On Thursday around 11.30 I arrived in Rome’s Fiumicino Airport. I was coming back in Poland after some days spent in Italy. Before leaving the house I called Alitalia to check again the status of my flight, AZ 552. One day before, on Wednesday, there was a stroke and this flight was cancelled. Now everything was ok. So I am in the airport. I am trying to find on the boards were the check-in desk for my flight. Nothing. I am going to the information office and the girl told me that I have to go at desk 316. I went there and I just found a queue of at least 100 persons. I am asking 2 people is here they are checking in for Warsaw flight. One of them was traveling to Paris, the other one to Athens. What is happening? At desk 319 there was nobody in the queue. I go and ask where I can check in for Warsaw. The girl told me that all Alitalia flights have the check in no matter what desk from 310 to 323. I still don’t get it well. Why that? Anyway, I put my under 10 kg luggage on the balance. This is a record for me cause usually I am flying with 19, 9 kg or 19,95 kg … at the top of the luggage weight limit. She gave my sit and here I am on my way of spending 3 hours around the airport making photos. Around 13.30 I went to my gate. People for a flight to Larnaca were still waiting for boarding; even it was supposed to take off around 13.00. Then next to C22 gate a Turkish Airline flight was delayed. Same happened with a Canada Air and British Airways flight. At a moment I saw on the screen that my flight was been delayed with 2 hours. Ok!
I am walked around the terminal and at a moment a nice voice was all over the place: “We inform all our passengers that due to bad weather conditions no flight is landing and most of the flights have a delay of 3-4 hours at departure.” Hmm… this do not sounds well. I am in the front of a board looking like an idiot how next to AZ552 – Rome-Warsaw is writing VOLO CANCELATO. I am going directly to my gate were everybody was waiting … normally, the boarding, even on this screen was the VOLO CANCELATO inscription. They didn’t saw it. I went straight to an Alitalia desk where they found out from me that the flight has been canceled. Then they made some calls and they said that the single possibility is to send us to Milan and from there to catch the flight to Warsaw. But unfortunately in the plane were just 5 seats free and we were 108.
After negotiations with LOT (that is a Star Alliance member – Alitalia is in Skyteam) LOT said that they can take 70 passengers on their flight. And the fun started. People yelling and talking dirty wanted to catch a seat. Hysterical woman and “cool” kids was giving a show also. I took a seat and I said that if I will remain in Rome is not big deal. Same, was thinking a girl from Spain and a guy from US that I had share with almost one hour of chatting. In the end they say that they will decide who will leave: woman with children, sick people, business class and mille miglia members (here I was included as well my chatting partners) and then the rest of the passengers. After a 3 hour chaos people that would remained in Rome received 300 euro each for hotel, transportation and meals and the rest of us were boarded in a nice LOT plane. Except the thing I was in the back of the plane. After some discussions with LOT flyers we changed some places and I was again with my 2 Spanish and American companions.

Because of Alitalia, LOT flight arrived with a delay of 2 hours in Warsaw. But this is not all. We arrive and we go to take our luggage. Alitalia put as in the plane but they forgot to put the luggage in the same plane (or more exactly the explanation was: we were very busy with cargo luggage). So a bunch of nervous Alitalia travelers was filling some forms for they lost luggage. I received mine at almost 24 hours after I landed. It arrived with the next day flight from Rome.

Now, when I will travel again I will probably book the ticket with Alitalia. I am still asking my self why. It’s about consequence or it’s about giving them another chance or it’s because I love adventures when it is about planes.

Trimite acest post pe Twitter