Hello and Goodbye to San Francisco

After being rejected from my flight to Houston, I again had to resort to the waiting game till it was time to board my new flight to San Francisco. If it was hard for me to keep up with the constant changes of flights, I could only imagine how hard it would have been for the baggage handlers to keep my luggage heading in the right direction.

When I arrived at the departure gate I was met with a sight that I have never seen before - there was not a single passenger to be seen. Apart from the check in lady, there was absolutely nobody else. I started to fear that the flight had either been cancelled or had already taken off, however when I showed my boarding pass, she invited me to immediately board the waiting plane.

From time to time I have had the rare privilege of flying on a scarcely filled plane, however I had never been on an empty one before. According to my count there could have been no more than about 8 passengers on the entire plane. I had the entire rear half of the plane to myself. In more normal circumstances this would have been like winning the lottery, however to me it just looked sad. There was no way that United Airlines could run many more flights like that one as it would have been costing them a fortune. The rather morose flight attendants would also have been aware that they were about to be laid off from their jobs.

The flight took off on time and I was hoping that the pilot might be able to make up some time by flying with his foot to the floor. After all the plane must have been much lighter than expected. I was still worried about making my way through San Francisco airport in such a limited time.

I can't remember much about the flight, but I do remember flying in to land in San Francisco. My first impression was that the entire city seemed to be surrounded and covered with water. I looked hard to see the famous Golden Gate Bridge, but it was nowhere to be seen.

The empty plane bounced to a standstill on the tarmac. I started looking at my watch. The pilot taxied up to the terminal building. Another five minutes had passed by. We waited. There were a few loud bumps outside the plane. We were still waiting. Another 5 minutes had passed.

Finally the pilot came on the PA to announce that there was a problem with the skybridge. They were waiting for an engineer to sort it out but that there "might be a 20 minute delay". My heart sank even further.

Finally they must have got the skybridge working and the 8 passengers were able to get off the plane. I started running through the almost deserted airport terminal. The first step was to go throug immigration where I was thoroughly scrutinized and fingerprinted. Then I went in search of the baggage collection. Time was passing.

The main thing in my favour was the fact that the airport was SO QUIET. When I reached the lugagge carousel my bag was already there. I grabbed it and proceeded to re check it for the next flight to LA. It started to look like I might do it after all.

The final step was to go through security screening for the next flight. It was a case of "empty your pockets, remove your belt and shoes and enter the Xray scanner". It was the most thorough security check I had ever experienced, but it all took time.

After a final frisk search with my trousers about to fall down to my ankles, they finally gave me permission to grab my stuff and continue my run to the departure gate. By this time I had gone well over two days without sleep and I was feeling like I hardly knew my own name. It is incredible what your body can do when it is running on pure adrenaline. Somehow I found the correct departure gate and was happy to see that the flight had not left without me.

I immediately walked into the flight to LA. I was still doubtful that my luggage was still following me, but at least I was still on course to catch my final flight back home. It was only a very short flight but I think I might have finally succumbed to exhaustion and managed to shut my eyes. The next thing I remembered was the plane taxiing along the runway at LA. We had already landed without me even knowing it.

Only one flight to go !Read more