San Francisco International Airport
September, 1997: I was booked to speak at a radio programming seminar in Atlanta. I had the brilliant idea of flying there via San Francisco. This trip offered just one of several examples of why San Francisco is not a great airport to connect through.
The plane boarded on time…and then we sat on the ground…for 30 minutes…one hour…two hours.
Finally a United Airlines service representative announced to the tired, frustrated passengers, “We’ll definitely be leaving within 10 minutes.”
Ten minutes later this same service rep said, “Ladies and gentlemen, we are going to have to use a different aircraft. Please gather all your belongings and proceed immediately to Gate 89, where another plane already is waiting for you.”
So we rushed to Gate 89…where no aircraft was docked and no United employees could be found. Finally it was announced that the replacement aircraft would depart in another hour.
No matter how conservatively I would try to plan my trips days in order to arrive at my destination with plenty of time to unwind and sleep, it never seemed to be enough.
This time I reached Atlanta at 12:15 the following morning, got to bed at 1:00, was up at 8:00, spoke from 10:00 until 11:30, and then rushed back to the airport.
(Longtime readers know that I am not one of those people who can manage on less than a full night’s sleep.)
