It happened once again...

My hopes and dreams were set on starting off 2010 with an on-time flight, a dream which was soon crashed when I entered into YYC and saw before me the longest line of people waiting to drop off their baggage. I swear to goodness, without a lie, that there were *at least* 200 people in front of me waiting to drop off their luggage and go through security.

I arrived at the airport much earlier than expected (about an hour and 45 minutes before my flight), so in my mind I figured I would have enough time to drop my bags off, go through security, and have some dinner. Yeah, no! I can't even begin to explain the panic I started to feel when I saw that ridiculous line up. Not only did I have school the next day, but there was *no* was I was going to stay another night in Calgary. To my relief (and credit to the WestJet people for being super efficient), I only waited in line for 40 minutes, still giving me enough time to go through security and reach my gate. Until I heard the dreaded...

"So, your flight has been delayed. Instead of departing at 6:51, you'll be leaving at 7:20pm."

WTF?! Are you serious?! *Another* delayed flight?! This was now flight #8 in a row that was delayed. Needless to say, not impressed. At all.

Anyway, I dropped my bags off and headed to long-ass-line-up #2: Security. Once again, another 80 people in front of me waiting to go *just* through the doors of security, plus more people in the security area itself. After waiting another 15 minutes, I got through and headed for a bite to eat. Now, this whole time I'm thinking "flight leaves at 7:20. Be at the gate by at least 6:50 for boarding." 6:50 rolls around and I head to the gate.

6:50pm: no plane. 7:00pm: plane arrives. It takes at least 20 minutes for people to get off and crew to clean the plane. No way we're leaving at 7:20pm. 7:20pm: pre-boarding is announced. 7:25pm: general boarding is announced. Great, I'm thinking, we won't leave to late. 7:30pm: people still boarding. 7:35pm: more people coming on. 7:40pm: waiting for some *idiot* that wasn't at the gate on time. 7:45pm: idiot is finally on the plane and they're closing the door. 7:50pm: we leave the gate. we still need to reach the tarmac. 7:51pm: we stop. Plane needs to be de-iced. UGH! 7:55pm: we take off.

Stupid flight was late by an hour, pushing my arrival time back another hour, making my ride wait for me another hour!

I'd like to believe that at some point in my flying life I will have an on-time flight, but something tells me that if I keep flying with WestJet, the likelihood of this happening is around 1%. However, to switch to Air Canada would mean having to put up with the snobbiest people in the flying industry. Delayed flights or snobby attendants? ... That's actually a hard one!

Lady S.