Not funny

A seven hour flight delay (plane late getting in from Calgary, then mechanical issue that required replacing a part) meant that my travel day back from London was much longer than anticipated. Thankfully I was able to call Anna and let her know about the delay. Minutes after stepping off the plane in Calgary (at ten minutes to midnight, on a flight that should have gotten in at 5:15 p.m.), I turn on my cell phone and get a text that reads:

Funny. The website says your flight's been cancelled. Not funny? Where are you?

Um, cancelled? Yeah. Here's the screenshot:



I don't even want to get into waiting at Gatwick or the guy who managed to reach Globespan's head office by phone and talk to a mid-to-high-level manager who a) didn't know that our flight hadn't taken off yet and b) offered no compensation for the inconvenienced families who had been delayed an abnormally long time. Somehow the passenger commendeered the announcement apparatus in our waiting lounge and described the conversation. He also mentioned that Globespan has recently been fined £5,000 for flying with faulty cockpit equipement, which definitely gave me pause.

Yeah, I know it's a budget airline. But the passengers weren't kept informed of what was going on, the boarding time kept changing, and they didn't offer any kind of compensation except multiple apologies (plus the pilot's request that we not take out our frustrations on the flight crew).

On the plus side: despite a preponderence of babies and children on the plane, the flight was very quiet. And, well, I got home.