I took a day trip recently. A semi-leisurely trio of flights to Neighbor Islands (at great rates) to ensure I’d keep my “special” airline status in 2023. Seemed simple enough- HNL to OGG (Kahului) to KOA (Kona) and back home. Leave enough room in between trips to be safe- perhaps a meal here or there within the airport confines (not willing to tempt TSA lines); home in time for 3:15pm Sunday Night Football.
You’ve heard of having a bad hair day? Well, I had a bad air day. Unfortunately, I picked that turbulent Sunday (November 18) when torrential rain, wind, and lightning ruled. The flight to Maui had just a wee bit of turbulence. And then the fun began. Airport closures, incessant delays, and wind-aided downpours flustered frenzied fliers, some trying to get to Honolulu to catch the only available flight home that afternoon.
Maui to Kona’s flight was uneventful, but we landed 100-minutes late, at 1:40pm, and my flight from Kona back to HNL left at 1:30pm. I’m in Kona, relatively unprepared, and suddenly that quaint indoor/outdoor holding area became my prison. Can’t venture outside, you might miss the airline announcement about your make-up flight. Can’t saunter into the sole, on-site restaurant- no loudspeaker inside. So calmly, I simply waited… and waited… for five hours.
Finally, after unsuccessfully circumnavigating plentiful puddles, sideways rain, and 350+ travelers anxiously boxed in and awaiting news about missed connections or lightning delays (can’t board/deboard aircraft at an outdoor airport when lightning’s spotted; can’t re-fuel either), I gleefully got onto a much-delayed flight, landing back at HNL Airport at 8m- a 13-hour day spent in the not-so-friendly skies simply to get back to where I started.
As a lifetime impatient (not inpatient), I rationalized the realities of Mother Nature’s whims that Sunday; no point being upset. I remembered a favorite saying- “don’t worry about things over which you have no control”. OK, I missed (arguably) the greatest World Cup soccer final ever… Yup, I missed three NFL games decided on the final play. But I did witness quality airport/airline employees making the best of a bad situation well out of their control, and (most importantly) earned those necessary miles to ensure that 2023 should be an enjoyable year of travel through tradeoffs; for life surely is about tradeoffs. Inconvenience today- more convenience tomorrow; my final 2022 trade off. Happy New Year.
Think about it…