After the group arrived at MSP, things seemed to be going smoothly. We got to our gate, grabbed some food, and assaulted in to wait for our flight.
We boarded the plane and sat there. Waiting. And waiting. There was an issue with a fuel gauge. They knew there was enough fuel, that the tank was full, but the part that says that was malfunctioning. So, over the next coupler hours they retired various things. None of which worked, including powering down the airplane. Finally, they had us leave the airplane to wait at least 3 hours for a part to arrive from Atlanta.
We trudged back to the airport and were told it would be 7 hours. All were promised Hotel and food vouchers. As the students all settled in (too much hassle to get everyone to the hotel and back for maybe 2 hours sleep), they announced it would be more like 3 and a half hours. We were given 50 dollars to spend at the airport. However three only thing open was Subway. Mats were delivered, pillows and blankets distributed, and snacks galore provided (assuming you wanted peanuts, pretzels, our cookies).
Despite making hundreds of sandwiches for cranky travelers, the Subway guys were smiling and polite.
After a few restless hours at the gate we were tools to queue up to board. Then an announcement that we would have to wait for the part to be installed and the captain to give to go ahead. again we were loaded into the plane and waited. Paperwork. Finally after almost 2 hours we left.
But not to London, first to JFK where we would get new pilots. We're sitting at JFK now. Waiting for the paperwork for the pilots. Then it's finally off to London. This trip has already been an adventure and we haven't even left the country yet.
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