Friday, August 10th, 2018
So the big day is here!
Bags are packed! Checklists looked over! Electronics charged! Confirmation of the taxi shuttle confirmed.
My brother’s family had brought their luggage over so that my place was the take-off point. The taxi shuttles arrived on time and we packed our luggage into the two vans quickly and made our way to Pearson.
The taxi ride was a precursor to the small but numerous bumps in schedule we would all experience in our flight. We left the house 5.00 pm, and this being a Friday – there was rush-hour traffic. The driver decided to take the highway, but the 410-to-401 ramp was backed up and it was clear that there was an accident. We doubled back via 401 west, then went Derry to Airport Road. Surprisingly, that was a lot smoother, as Derry has heavy traffic and construction was also a factor. We arrived and made our way to check in luggage. The line moved relatively quick and we got through security without much of an issue. SATA, along with some small carriers, had flights leaving an in-field terminal (many of you didn’t know there was an in-field terminal did you?) that is used during the summer months when air travel is super busy. So after checking in luggage and making your way through security, a 15 minute bus ride to the in-field terminal was in store. Bedlum was the best way to describe the process of getting people to board the bus. The staff shepherding people to their respective buses were not clear, but we all made it to the in-flied terminal without issue.
The in-field terminal is a paragon of spartan design and service. From the outside, it looks like a warehouse converted to a terminal – and on the inside, it was devoid of any flourish of colour. There were “shops” – in reality, kiosks placed next to the seating areas. The family settled where on where we should park ourselves, and waited. The flight was scheduled to leave at 8:00pm. As we got closer to the time, and there was no sign of our aircraft – it became clear that we would be delayed. To get a sense of what the timing would be – I checked the arrival times of SATA coming from Porto and Lisbon, and found that the aircraft coming from Lisbon (and most likely our plane) was delayed. Looking at the projected landing time and time that was needed to unload, prep, then reload the aircraft – I guessed the flight would be ready 10 or 10.30pm. I gave the news to my brother and other family members. My brother and I made our way to the kiosk selling beer and wine – and we had our fix of Stella. No indication was given by staff of the delay – and the time came and went without so much as a word. Even the Pearson app did not update. It was probably about 8.45 pm when we received the first update of the delay. We remained unfazed in the face of this SNAFU – and took the opportunity to slow sip our beer and inform family members of the flight delay via Facebook. Finally, at the newly projected time (of the arrival) and aircraft did arrive at our gate – but it wasn’t an aircraft with SATA livery. This was a Spanish aircraft – from Plus Ultra – an Airbus A340. As people disembarked that aircraft (and we could see people through the glass catwalk) it became clear that this was the aircraft that we would take back. The clincher was that my mum recognized one of the people leaving the aircraft, and knew through the grapevine that she was in the Azores visiting.
So, we waited, and waited. The crew boarded first, then first class, then by zone. When we came to be seated, the family was broken up in two clusters. My dad an I were placed next to a windowless seat with mum and my brother behind. My sister-in-law and niece, further back. The seating was tight. The interior was dated and the infotainment system was not working. This was a well-worn aircraft. Eventually everyone settled into their seats, overhead compartments were filled and the air crew took their positions. The crew did its safety presentation in heavily accented English and an awful attempt at Portuguese that may as well have been continental Spanish (if an South American speaker of Spanish was used and spoke Spanish – most of the Portuguese speakers would have understood no problem). The aircraft finally took off after 10:30 pm and it quickly reached its cruising speed.
The gripes continued. The flight had no alcohol at all (beer or wine – luckily I had my Stella). The crew seemed irritable, and that was reflected in the attitude of the passengers. It seemed that the flight was poor stocked and the crew itself wasn’t too quick in handing out bottles of water. Dinner was served along with tea and coffee – and that seemed to bring a measure of calm back to the flight. The broken infotainment system resulted in a massive array of iPads, iPhones, and laptops being deployed to pass the time. I luckily anticipated such an outcome, and had a few favourite movies stored on my laptop and brought along a book for good measure. The movies – “the Martian” and “Interstellar” where my entertainment, a long with a few pages of Nassim Taleb’s “Skin in the Game”. The movies and the book kept me engaged for most of the flight. I attempted a snooze, but to no avail. Just as well – I’ll just stay awake the whole day after landing and I’ll hit the sack early to basically reset my clock (the Azores is 4 hours ahead of Toronto).
