My luck finally ran out.

Over the past couple of years I have averaged between 65,000 and 80,000 flight miles per year - mostly business trips. Overall I have been spared the nightmares that you read about on the front page of the newspaper. I have experienced the occasional flight cancellation/delay, or sitting next to an obnoxious passenger, and even a middle seat due to a last minute booking on a Monday AM flight to LAX. This week my luck ran out! I booked a flight from MSP to CLT via ATL - trying to save some Corporate dollars. We left MSP on time...arrived in ATL on time...and even got to the vicinity of CLT on time...but then the weather Gods arrived. Upon our approach to CLT a major storm blew in closing the airport. We circled for about 90 minutes until our fuel was low and we had to divert to Spartenburg - don't even ask me where that was. We stayed in Spartenburg for about 2 hours to get fuel and wait for CLT to open. Finally at 10:30pm CLT was opened and we were off for our 26 minute flight. We actually did arrive in CLT around 11pm. And as soon as we landed another significant storm blew in and they closed the ramp due to lightening. So in the middle of the night...in the middle of a storm...we sat on the tarmac for almost 2 hours. Even after the ramp opened there were too many planes waiting and not enough gates. So one by one they would pull you in - deplane - pull the plane out and then let the other plane in. Long story short - left MSP at 1:15pm and arrived in CLT at 1:45am. A direct flight would have gotten me there around 4pm. Finally I got to my hotel and fell asleep around 2:30am and had the joy of getting up at 6am for an all-day mtg. Oh the joys of air travel.....the only saving grace was that I was in first class and there was satellite TV on board :-)