We just landed at Washington Dulles from Boston, en route to Seattle. We’re now on a taxiway, with nowhere to go. All of the gates are full, and none of the planes are ready to go. The current plan of record is to plough the remote parking area (currently under a heavy blanket on snow), taxi there, and use the (in)famous Dulles mobile lounges to deplane us! It will be interesting to see how long this takes – we’ve been waiting here 30 minutes so far – and whether continuing passengers get to stay on the plane. (And what about bags?)
Until recently they’d probably have pushed back one of the departing aircraft and kept them sitting on a taxiway until it was clear enough to depart. But after the recent Jet Blue experience, no-one is going to do that – especially in Washington!
More anon….
UPDATE: We just pulled in to a gate, conveniently close to a Red Carpet Club – which is where I am now. United is currently showing a departure time of 2pm, which seems optimistic.
ANOTHER UPDATE: It’s just after 2 and we’ve boarded. Latest prognosis is 20 minutes to get the fuel sheet(!) and then 45 minutes to get de-iced. The snow has stopped, and we now have a steady freezing rain. Mmmm……
Of course the flight is full. Cancellations will do that.
FINAL UPDATE: We actually pushed back around 4:45pm EST, and after 4:45 of flying over unbroken cloud cover we reached Seattle at 6:30pm PST. According to the captain, ours was the only flight to make it out of IAD to SEA all day. After waiting around for my bag (I’d checked it, because it was overweight with some liquid contents) I got back to my apartment in time to watch the first episode of the third series of Slings and Arrows on Sundance. (Hat tip to Merry.)