What to do when things are NOT going according to plan.
Tonight things went horribly wrong.
Here’s what happened
I was on a flight from Jacksonville to Houston. Before we took off, the captain announced that the rear restroom is not working.
No big deal, right?
But 30 min after taking off, something else went wrong. The pilot announced that we can NOT continue our flight to Houston – and that we have to return to Jacksonville.
To make things worse: We didn’t burn enough fuel so we were too heavy to land. So the pilot had to do a few maneuvers to burn off additional fuel. Felt like a rollercoaster.
Anyhow… we managed to land safely back in Jacksonville. It’s already 8:30pm at night, and Jacksonville is NOT a big airport.
There’s only ONE gate agent who is trying to handle around 100 passengers who are now stranded. Because there are no other flights out of Jacksonville!
Instead of staying in line waiting for the gate agent, I decided to take action:
1.) I’m calling United Airlines to see if there are any other options to get out of Jacksonville tonight.
2.) Since there are no other flights out tonight, I asked the representative to reserve a flight for tomorrow morning 6:00am.
3.) I’m calling the nearest hotel and reserve a room – just in case. Because if 100 people are trying to get a room, it could get crazy!
4.) I talked to a friend to see if I can stay at her house if I’m getting stuck in Houston tonight.
5.) And just in case, I also ask the nice lady on the phone to book another flight for me at 11:00am tomorrow – in addition to the 6:00am flight I’m already booked on.
Now I’m waiting at the gate for more information.
And I’m prepared!
No matter what happens, I have a plan.
That’s just how I am: I like to be prepared. No matter what happens tonight, I will have a place to sleep. And I will have a flight out of Jacksonville tomorrow if tonight’s flight gets canceled.
As you can see, I like to take matters into my own hands.
I like to stay in control – as much as possible.
What about YOU?
What would YOU have done in my situation?
Maybe you have an even better plan? 🙂
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