Fun just doesn’t describe the feelings! What started as a rather uneventful flight from Tampa to Minneapolis went horribly wrong when we were initially delayed because the plane was here but the pilots were still up in the air.

Once the gate crew were informed that the pilots’ other plane had landed, they shuttled us all onto the plane to wait for the pilot and first officer. We waited. And waited. And no one was coming. People started asking to leave because of the heat in the cabin.  Finally a pilot and first officer arrived (to cheers and shouts of joy) and said they had been pulled from their Reno flight so they needed some time to familiarize themselves with the route, etc.

Everything was all set and we pushed away from the gate. And sat. We were then informed that there was a problem with the radio system and the guys up front were trying to fix it. After a half hour they said they were unable to fix it on the tarmac and we needed to go back to the gate.

Another half hour (they’re all running together) and we have been advised that we are on our way and receiving a $100 credit toward future flight. It’s 9:21pm and we are leaving (we hope) on the 6:07pm flight. Over three hours late.

When the replacement captains got on board they had said the flight would be 3hrs & 3mins (somehow they were planning to cut an hour off the scheduled travel time). I’ll post an update when we arrive or are further delayed.

Followup: we arrived in Vancouver at 11pm PST which was 1am CST - a four hour flight.  Officially exhausted!