Day 1 – Departure for Geneva

This year I am flying Delta Airlines which happens to be their 100th anniversary. So far this year’s departure out of Tucson, Arizona is smoother. A 3 am alarm to get ready for my 6 am flight is a bit rough. Usually can’t sleep on the plane, but maybe this time. Right now we are a bit delayed because a light popped out of its socket above one of the overhead bins and a maintenance person had to replace it. Waiting for the paperwork to be processed. 😣

Leaving 30 minutes late.

Pilot did punch up the airspeed (588 mph / 946 km/h) and got to Atlanta at 12:32 pm – just a few minutes after our planned arrival.

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) is an interesting airport, with parallel concourses, connected by an underground train.

Waiting to depart ATL. Another maintenance issue – this time they have to pump the hydraulic system. Apparently there is low fluid and they have to add 2 cans of fluid. 15% chance that the fluid won’t take and they have to swap out planes. Also there are some weather issues along the coast and we may have to fly inland through Pennsylvania. Again, they say they can make up the time in the air.

Crap, the hydraulics test failed and we are swapping planes. 3:30 pm EST. 😣

Fortunately ATL is a Delta hub and they have planes at their disposal. The new plane is identical, so current seat assignments transferred over. Fingers crossed that this plane passes the safety check and we leave soon. It’s now questionable if I will make my connecting flight to Geneva. Estimated arrival time to JFK is 7:45 pm EST. Flight to Geneva starts boarding at 7:55 pm EST. 😬

Current time is 5:00 pm EST

Arrived at JFK at 7:45 EST. Fortunately the flight for Geneva doesn’t leave until 8:50 pm EST. Whew! Now I can relax comfortably, get an international meal, and then possibly some sleep.

No, unable to sleep. I see people who are able to fall asleep while sitting straight up in their seat. I don’t know how they do it! Watched a couple of movies and now the sun is coming up. The crew starts serving breakfast and I get a nice tasty vegan wrap. We land in Geneva at 10:50 am to a beautiful slightly cloudy morning.

Maybe First Class is an option for my sleep woes!

What is my impression of Delta? Aside from the maintenance issues (which could happen to any airline) I thought the air crew was pretty good. However, customer service is not very good, especially when it comes dealing with flight changes. After I booked my trip, they notified me that my return trip had changed and gave me three online options, all involved an overnight stay. Calling customer service was a three hour hold time. I ended up using the text messaging option which resulted in eight hours of multiple dropped conversations, agent redirections, and restarts. But this way, I was able to do other things while waiting. Finally got somebody was able to book me on KLM Airlines – a Delta partner, with a flight option that got me back to the states the same day.

(Edit: BTW, my return trip on KLM Airlines was excellent! The flight crew out of Amsterdam was so attentive and made the trip a very pleasant experience!)

When it looked like my Geneva flight may have to be re-booked because of maintenance issues on the previous flights, I had to scan a QR code to get into queue to speak with someone in person at the airport. Once you do get to a human, then they have to call someone else for resolution. Two agents share the same phone, so you have to wait until the other agent has completed their transaction.