This past week, however, the reverse was true. Fog seemed to have bogged down right on top of the airport, much like it usually does in San Francisco and the airport was never fully able to recover.

I drove to work early on Thursday, December 27th because my friend Brad was working a DC turn that checked in at 6am. I was working later that morning at 7:45am headed to Chicago so I figured I’d just relax in the crew room until the time came for me to check in for my flights. Brad left on time, but my flight – well thats another story.

7:45am came and went and my crew and I were gazing out the window at nothing but gray. The fog was so dense we couldn’t even see the gate which was literally 150ft from the window. Our aircraft was on a hardstand from the night prior and was awaiting clearance to be tugged over to the gate, but the problem was that they couldn’t see the gate, or even other aircraft for that matter.

The Orlando crew, which left the crew room at 7am to board their plane came back into the room at 8am, also awaiting a plane to be tugged over. Then, at 8:15am I receive a call from Crew Scheduling informing me that our flight is delayed until 10:08am (scheduled 8:45am departure) due to fog in Chicago.

So, I posed the question: “Do you want the good news, or the bad news?” to my crew. They opted for the good first, and well – the good news was that they were flying/working with me. The bad news, well that was the delay of course.

At 9:50am our gate agent called into the crew room to inform us that our aircraft was being tugged over and to head over to the gate. We boarded the plane and was told that our new departure time, since we missed our “wheels up” time for Chicago, was 10:35am. That left us with 45 minutes to board, pushback and take off.

Shockingly, we did it. It’s amazing how quickly people move when you tell them that if we don’t get airborne by a particular time that they weren’t going anywhere.

Once inflight all was going fine until the Captain came out of the flight deck for his restroom break. He informed me that our windshield defroster was giving them an error message. He said there was a 75% chance that it could be fixed in Chicago and a 25% chance we’d be cancelled once we landed.

Usually, I’d be doing the cancel dance, but today was a turn day. All I have packed is a change of underwear, socks and a t-shirt along with my amenity kit. Being cancelled wouldn’t be a fun experience.

I phoned the aft of the aircraft and posed the question: Do you want the good news, or the bad news? Once again they opted for the good first, and once again it was that they were working with me. The bad, well – I had to break the news that their New Years plans might have a bit of a hiccup in them if we were to be cancelled.

Once we landed the mechanics boarded holding a piece of paper with the title “A319 Troubleshooting Guide.” Needless to say, I wasn’t hopeful.

Our new pilots boarded and told us, quite frankly, we weren’t going anywhere, anytime soon. In fact United nor Spirit nor JetBlue had the part we needed available in Chicago and there was a chance we needed to wait for it to be flown in from Fort Lauderdale.

I felt for our gate agents in Chicago. Not only did they have to break the bad news, but they were dealing with passengers who had been delayed for about 3 hours now because of our foggy experience trying to leave LA.

About three hours later, a miracle. They fixed it! It seems the whole problem was simply with a popped circuit breaker.

We boarded and took off back to LA.

Once inflight, I received a call from the Captain. More bad news. It seems the fog hadn’t let up in Los Angeles and there was a chance we’d have to divert to Ontario, California. This time, I called the back to relay the message and before I could even ask “Do you want the good news, or the bad news?” I was met with “Just lay it on me, give me the bad news.”

Luckily, we didn’t divert. The good news was that we made it home that night. The bad news was that we were five hours late.

Our layovers in between flights can range from 8 hours to 3, 4 or even 5 days. And, once the last passenger is off the plane we grab our bags and head out of the curb to be picked up by the hotel van.

Each airline has a different selection process for hotels, but for the most part, crewmembers stay in well known name brand properties but sometimes the hotel van’s don’t offer guests a picture perfect first impression.

I remember a flight I was supposed to work once at the legacy carrier which was cancelled because of our van. We had just completed a San Diego layover and boarded the van enroute to the airport. Once we arrived the driver went to the rear of the bus to retrieve our bags from the back storage area. But as he turned the handle to open the back door, the handle came off in his hand. Our bags were now locked inside the shuttle’s cargo compartment.

As the lead on this particular flight I had the great pleasure of calling crew scheduling and explaining why we weren’t going to be showing up to the gate on time. They scheduler spoke to the shuttle driver and the driver explained to the company that the hotel’s maintenance staff doesn’t come on duty until noon and it was currently 8am. We would have to wait four hours before getting our luggage. You see, in order to even board a flight, flight attendants are required to have their “required items” on board the aircraft with them. This includes anything from their manual, to flash lights, and even their passport. Without our bags, that plane wasn’t going anywhere.. and it didn’t. The flight cancelled almost immediately.

Recently on a New York layover, I boarded a van looking like it had just come from a car accident with a random soda can lodged in a headrest and a “fuse box” dangling from the roof. What are some of your hotel van horror stories?

On most of my commutes I was in my uniform since I would be working within hours of arriving in San Francisco, and I found myself sitting next to passengers who were not being compliant with rules and regulations that the working crew are asked to enforce. For example, on one particular flight I was seated next to a passenger who continued to use his cell phone as the crew was preforming their safety demonstration and managed to conceal it from the crew as they did their cabin walk throughs. In this situation, is it appropriate of me to ask him to turn it off? I’m not working the flight, in fact, I’m a “guest” on board, but at the same time, he’s breaking a rule everyone knows about it. Is it out of place for me to ask him to turn it off? Do passengers ever ask other passengers to comply?

Not sure if I ever wrote about a past commute on Southwest, but there was a situation in which a passenger became ill and took up most of the crews time and resources. I, along with a fellow employee from my airline, jumped into action and helped prepare the cabin for landing while the crew assisted the passenger who was in need of assistance. Though I worked for a different airline, the majority of the regulations that we enforce are universally the same. I wasn’t asked to jump up and help.. I got up, asked the lead flight attendant for a pair of gloves and a trash bag and went to work. They were shocked and grateful at the same time.

So this raises a question for debate: As a flight attendant non-revving in uniform, would you ever tell a passenger to comply with a rule, or do you leave it up the working crew only? Further, as a passenger, would you listen to a flight attendant seated next to you in uniform when they asked you to comply?

You’re home at night, you’re getting the same amount of hours as if you worked a 2 day trip which means you’re gaining an extra day off. What’s not to like? Well, you’re loosing per diem (more on that here) but if you work one extra turn a month it off-sets that monetary loss. Technically, doing these turns I only have to work 9 day a month.

They’re fun too. I worked a Cancun turn. Usually everyone is happy going to/from their Cancun Holidays and it’s almost expected to encounter a few passengers who are “having a good time.” There’s a fine line between having a good time and being obnoxious and I encountered a couple who I thought was walking that line very, very carefully. On take-off, they had quite the argument with each other. I could hear them through the bulkhead going back and forth with each other about a “letter” that the woman had written. The words “ethical” and “bottom line” and “never again” were being thrown around left and right. I tried to keep my mind occupied on other things as to not eavesdrop on their conversation. But, they were the only two people in first class and it was the only thing I could hear.

Convinced that they were intoxicated, once I began service I offered them “soda, juice or water” as a beverage. The guy responds with “iced tea,” I told him to “try again;” “lemonade.” Nope. “Try again.” His wife looks at him and says “it’s from a can! Pick something else.” “Diet Coke.”

A few minutes later I handed them our first class menu, one item, a German dish, caused the man to start speaking in only German to me. At that moment I had decided that my suspicions were true, they were drunk.

I couldn’t have been more wrong. They were actually drunk on life as they were non-drinkers and couldn’t even tell me the date of the last drink they had consumed. I ended up speaking with them for almost the whole flight after the guy offered up an ice-breaker of “Do you want to know a random fact about Schnitzel?” I must have given him quite a look with a smirk because his response was “you obviously don’t give a f***.” As our conversation progressed his wife started talking about their argument earlier in the flight, of which I commented on one of the details. Both of them looked at each other, laughed, apologized to me for having to witness it and then explained the whole situation.

As they deplaned the woman said “this has got to be one of my best flights ever. I’ve never had so much fun with the crew.” I thanked them, said that it had been amazing, but I’ve had better. They laughed, knowing I was kidding, handed me their phone number and email address and headed home.

Sure not every turn day turns out like this and these folks are fun in their own right, but there’s something to be said for going to work, having fun, and sleeping in your own bed at night.

I just recently finished a 31 hour four day trip. It was super productive and involved a lot of long haul flying. Through the span of the four days I encountered various people who admitted to suffering from “lavaphobia.”

So, just what is Lavaphobia? It’s the term I’m creating to describe those who are too scared, anxious and embarrassed to use the lavatory on board an airplane. I honestly had no idea how widespread this disease is becoming.

A fellow flight attendant confessed that she was suffering from it. She mentioned that she would “go number one, but wouldn’t think about doing #2 on a plane. I try to do that before I get on the plane.” She continued to say that she would try at all costs to avoid using the restroom and in her career has only used it to “take care of business” twice.

Intrigued by her admission I pressed on. Some how the conversation came up with a flight crew from a different airline in a hotel shuttle van. My co-worker expressed her stand point and a crew member from another airline added, “with as much as you fly and basically live on the airplane, how can you NOT use the lav?” He then suggested that when she did need to use the restroom to take a coffee bag in there with her as a de-odorizer, if that was the basis of her lavatory fear. That’s a suggestion she hadn’t heard before, but did say that she traveled with the linen spray that Crowne Plaza’s giveaway for “emergency purposes.”

We all know the phrase “courtesy flush.” And, if you don’t, you need to learn it. It’s when someone, usually using a public restroom, “flushes” right away to help hide the odor before it occurs. Why not just do that on an airplane? The answer I got from not just my co-worker, but also a few other flight attendants I asked was “the embarrassment of having whomever was standing outside the lav hearing the multiple flushes.” Someone even added, “I’m so anxious about using the lav, that when I know I’m going to be in there for a while (one of those “emergency purposes”) I take my make-up bag with me, so people think I’m not just using the bathroom, I’m doing something else. That usually doesn’t have them suspecting what I’m doing.”

Is this something that just flight crew suffer from or is it something that crews and passengers a like need a 12-step program for? Just how widespread is “lavaphobia?”

Are there more of you out there, who at all costs, try to avoid using the restroom on an airplane out of fear or embarrassment? Do you travel with a spray or deodorizer “just in case?”

Get down to business, and comment below! I wonder what Mr. Jetiquette, The Sky Steward, would say about this one.

I actually didn’t sleep very well last night because I was hoping for a phone call from Crew Scheduling telling me to stay home, but that never came.

I’m in Washington DC now. There’s still snow on the ground, but it’s a cool 50 degrees.

I’m supposed to be going to Boston on Friday/Saturday and now I’ve learned that another winter mix is headed that way jam packed with more snow and ice.

The news is reporting that over 13,000 flights have been cancelled this week because of this storm, were you supposed to fly/work on one of them? Where did you get stuck? stay? do?

Let me know!

Shoveling out this morning.

The first of the holidays are over and mother nature decided that if you live on the East coast of the United States, you can shovel snow to pass the time.

The snow started falling here in New York City Sunday, December 26th at 10am. By the time the snow stopped around 9am on December 27th it left behind roughly 20″ of the white stuff.

For me, living in the desert for the past 5 years and now moving to Los Angeles, I’m thrilled! I am so happy to see it everywhere and watching the City trying to deal with this is priceless.

First of all, the streets here in New York leave a lot to be desired. The plows can’t keep up with the snow, even now, because we’re experiencing about 30-50MPH winds. The winds keep blowing the snow from the sidewalks and cars back into the streets, making it look as if it’s still snowing.

The airports are finding a problem with the wind as well. At the moment, Newark Liberty (EWR), John F. Kennedy (JFK), and La Guardia (LGA) are all closed. According to the FAA’s Air Traffic Control website, JFK and EWR are expected to re-open at 6pm EST, December 27th. LGA airport however doesn’t have an expected re-opening time.

All flights have been cancelled in and out of New York since 8:30pm last night. Please check with your airline before heading to the airport especially if you’re heading to a NYC area airport, or to an airport to fly to the NYC area.

Remember: Even if you’re avoiding the east coast, your aircraft may be scheduled to come from the area. So, for example, if you’re flying from Los Angeles to Houston, your airplane might have been scheduled to arrive in Los Angeles from New York City, therefore now cancelling or delaying your flight.

Also remember, don’t blame the airline or the crew for your cancellations or delays, it’s not their fault. Blame the weather and mother nature for sending 2010 out with a bang!

Travel safe everyone!

We finally headed to the airport at 11:30am, 50 minutes after our scheduled departure time.

When we arrived at the gate we found out that our delay was scheduled until 12:56pm. With that in mind my flight attendants and I headed down the jetbridge to start prepping the plane for boarding. We had decided that we would board at noon, expecting to be done boarding around 12:25-30pm and that would allow us 26 minutes or so to taxi to the runway and have our “wheels up” at 12:56pm.

As the jetbridge door opened my Captain and I discussed talking to the passengers at the boarding area to give them specifics as to why we were delayed, how long the delay would be, and why we won’t be boarding right away, even though we’re on board the aircraft. We didn’t know for certain what information the gate agents had relayed to them and we wanted to help answer questions before they boarded.

That was the best move we could have made. The passengers boarded happy and unphased and even mentioning that they saw the news in the terminal and based on the weather around SFO they were shocked our delay wasn’t LONGER.

I haven’t experienced a flight like this before. Usually, these types of delays cause many passengers to get nervous about connections, some think that our airline causes these delays and some don’t believe there is weather and demand to leave on time. I even noticed a few tweets on twitter mentioning my delayed flight. At first this one twitter user sent a tweet to my airline saying “Not to impressed with ______ Airlines today. Over two hours delayed!” Then, they retracted it. “I take it back. It’s not just ____ Airlines, it’s every airline. Theres bad weather. Thanks Captain.”

Moral of the story? Open and honest communication with passengers solves problems and questions before they arise.

Mechanical, weather, traffic, no matter what the delay it can throw a wrench in your trip and your sleep.

So, here comes a true “live from the line” update:

We landed here in New York on time from Las Vegas last night. Though our taxi out of Vegas took about 30-45 minutes. That’s something I haven’t experienced in Vegas for a few years. When I used to work for the legacy airline that had a hub there, we would have what we called the “midnight push.” At 11:59pm we pushed upwards of 20 redeye flights at the same, which would cause a huge taxi and departure delay. But yesterday we left mid-day and it still took 45 minutes.

Anyway, we got to our hotel and in our rooms by 11:10pm. Everything went smoothly getting here: the van was waiting for us, room keys were ready; it couldn’t have gone quicker. Our van to the airport was scheduled for 9am for an airport report time of 9:40am.

Well, at 8:59am scheduling called to tell us that our flight was on a ground delay program into San Francisco for one hour. While the Captain was talking to scheduling the hotel manager stood by and invited us to eat breakfast for free since we were dressed and ready to go no where. So, we returned to our rooms, left our bags and had “family breakfast” in the restaurant.

At 9:30am we went back to our rooms to freshen up and head back to the van by 10am. Well, at 9:50am, it happened again. Another hour. Our new departure time is set for 12:50pm. So, we returned back to our room.. for a new van time of 11am.

Here I am, laying in bed again.. watching TV. It’s 10:30am as I write this and I’m hoping we get out of here at 11am. Even though we “reported” for the van at 9am (which means we’ve been awake since 7:30am) because we’re still in the hotel the FAA feels we’re still “resting” and therefore can work a full legal 14 hour day of flying from the time we arrive at the airport.

I’m anticipating a long day. We still have to fly to San Diego when we get to San Francisco. Who knows how long that inbound airplane is delayed that’ll further our already long day. And, as it was, we had a short layover in San Diego before flying to Florida tomorrow morning.. so we’ll see how today’s delays impacts my sleep for tomorrow’s work day.

You know, in the past delays like this used to piss me off, but now — it gives me something to write about.

And for those of you wondering.. no, we’re not getting paid while we wait around in our hotel. Like I said, in fact, we’re “resting.”

That changed today.

Meet, Mister Personality. Mr. P, for short, is a first class passenger flying from Los Angeles to Washington DC. He must have woke up in bad mood this morning because he can’t seem to smile. At all. Actually, I don’t think it’s possible that he can smile at all.

Mr. P pre-boarded with the rest of the first class cabin and asked one of my flight attendants for his seat location. After about two minutes of putting away his carryons he finally sat down. I walked over to him, welcomed him on board and asked him if I could get him anything to drink. He replied with, “I’d like some red wine in a glass. Not a wine glass, a water glass.” Generally we don’t serve any pre-departure drinks on the ground in glassware.. But because of his demeanor, I made an exception. You have to learn to pick your battles.

After two glasses (water glasses mind you) of red wine on the ground he continued the trend in the air. His first drink was another water glass of red, followed by another with his meal. Speaking of his meal he ordered the grilled pork option. He tried to send it back and asked me if I could “put it back on the grill for a bit longer.” With a smirk (only because I couldn‘t NOT smirk) I told him that the pork came pre-grilled and I just reheated it. Immediately, he didn‘t want it any longer. He then switched to a veggie and fruit tray. Again, he was upset to find that I couldn‘t just give him more squash, because the trays came prepackaged. But now, back to the drinks. After he finished his wine with his meal he followed with a diet coke. Before his diet coke was through he asked for another glass of red, immediately followed by another, and then finally, back to diet coke.

All of those drinks were in a span of two hours and never once was there a “please” or “thank you.” I had decided to scale back on the wine and started not filling the glass all the way to the top. I was getting concerned about how much wine I was giving him. Once his diet coke was through, he switched to coffee. I was relieved. Two cups of coffee later, he stopped me again. This time, it’s white wine. You guessed it, in a water glass. But now it’s more specific. He requested one ice cube. Okay, fine. Done. With a smile.

I went back to the galley and maybe five minutes later he rang the call button. His one, sole, single ice cube had melted. He wanted another. Done. Five more minutes go by, and again the call button rang for another ice cube. Done. I told him that his ice would last longer if he had more than one cube at a time.

I made my announcement stating that we’ve begun our initial decent and he rang the call button again. This time asking if it was too late to get half of a cup of coffee and another half glass of red wine. Done. And as always, with a smile.

The flight concluded with him walking off the airplane without so much as a “good bye.” Never once did he crack a smile or utter “please” or “thank you” I guess he was colder than he wanted his ice to be.