The Saga of Snowpocalypse 2010

One of the advantages of being on vacation is getting away from the internet and what is "going on in the world". Luckily, family members read the paper. So while Tom and I were peacefully enjoying our holiday break in Ohio, we were informed that a blizzard was going to hit the East Coast. Just about the time we were to fly to Newark to depart for Israel.

When we awoke early on the 26th we checked to see if our flight had been cancelled. If we were going to be stranded somewhere, we would not wish to be stranded in New Jersey. But while many flights had been already cancelled out of Newark, ours seemed unaffected.

When we arrived at the Dayton airport, we thought about speaking with someone at the Continental ticket counter to see if we could re-route our flight. Perhaps something complicated where we flew to Texas and then to Germany and then to Tel Aviv. While we were in line another couple beat us to it - they were on the same flight out of Dayton, to connect to a flight in Newark to Hong Kong. The gate agent was not particularly helpful. He asked if their flight had been cancelled yet - well not yet, they replied, but there is a big storm headed for Newark. He replied that Chicago (a possible rerouting) would not be any better. He either must not know US geography or understand how weather works.

So we board our plane, with few other options. Tom's conference in Jerusalem begins on the 26th, so we will be arriving somewhat late as it is. We land in Newark and look out. It looks cold and wintry, but is certainly nowhere near a blizzard.

We had a few hours before our flight departed, so we looked for food. It was lightly snowing, but I was so far unimpressed. Unfortunately the options in the international area ranged from high end sushi to high end steakhouse, so we opted for the steak. As we finished our meal, there was an audio announcement about flight cancellations. Tom went to check to see if ours was one - if we were stranded, I wanted to have a few drinks. We were still on time, so we headed for the gate.

If you have ever flown to Israel, you know there is extra security. We hadn't flown to Israel before, but Tom had read something about it on the internet. It wasn't too bad: the gate is in a "secure" area (with bathrooms, thank god) and to get in you show your boarding pass and passport, get your bags searched, and get wanded. The unfortunate consequence is that the gate area becomes very confined. So when it was time to board, it was impossible to move around. Everyone was standing in the way of the boarding area and pushing and shoving and a few Hassidic men got their hats knocked off. They don't like that very much.

Amazingly we made it on the plane without screaming at anyone, and settled in. At this point it is about 4 PM and snowing out... but not a blizzard. I find a movie to start watching - some awesome Bollywood flick about an alien looking for love. The plane gets de-iced. We start taxing out. Since Tom and I were in the center section, we couldn't quite see out the plane. The captain informs us that we'll have to do a second de-icing, closer to take off. My movie finishes (it was 1:45) - and I think we were in the second de-icing.

The captain informs us that we are next to take off, but that the airport has closed. We will have to return to the terminal. I start watching Gran Torino (perhaps before that announcement). I finish watching Gran Torino... and we are still trying to make it back. It was quite impossible to see what was going on outside the plane, but I believed it involved a lot of snow and us being pushed/pulled. A similar flight out of New York to Tel Aviv ended up in our position, but stranded on the run way until the next day. Of course, we didn't know this at the time. We just knew everyone had to use the restroom and they kept telling us we had to stay in our seats (for 4 hours)! They did give out granola bars and water.

Eventually my movie ends and we make it back to the terminal. We deplane and collectively head to the service center. Since Tom and I were at the back of the plane, we end up at the back of the Service Center line. We try calling the 1-800 number to reschedule, but there is a recording about too great of a call volume, encouraging us to call back later. Luckily, a Continental rep starts informing the back of the line that there is a second service center. By time I catch up with Tom, he is next in that line.

We speak with Linda, who is very helpful and patient, which is surprising since she is also stuck in the airport. We get a confirmed ticket for Wednesday (this is Sunday) and standby tickets for the next day. She's optimistic we'll get on the plane, as long as the airport is open. Now we have to figure out what to do for the night. There conditions are an absolute white out. There are no cars or shuttles running. The best we can do is take the AirTran to a place close to the hotels.

We get to the airtran, unsure if it is running. There are already a ton of people on the platform. Its unlikely we are even going to be able to find a hotel (let alone one we can afford) at the other end, but we figure we should try. An AirTran arrives and we can see it is already packed. A few people get off, and people start shoving their way on. Tom and I back up, because it seems like trample conditions. As the doors close people keep forcing their way on, couples are pulling on one another and it is overall a very bad scene. We head back in to the airport.

I get 2 pillows, 'blankets', and overnight kits from Linda and we find a place to lay down and sleep. It feels as if it about 50 degrees in the airport. Every 20 minutes there is a loud announcement "This is a special announcement. Due to security, do not leave your bags unguarded...". All of the TV's are on CNN, and they are talking about how bad the weather is and how all JFK/LaGuardia/Newark are all closed. Some time early the next morning we get up and try to find a warmer place to sleep, grabbing a few 'blankets' others had abandoned. We sleep a bit. At some point Tom wakes me up - he found an open Starbucks and brought breakfast. While it is about 10 AM, the airport is still closed, few shops are open, and most of the other people we see in the airport are from our flight.

Around 11 AM I start obsessively checking the "departure" board for when our 4 PM flight to Tel Aviv would be posted. When it shows up, it is listed as 4 PM. It is thought that is when the airport will open. Around 1 PM I hike to the other end of the terminal and find a foodcourt open. I bring back the food and we head over to the Tel Aviv gate. The security area hadn't been set up, and there is no one at the gate. We wait in line at the gate, and see some security people and see some airport employees around. We go out and wait where we think the security line will be, ending up about 10th in line. They kick everyone out of the secure area, so the security line ends up containing everyone on the flight. This is about 3 PM or so.

We get back in and line up at the gate again. We are unsure if we will even get on the plane. Or if the airport has opened. The gate agent makes a bunch of phone calls and does a bunch of computer work and then it is announced - if the plane leaves the gate, all standby customers can be on it. There is lots of room since all incoming flights that day had been canceled. Our names are called and we have boarding passes - even sitting next to eachother. Now we wait. It is quite after 4 - the departure time keeps getting pushed back. The airport isn't open yet.

The new departure time is listed as 7 PM - when the airport will open, we think. Then it becomes 7:45. It is announced that while the runways are clear, there is a new problem. One of the snow-moving trucks had caught fire. A firetruck had put it out with the special anti-fire foam, so the firetruck must be re-filled. We must wait for that. So we wait. An announcement - unfortunately, our crew will "run out of time" around 9 PM. We must have departed by then or our flight we be cancelled. Departure time is now 9 PM and people keep yelling at the gate agents. An announcement - our gate agents don't have anything more to tell us. The air control tower had said to stop calling. It is about 8:45 and the new departure time is 9:45.

I start posting facebook messages trying to find a place to sleep. Tom and I will try to head into New York city - I don't want to sleep in the airport again. It is announced that the Service Center will close at 11 PM. I try to "stake out" a good spot to leave the secure area to get to the service center as soon as it is announced the flight is cancelled. It is about 9:30 when it is announced that we will begin boarding. We board the plane!

Now we know better than to think that boarding the plane is equivalent to it departing. There is much havoc on the plane, since families on stand-by aren't sitting by one another. Eventually it is announced that we have one more delay - a group of people have gotten OFF the plane, so their luggage needs to be removed. A tour group on standby hadn't entirely made it on, so the group that had made it on got off. We wait for their bags to be removed, and push away from the gate around midnight.

It was the best 11 hour flight I have ever had.

We land in Tel Aviv. One of our bags doesn't. A large group of people were missing part of their luggage, and there was a large quantity of unclaimed luggage from our plane. We think they failed to remove the CORRECT bags back in Newark. We end up being last in line to deal with the (confusing) paperwork. We are out of the airport around 8 PM. This is about 35 hours late. We arrive at the hotel, check in, and eat dinner in their dining room. We shower, change out of the clothes we have been in for over 2 days, and fall asleep. Our bag arrives the next day. We live happily ever after.