NO BOARDING PASS!

In this day in time, where paranoia runs rampant...and the TSA has become the “Godzilla” of federal bureaucracies, playing on our fears, a terrorist under every rock and airline terminal a maze of security checks and blue shirted people everywhere...would you think you could get on a plane with no boarding pass?

“No way” you say! “Oh yea” I respond!...gather around and let me tell you the story.

I had gone to Pittsburgh for a few days of consulting, and all had gone really well. Flush with accomplishment I headed for the airport about noon, for a 2:00 PM flight. Work complete, airport security behind me I settled down for a nice lunch at TGIF and a rare luncheon splurge of a glass of wine (I knew it was five o’clock somewhere).

Lunch finished, a warm buzz from the wine, I headed for the gate. Passing one of those huge (at least 30 screen) arrival / departure boards (there not boards anymore but video extravaganzas) I noticed my flight said DELAYED. “Rut roh, rotsa ruck”...that is never good, especially in the middle of the day!

Arriving at the gate the poor young lady working the podium was already besieged with the inevitable barrage of questions, which to her credit she handled with patience and humor (stick around she’ll loose it later). Sitting near the podium I picked up (without getting in that long line) that our (B-737) flight was on a mechanical delay, “but no fear the mechanics are arriving on the next flight from Newark.”

Ok...that sounded plausible.

So I sat back and began reading my book and listening to the long line of people explaining to the young lady how important it was that “they” get to Houston so “they” could connect with their flight to wherever. She very politely listened and said she would know something shortly and would make an announcement.

Before this story becomes an epic novel, on a James Michener scale, let’s fast forward a few hours.

The mechanics arrived from Newark, opened panels and shined their flashlights into darken mechanical spaces and finally pronounced they’d found the problem...but the part was back in Newark! I’m not trying to second guess them, but being a retired pilot, I know that the problem had been diagnosed and the solution suspected....so why would you send mechanics, their tools and no parts?

When the young lady at the podium (her rosy cheeks getting darker) made that announcement....the scramble was on!

The arm waving, hand gestures and voice levels, around the podium began to rise by the minute. The once placid young lady’s cheeks began to turn a crimson red as she valiantly tried to handle the situation.

Hang with me...we’re almost there.

From somewhere in the gathering gloom of dusk and the ever increasing rain showers appeared a Continental Connection Bombardier Q400! Our young crimson cheeked agent announced that anyone wanting to get to Houston tonight (implying the part ain’t getting here today) could hop on board this mystery airplane and connect in Newark.

Momentarily stunned, the heard thundered toward the departure gate (why yes I was in the heard, taking a quick assessment of my chance on plane A and NOT seeing it going anywhere soon). To our surprise our boarding passes were surrendered at the gate and we were told that everything would be sorted out by the time we got to Newark...”just get on and find a seat!”
“WHAT...give up my boarding pass, my only proof of purchase...what’ll the TSA say....you’ve got to be kidding me”! Surely there was a TSA agent somewhere saying...”hey, wait a minute, you can’t let those people out on the ramp, much less on that airplane without a boarding pass.”

It’s only a short fifty five minute flight to Newark...up and down the aisle the conversation was all the same...“I don’t have a boarding pass...what’s going to happen in Newark”?

I have to take my hat off to Continental...we were all met at the gate with boarding passes for the continuing flight to Houston. WOW!! Kudos to Continental for taking a bad situation and making it work.

Exhausted but still hopeful we all dashed through Newark’s myriad concourses, more shops and restaurants than gates, arriving just in time to board our flight. WOW...again.

Disheveled, tired and thankful we arrived in Houston late in the evening, no worse for the experience and, in my case, HOME!

Commons sense does occasionally prevail.