Zeus and Airplanes

Now this is funny. So it is break, and I was taking a conference/relax trip. Of course it is the red eye.

Flight one 950pm to 11pm.
90 minute layover...
Flight two 1230am to 530am
3 hour layover...
Flight three 830am to noon, arrive at destination.

I cannot honestly say I was real thrilled about these travel legs, especially considering that the day was already rushed, and I detest these type of red-eye flights. They are just no fun, and sap your energy for a day after.

Well, it seems that my old buddy Zeus himself took pity on my lamenting and directly intervened. The plane, which was to be flight number one for me, was hit by lightning (Thanks Zeus, credit given where it is due), and so there was at first a one hour delay while they did a thorough maintenance inspection. I will give the airline credit for doing the safe thing and doing the right thing.

They found a hole in one of the wings. So the 'on call' flight crew was called, and new aircraft arranged for. A little of a pain, but hey, its better than eating a mountainside due to an unsafe aircraft.

As a result of the 5 hour departure delay, I would miss flight 2 and 3. As a result, a shorter trip, and instead of 3 flights to the destination, 1 each way at a civilized early afternoon time. So instead of 16 hours of planes, airports and security, about a total of 3.5 hours. No cost and with additional compensation.

Yes I can definitely live with that. I also get to sneak in a good night's sleep. Way to go Zeus. The moral of this story is rather comical. If you are going to pick a fight with a lightning bolt - you will probably lose.

But I must say that, the other passengers, were disappointed - yet very understanding after all, their safety was very much at risk too. And the airline, was quick to solve the travel needs of the passengers. It was nice to see people do the right thing. And nice to see the customers being grateful rather than nasty.