Visit Phoenix....if you dare

Wow, it's 3:30am and I just got back from Phoenix. The return trip was by far the worst experience I've ever had while traveling. Here's a recap:

I boarded my flight, which was on time for an 8:03 take-off, at about 7:30. As the plane was pushed back from the gate and turned, I was able to see a line of thunderstorms off in the distance but didn't think too much of it since I've flown into and out of storms several times. The plane taxied slowly to get in line to take off. I suppose there were several planes in front of us which turned out to be exactly the case. After about 20 minutes of just creeping and idling, the captain came on the com and said that the controllers re-routed the traffic to this one run way because of the storms in the area. We were about 15th in line to depart. After another 20 minutes of waiting (not moving a foot mind you) the captain came on the com again and said that we had to go back to the gate because while we were waiting to take off, we burned up all of the fuel reserve planned for the flight. Great.

We waited another 10 minutes before we were even able to get out of line and taxi back to the gate. We get to the gate and I see the ground crew pull out the fuel line and begin fueling. I'm thinking that we will be on the way soon. Good. I'm anxious to get home. Phoenix wasn't a very pleasant place.

About the same time the fueling is complete, the storm hits the airport. It rained about as hard as any rain I've personally been in. The wind rocked the plane from side to side almost as if we were in flight. I was pretty glad we were on the ground at that moment. Then I see the power go out in the airport terminal outside my window. Lightning is flashing continuously, it sounds like hail is beating on the plane, and after a few minutes, the captain says that the tower clocked 86 mph wind gusts. Ok, fine. I know these storms usually last 15 or 20 minutes and then we'll be on our way. Wrong. Since there was so much lightning, the ground crew had gone into their bunker or something and there was no one around to push the plane out of the gate. Grrr. Also because of the lightning and power outage, the jetway was not available so we were trapped on the plane. It had been about 2 hours by the time the ground crew came out of hiding and got us going. Now we get back into line to take off, this time the captain says we are 5th. Finally.

Not so fast, we waited some more and then the captain said that the airport personnel needed to sweep the runway because the storm had blown a bunch of debris onto it. What debris are in Phoenix other than cacti and dirt? Another 20 minutes and the captain said there was a narrow window to get out between the storm cells and, after the few planes in front of us, we finally take off. I later found out that the airport shut down after we took off. Wow. Only 3 hours behind schedule PLUS the plane had to go a ways south and west to avoid the storms. So that added to our plight-, I mean flight-, time. It was after 11 and we still had almost 3 hours in the air. The flight was pretty smooth after we got out of the Phoenix area. The crew didn't charge for beverages as they had on the way to Phoenix, I believe, in fear of a revolt and the threat of blood shed.

The icing on the cake, or cherry on top was this: as we were descending into Seattle, someone lost their cookies. So we enjoyed the wonderful smell of vomit the last 15 or 20 minutes of this extraordinarily awful flight. I will never fly US Airways again and it will take a big turnaround for me to ever think positively of Phoenix. Beware....