On 12/11/2016, I flew out of sunny Sarasota, FL at 7PM, connected through Atlanta, and flew to not-so-sunny Flint, MI. This was the first blizzard of the season in Michigan, and it was quite the experience!
For the flight from Sarasota to Atlanta, the original flying time was shortened by about 10 minutes before we left, and we still got there a few minutes early. Thank you, Delta!
For the flight from Atlanta to Flint, they were being proactive about dealing with the bad weather in Flint. We were all aboard, and the plane was full, so instead of having to wait for our scheduled departure time and get in line, we got permission to take off immediately, and moved to the front of the line, and we were in the air very quickly! Thank you Delta!
Then the pilot announced they got permission to fly faster than the scheduled flying time, again to try to beat some of the bad weather.
We touched down in Flint a half hour ahead of schedule! Thank you Delta!
The landing went well, and we quickly taxied off the runway, but ... something happened.
These pictures were taken with my cellphone through the window at row 11.
As we got near the gate, we came across a mound of snow left by the plows, and it was right in the way of the right landing gear. If you click the picture, you can zoom in and see the wing, and it's easy to visualize the pile of snow lining up with the landing gear.
So they sent a big plow truck to clear more snow in front of us. Click the picture, and you can zoom in to see the plow truck not too far from the wing.
But the plow couldn't get too close to the plane, so...
Click the picture, zoom in, and see what the guy is carrying. That's right, they ran over with shovels and dug out the landing gear by hand!
As we taxied close to that mound of snow, I knew two things. I knew we were going to get stuck, and I knew the pilot wasn't from Michigan, because everybody from Michigan knows if you're hitting deep snow, you power through, you don't slow down!
The truth is, powering through that snow might have damaged the landing gear, so you can't blame the pilot for being cautious; that's part of their job, after all. And even after getting stuck in snow, and being dug out by hand, we still reached the gate EARLY for our arrival time! Great job, Delta!
So, even though I don't fit well in the seats (I'm big), and I don't like commercial flying for other reasons as well (never have seen baby formula that was explosive *before* it's intended usage; all Mom's know what I mean), this day was not so bad.
Oh, did I mention one of my flights was on Delta's newest jet, only 12 days old! Monitors on every seatback in front of us - games, movies, even some TV series.
P.S. Earlier in the day, I called Delta about a problem with my seat selection. The automated system said I had a 20 to 40 minute wait, so I hung up ... after pressing 1 for callback service, HEY! About half an hour later - sitting on the beach staring at the Gulf of Mexico, Delta called back, got me squared away in no time.