DC Dulles

First before I bore you with my Weekly Update, I want to do a little thing I like to call "Oh how I do NOT miss DC's Dulles Airport or United Flying."  As inspired by BoardingArea.com's One Mile At A Time Blog

A little Background:  I used to work on a 50 passenger Regional Jet.  I was the only Flight Attendant & most days I loved it.  But I was (suprisingly for a regional airline) on reserve.  So I was called out to fly every & anywhere our little planes flew....which surprisingly was a lot of places!

Anyways- one of our contracts was with United Express flying through IAD (aka Washington DC's Dulles International Airport).....My experience with that airport and the flying I did there has left me with the impression that United Airlines must have been doing a killer business with their International routes....because domestically why on earth anyone would fly United was beyond me.

Things I do NOT miss about that 18mos of my life:

1. 95% of my airplane being unable to speak English.  Try explaining to 3 people who speak NO English why they can't sit in the Exit row (even though in an Emergency- 95% of my passengers won't understand what I'm yelling for them to do anyways.)
2. 95% of the Ground Staff in Terminal A.....oh who are we kidding- the entire airport....being unable to speak & understand English.
3. Catering trying to convince me that they can't supply my airplane with bottled water because they don't have any left.  Yeah. Ok. No. I don't care where you get it from, but we're not leaving without at least 3 bottles of water.  10 minutes later- miracle! They come back with 6 bottles.
4. Arriving an hour before you need to board your next flight...and before passengers are OFF the plane you are arriving on...the Gate Agents ask you "Board on Time?"  yes. but can we deplane first? and 30mins prior to the next departure please.
5. 10 mins before departure in #4....still no passengers coming down to the airplane. And the delay getting coded to the Flight Attendant.......Then my supervisor calling me "I am required to ask about this delay. I see it says IAD so I assume its another case of the Gate Agents not boarding on time. Is that what happened?" Yes.
6. Speaking of Gate Agents......The Express Gate Agent in Terminal A who has a bad weave & 1980's giant glasses......who did speak English and was usually responsible for #5.
7. PotBelly's....It was always a hike- but worth every bite.
8. 3hour sit times spent in Terminal B.....it was quiet there & sometimes you could get Free Wi-Fi from one of the international lounges.
9. Those crazy "people movers" that looked like something from Star Wars.
10. When Passengers with Lap-Held Children would be assigned Exit Row seats.....and to top it off the side of the plane with only 1 seat....where only 1 Oxy Mask deploys in an unlikely event of loss of cabin pressure....

Oh....and I forgot.....I'm 5'10'' in my the heels I had to wear......anyone who has been on that little plane knows how rediculous that is......Sooo in conclusion.....I dreaded Dulles except for PotBelly's & my crews.  We had the most fun there....mostly because it was so awful in IAD that the only thing you could do- was dig deep and create the smiles.

Oh Dulles......I do not miss you....at all....