I almost missed my flight

Thought I’d immortalize this experience because well, this is a surreal experience for me.

Here’s the synopsis: My flight to San Francisco got delayed for three hours. I almost missed my flight to Manila.

So there I was enjoying my book, my sandwich, and my newly bought water tumblr, when all of a sudden I got a text alert from FlyUnited.

My flight is originally scheduled at 6pm. Since my connecting flight is still at 11:35pm, I have ample time to explore the San Fran Airport - 3.5 hours to be exact. Have dinner and shop a little, I have it all figured out. 

The first rescheduling was at 7:52pm, with est. time of arrival at 9:30pm. I made the calculation in my head. I still have enough time. So I went back to my book.

The alert says air traffic/ congestion. It happens. 

And then around 7pm, I got another text alert, my flight is further delayed.

Current departure time is now at 8:37pm, est arrival time at 10:16pm. I check my SFO>MNL boarding pass. Boarding starts at 10:45pm. Window is too tight but it’s a window nonetheless. I began to worry but dismissed it outright. I can still make it, right?

In front of me passengers are lined up for rebooking. My mind races. This new schedule should be final, right? Because if it gets further delayed, I’m screwed. I definitely can’t make it to my Mnl flight. 

And then I got an email alert, they said there was runway construction in SFO.

The ground staff added, “Limited aircrafts are allowed to land in SFO because of strong winds”. 

So what should I do? 

I’ve travelled domestic and international alone. I think by now I’ve travelled alone more times than I travelled with company. I’ve met delays before, rebookings, cancelled flights, being absolutely clueless at foreign airports, there was even a time our plane couldn’t land so we had to fly back to the origin airport, there was that time my suitcase was destroyed upon arrival, that time my baggage didn’t arrive at the carousel, or that time the plane went back to turmack because they forgot to load baggages right when it was about to depart. All of which are stressful situations. But law school prepared me to handle stress. Stress is normal after all. I was stressed, anxious, but not once I felt genuinely scared to the point of crying. I closed my eyes briefly and like a kid with a birthday cake, I wished I wasn’t alone.

The difference this time is, in the problems I’ve just mentioned, there is always one solution, THE ONLY SOLUTION. In my head I can always rationalize and justify my decisions and choices. That’s where the confidence comes from. And with confidence, you get less fright. I stay loyal to my decision and cut out all the what ifs. Delay? Wait it out. Rebook? Approach the kiosk lady. Cancelled flight? Go home and refund. Clueless? Explore. Learn. 

Then I realized, this time, what actually scared me is the fact that I was faced with two possible solutions, neither of each weighs greater than the other. Neither of which proves to be right. And in these rare occasions, I couldn’t trust myself. I couldn’t trust my decision. I can’t trust my thoughts. I felt like a child.

Option A - As long as I don’t get any further delays, I can still make it to my connecting flight. But I have to risk it. If the problem is with the weather, it’s a huge risk. We might end up idling on air and unable to land. And if we do land, I would have missed my flight already.

Option A.1 - Rebook my flight to Manila. But my problem is, United only has 1 scheduled flight to Manila, and it’s always at 11:35pm, so if I missed my flight, I’d have to stay 24 hours at SFO airport. Not ideal. But survivable.

Option B - Assume I’ll miss the flight and rebook all of my flights including my LAS > SFO and ask my fam to pick me up.

This is all happening in my head. In the end, I chose Option A. But I wasn’t confident in my choice. In fact, with all the facts considered, there was a big possibility that the plane will idle before landing, eating more time. But I risked it. I knew deep down in my gut it wasn’t the logical solution. It wasn’t the safe choice. Staying behind is. Perhaps even the best choice because well, there’s no risk involved, plus I get to spend more time with the Vegas fam. 

But idk, I just prayed to the Gods that that night, I was lucky. So, with gritting teeth, I picked the unsafe and unlogical solution between the two and hoped for the best. I didn’t trust my decision but went with it anyway. And I can’t believe it worked!

All thanks to the crew and the pilot. I remember One distinct announcement from the pilot, “We’re maintaining our fastest speed so we can get you to the airport as quickly as possible”. And then right as we’re about to exit, the FA’s made us raise our hands, those who have tight connections, and made us leave the aircraft first. I ran. I really did. The plane didn’t leave at exactly 8:57pm. It left at 9:11pm. I was nervous, but there’s nothing else I could do at that point. The pilot even said, “Let’s hope your connecting flight gets delayed a little too, as all aircrafts are experiencing the same problem in SFO”. He said, “Only one runway is working for all flights”.

The plane landed at 10:16pm (surprising yes) and I was able to exit the aircraft entirely at 10:25pm. I exited Gate E8 and dashed for Gate G2. I wasn’t alone. People WERE RUNNING. I got to my gate 5 mins before boarding time. My nerves calmed down. I took the liberty to freshen up a little. Except I didn’t eat dinner and I’m STARVING. I wasn’t able to eat at Las Vegas because I was too anxious to eat. Plus, I needed to stay around my Gate so I get real time updates. Thank goodness my Mom told me to pack protein bars. Mom saves the day.

And you know, nothing compares to the comfort of being surrounded by kababayans, all speaking the native tongue. I’ve overused my english in this trip so I’ve notice I’ve consciously been using “po” and “opo” more. As if my saying, “ok po”, instead of the lonesome word “ok”, is a declaration that yes I am one of you. And I’m going home with you. When the FA said to me “Welcome po”, it hits different.

Nothing defeats the sound of cheers and laughs of Filipinos in congregation. Even the elderly ones prematurely crowding the gate is comforting. You notice the absence of white men in suit glued to their laptops and airpods. Hearing Tagalog after entertaining the idea of staying 24 hours in SFO alone is such a blessing.