. All my clothes and toiletries are sitting in an airport baggage room somewhere. Also I stink real bad now. 
I took a hot shower and got 4 hours of sleep before having to wake up at 4AM to catch the shuttle to get back to the airport. I then took the earliest flight to Little Rock… which was late… I managed to arrive in one piece, grab my check on bag which amazingly made it to the carousel, get my rental car, check into my hotel, freshen up, and then get to work by 9AM. WHEW!!!