A Narrow Escape

We have a few posts left in us, which we’ll make over the next few days, but first we need to share the rollercoaster that has been our last few days. I’ll confess upfront that I (Jason) am not a good storyteller; and yet we’ve got at least something of a story that needs to be told. The story is complex, but some of the details are critical. So bear with me!

We were scheduled to leave London on Tuesday 12/21. Because we were making use of some flight miles, Erinn was scheduled to fly with Oliver on United and I was scheduled to fly with Brendan and Lily on British Airways.

As you probably know, the UK and other parts of Europe have been hit with major snow and freezing temperatures over the past several days. The Heathrow airport completely shut down on Sunday 12/19, most flights were cancelled on Monday 12/21, and the situation looked somewhat but not much better for Tuesday, our departure date. The situation there really is dire: it’s on the level of a national crisis. More than a HALF MILLION Christmas travelers have been or are stranded at Heathrow airport. A big bold headline in one of the papers yesterday (which is but one of countless such headlines over the past several days) read “Will Heads Roll Over Heathrow?” About 25 of the 28 LMU students I taught were scheduled to depart on December 19: all their flights were canceled; most won’t be able to get out until just before Christmas or later.

So, we were anxiously checking the status of our flights all day Monday. Amazingly, everything was looking good. But then late Monday evening we learned that Erinn’s flight was cancelled. I called United and they said that the soonest she and Oliver could be rebooked was December 27! We weren’t going to spend Christmas apart from each other, which meant that I was in the position of having to cancel my, Brendan, and Lily’s reservation on a flight that was still scheduled to depart and to try to rebook for the 27^th or thereabouts. I tried to do this but couldn’t reach anyone at British Airways. In the meantime, we’d been hearing and reading repeated warnings from the airport and airlines saying that no one should travel to the airport who didn’t have a confirmed spot on a scheduled flight. Nevertheless, I decided, hoping against hope, that I would go to Heathrow on Tuesday morning (which again was the day we were scheduled to leave) to see if something could be done about the situation.

If I had known what the scene was at Heathrow, I wouldn’t have gone. They were not letting ANYONE into any part of the airport who did not have a ticket or reservation for a non-canceled flight leaving that day. When I got to the escalator that goes from the tube station into the airport, the way was blocked by airport personnel and security. They were turning away people left and right – mainly people who, like I, were trying to rebook their flights. Obviously I didn’t meet the criteria for entering. Nevertheless I began to explain our situation to one of the airport people, who then (miraculously) allowed me to enter and told me where to go. Hurdle number one overcome. But as soon as I got into the airport and tried to make my way toward the ticket desks, I encountered another barricade. Again, there were several airport personnel answering questions and turning away passengers. As I began to explain our situation to one person, another came by and said emphatically that no rebooking was being done and that only confirmed passengers could get by. The first person then referred me to his supervisor, who was a very kind and compassionate man. He listened to the details of my story but said very apologetically that he they couldn’t let me in. He gave me a phone number to call and I walked away. About a minute later, as I was trying to reach someone at the number I’d been given, I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was the supervisor I’d just spoken with. He grabbed me by the arm and said “Follow me.” He took me past the crowds and barricade and said that I should go talk to the people at yet another checkpoint. Hurdle number two overcome. So I stood in line again and had my situation vetted again. After explaining myself, the man said: “Okay, because there’s a baby involved, we’re going to try to address your situation. Go see the person across the way at the ticket desk.” Hurdle number three overcome. Finally, the kind woman at the ticket desk said she was able to get Erinn and Oliver onto a flight later that day, but that Erinn and Oliver would have to stay in Chicago for the night. My knees about buckled with gratitude. (It’s difficult to explain how difficult it would have been for us to stay there for another week. We’d spent the last week or two seeing the sights one last time, we’d fully packed, cleaned our flat, the weather was horrible, we were going to miss Christmas with family, etc.)

So, I had to rush back home to finish getting things ready to go so that we could all take a cab to the airport in about two hours. We rushed and rushed. The cab arrived 20 minutes early, while I was in the shower. We scrambled, got packed up, and stormed out of the flat. The cab dropped Erinn and Oliver at Terminal 1 and the other kids and me at Terminal 5. After long delays on the tarmac, we all made it out! Erinn and Oliver got to Chicago, stayed in a hotel, and flew to Arizona this morning. We’re all here safe, sound, and profoundly grateful.

 Again, more to follow soon. See below for a picture of Lily at Sky Harbor, waiting for her ride.