The worst Northwest Airlines ground crew
June 11th, 2007 by ktula
My return trip from Providence to Seattle last week took two days. I was supposed to leave Providence on a Northwest Airlines flight to Detroit at around 1600 EDT Friday. By the time i got home, it was close to 1030 PDT on Saturday. Because of a strong storm system around the upper Midwest part of the country and the “cascading computer failure in the nation’s air-traffic control system” on Friday, my Detroit bound flight departure was delayed until 1821. If i had taken this flight, i would have missed the last connecting flight to Seattle out of Detroit. Knowing that Minneapolis has a later connecting flight to Seattle, i decided to change my flight to Minneapolis. Even though the Minneapolis flight (flight 615) was delayed as well, i figured that i had plenty of time to spare. The inbound Minneapolis flight arrived around 1800 and because NWA operates only one gate at the Providence airport, it had to wait for the flight to Detroit to depart first. So i waited. 1830, all the passengers from inbound flight 615 had left the plane. 1900, nothing. 1930 nothing. Finally at around 2000, they finally started boarding flight 615. Because of the severe storm, the flight 615 did not get permission to take off. The plane sat on the tarmac for another 2 hours. So i did not arrive in Minneapolis until 0030 Saturday. I was put on the 0800 flight so i spent the night at the nearby Embassy Suite.
As a frequent traveler, i understand the delay caused by weather. It’s mother nature and it’s unavoidable. But i have a big problem with how the NWA ground crew at the Providence airport had handled this delay. While everyone waited to find out why they were not allowed to board flight 615, the crew made absolutely no announcement. The electronic display board at the gate still indicated the way past departure time. It would be nice to know what’s causing the delay and the estimated new departure time but crew provided neither.
And this is not the first time i had problem with this crew. On my first return trip from Providence, i was a little late getting to the airport. As i waited at the First Class/Elite line, i noticed that no one was serving that line. The lady who was supposed to be working on that counter was busy chatting with another customer. I said “chatting” because that was exactly what she was doing. I walked right in front of the First class/elite counter and stared at her. During the next few minutes, she completely ignored me. She had to know my presence because i was standing barely 3 feet from her. Finally, i had to remind her that i was in a hurry to catch my flight to get her attention. I have been leaving Providence every Thursday or Friday the past few weeks and not once, i repeat, not once have i seen anyone working in front of the First class/Elite counter. What’s the point of having the counter there when apparently no one is working behind it?
Another problem i have is with the Providence airport. At most airports, TSA runs the checked-in bags through x-ray scanners behind the counters. But at the Providence airport, when you are checking in your bag, you are not really checking in your bag. After the airline crew put the claim tag on your bag, you have to drag it to an x-ray scanner manned by the slowest TSA personnels that i have ever witnessed. Worse, you can’t just drop your bag off at the x-ray scanner and leave. You have to drop it in front of the scanner and then wait at the other end for it to come out before you can leave for the security gate. What’s the point of doing that? Two weeks ago, i waited probably at least 5 minutes for my bag to emerge from the x-ray scanner and there were only two other passengers in front of me. I was really going to let the TSA personnels know how i felt about their service when the lady behind me did just that.
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