Day of Delays

Yesterday did not go too well. We arrived at the airport in MCI only to find no airplane. The inbound flight was delayed from DFW due to an autopilot problem. We left MCI bound for DFW about 30 minutes late. The photo is of the MCI airport shortly after takeoff heading South.

We arrived at DFW and kept the same plane and soon began boarding for the leg to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. It was a full flight...140 passengers. Right before the agent was set to close the door, a baggage handler notified us that there was a tear in the liner of the aft cargo compartment. This was bad...very bad. Each cargo compartment is a contained area that has built in fire extinguishers. If the liner has a tear or a even a small hole in it, the compartment is compromised and has to be repaired. So the choice was to either repair it or find a different airplane. Either option would take about one hour. The end result was a different airplane that was parked at the most distant terminal from where we were. As I made the PA to the passengers about the situation and that it would be at least another hour before departure, I could hear the groans and moans from the cabin. Everyone got off the plane and began the trek over to the other terminal. Fortunately the new plane had no problems but it took another hour before the cargo people and the catering people could unload the old plane and get it over to the new one. So we finally were on our way just over two hours late.


On the taxi out we passed the international terminal at DFW. All the American Airlines widebody jets were being prepared for their afternoon flights to Europe and beyond. You can see two Boeing 777's and a 767 at their gates.




The flight to Cabo went well. No bad weather and a smooth ride. The photo shows the Eastern coast of Baja California as we descended for Cabo. Kind of hot there....96 degrees! After landing I made a quick trip to the duty free store and bought a bottle of Tequila for future consumption. Crew members are allowed to bring in to the USA only one bottle per trip.




A quick fuel up and boarding of only 25 passengers and we were heading for DFW. 37,000 ft all the way and back to base in just over two hours. A trip through Customs and Immigration, dropped off my flight case, a ride on the employee bus to the parking lot and then I was finally headed home. Two days off and then another trip this coming Sunday.

Thanks for reading