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And to those who have been faithfully following along with me the last 4.5 years, THANK YOU!!

Life is a journey and I suppose this is the trail I leave behind.

Today is Christmas. I feel like I've been focusing so much on the true meaning of it the last month that I just sort of let myself relax and enjoy my family. I am one of the fortunate flight attendants that managed to get the holiday off. I did work a trip that went well into the early morning of the 24th. It was just a two day trip on the jet. We overnighted in Missoula. Did I mention that in the last post? Anyway- there is a story here...

We flew into Denver on the 23rd. No problems. We boarded ontime and took off for Durango, Co. Just as our wheels were down and you could see the runway, we aborted landing and began gaining altitude. In my mind I'm thinking...well, for some reason we couldn't land and I bet we are going to go around and try again. I was wrong. The captain came on the pa and announced we were going back to Denver. We couldn't land in Durango because snow plow equiptment was on the runway. We were not allowed to try again because if for some reason our second attempt failed, we wouldn't have enough gas to make it to our alternate airport, Denver.
My heart sank for everyone on my aircraft. I knew I'd be taking them back to a very stressful situation in Denver. Long lines and certain frustration trying to be booked onto flights that were already oversold with multiple standbys all trying to get home for the holiday.
Many of my passengers had already been inconvienced with earlier cancelled flights and was extremely happy to be on my flight when they boarded. I hated that this happened to them. A young lady sitting in 1B cried the entire way back, while the guy behind her kept blaming United for the error on the ground in Durango. How do you tell this passenger that the people who clear the runways are not employeed by United? And certainly whoever's bad timing it was to plow the runway is either getting fired or repremanded for causing a flight to turn and go back right before Christmas!
So there I was getting bombarded with green call button lights all down the cabin. What do I tell them? I'm sorry, but just telling them to talk to a customer service agent isn't good enough. I didn't sugar coat it. I tried to give hope by saying that you should never leave a flight that you are on standby for until it's gone. You never know. Lots of people misconnect and don't show up. However, spending more than a day in an airport really sucks. I suggested renting a car and driving home. It's a 6 hour drive in good weather. However, the mountain passes are caked with snow. It would be dangerous.
My heart still breaks for them and I hope they all got home safely and quickly.

The next day, we were supposed to leave Missoula at 4pm, but our plane coming in was late. 4.5 hours late! Finally we flew back to Denver. They made us swap planes which made us even later. We landed in Fresno at 1:30am. I just wanted to go home. So I downed 2 cups of coffee and drove home. I walked through my door at 5:15am. OY!!

You might be saying...Well, at least you probably picked up some overtime pay, right?
Wrong. I made a little extra money by being in the air a little longer, but overtime doesn't exist in my company unless they are desperate to cover a trip and offer you time and a half to work on your days off. I never do it. My time at home with my kids is way more valuable.

Seasonal flying sucks for all, but I try to make it better by smiling, staying positive and stuffing my co-workers with homemade Christmas cookies. :-)

Merry Christmas where ever you are and a Hope Filled New Year!!