First things first. We have arrived in Florida, and it was the smoothest landing I’ve ever experienced in all my years of flying. Kudos to the pilot.
I wish I could say the landing made up for the challenges of getting here, but I’d be exaggerating. I will say that for all the issues during our travel day – wonky website that refused to print our boarding passes, three delays in taking off with two and a half hours sitting in the plane on the tarmac, turbulent weather, and the seat belt sign that never turned off – the ground and flight crews of Flight 938 were amazing.
The wheelchair we’d ordered was there accompanied by a most pleasant man to push it. The delays in takeoff were handled professionally; at one point free beverages were offered (this from an airline where everything except a trip to the bathroom is pay-as-you-go), and during the time we sat in the plane we got – believe it or not – free pretzels and water. I didn’t see a rude flight attendant at any time, in spite of the fact the crew had already flown from Florida earlier in the morning and this was a return flight. They’d been up longer than any of us.
Often things are the other way around: the airline’s website works great, boarding passes can be accessed from an app on your phone, and the flight leaves on time. But the human element can be detached. Just employees doing their jobs.
On the basis of one flight with Allegiant, I don’t want to make any broad generalizations. We’ll see how it plays out when we go home. But I shall say that for all the grousing I’m doing about the airline, its people are a definite redeeming element.
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