Getting to, and from, Israel always is interesting.
I flew Delta from FLL to the JFK gateway and then on to Rome's FCO.
FCO has a number of names.
On airport signs, it is Aeroporto di Roma. Nice, straight forward; Rome's airport.
It also is known as Leonardo da Vinci International Airport; OK, DaVinci is a well-known Italian, even better known than my pal Robert Liotta, so that makes sense.
Finally, the FCO which equates to a mouthful: Fiumicino. That might be easy for NPR's Sylvia Poggioli, but it's a tongue-twister for me.
I've been to a few non-US airports (and a lot of US flyin' fields). Amsterdam's Schiphol is my favorite in Europe. Lod, of course, is a favorite because it is a "final destination"; escape from the flying tube. LHR is, at best OK. At the very bottom of my list is CDG.
I'm not real fond of JFK, but it beats PHL for getting planes on - and off - the ground.
If it's free, it's for me
FLL has free Wi-Fi.
TLV has free Wi-Fi.
JFK, MIA, PHL, and FCO - among others - have pay Wi-Fi .
I would have thought that all hub airports would have free Wi-Fi so passengers stuck waiting between flights could catch up on email, etc. The web site http://www.wififreespot.com/airport.html lists airports with free Wi-Fi. As with everything "Internet," the list is "subject to change."
Delta gave me 50 minutes to get from a domestic terminal to the international terminal (3); I got to my Rome-bound flight as it was boarding the expensive seats.
The flight to Rome was uneventful, just the way it should be. The hardest part of the flight was unpacking the kosher meals. When I finally managed to get to the food it proved worth the effort. Not 5-star cuisine, but a far cry from the box lunches of yesteryear. (I had a couple of sandwiches in my carry on "just in case.")
I had a brief layover at Rome's airport; not enough time to toss three coins in a fountain, but enough time to buy a cup of "coffee Americano." THAT was bad, but maybe it could have been worse.
I had to get a boarding pass for the Alitalia flight; a grounded girl took care of that. What I failed to tell her - because (a) I thought Delta took care of it, (b) Alitalia in the US said Delta would take care of it, and (c) the flight was only about 3 hours' duration - was that I needed kosher food.
Turns out there WAS a snack - looked good, too - but since it lacked a label, I had to decline.
I was carrying a small metal key safe to my son-in-law. The metal box got by TSA sans problem, but at Fiumicino I was politely asked to open the bag. I knew what caught the Italian's eye and immediately opened the bag and pulled out the key safe, explaining its use. Satisfied; I was waved on.
Alitalia Airbus at Lod (TLV)
Getting though Israel's passport control was unbelievably fast; there was one - ONE - person ahead of me and that person was almost done.
"You've been here before?"
Yes.
"New passport?"
Yes.
"Have a nice stay."
I had to wait perhaps 5 minutes for my stowed luggage to hit the carousel - record time. .
Israel's קבלת פנים would have made Shamai happy.
Back to America
Going back I skipped Rome and went directly to JFK's Terminal 3.My Delta flight's boarding was supposed to start at 11:45, about an hour before the 747-400 was to push back from the jet way. My son-in-law got me to Lod a little after 9 but the line for the baggage inspection already seemed at least a kilometer - if not a mile - long.
I watch was others chatted with the girl checking passports and tagging luggage, and I watched as these folks' stowed bags were sent though the x-ray machine. The machine seemed to literally toss the inspected bags out of the chute,
When my turn finally arrived we did the usual chat with the usual questions - seemed almost the same as the passport control clerk's when I entered Israel - the girl tagged by bags and told me to go straight to Delta check-in - no inspection. Just like the old days - profiling. I even admitted to having two bottles of makheyah (arak) in the big suitcase, but I still got a pass.
Compare THAT to TSA's ineptness and the Supremes' paranoia about profiling. Granted TLV is one airport compared to the U.S.'s many, but I wonder why TSA (the organization) can't do better.
I was in a slowly moving line at the Delta check-in when a Delta person told me to go to Window 53 - no line. Wow! Can things get any better?
The luggage was weighed and tagged direct to FLL - even though both it and I would have to go through US Customs at JFK. Off I went to find my gate.
Arrived at the gate area in plenty of time; tried to use Lod's free Wi-Fi to send a "waiting at the gate" message to the daughter.
Delta Boeing 747-400
Boarded the 747 along with 397 of my fellow passengers, expecting a 12:40 on-time push back.
12:40 came and went.
As did 1:40 and 2:40 and 3:40.
And we continued to sit in the tube from Boeing.
Delta claimed a mechanical failure; later the failure was laid to a tire.
When the tire was fixed we were told that we still couldn't push back.
Turns out the flight crew would be past the work hour limits thanks to the 4 hour delay. Apparently with no other crews available, we'd have to over-night someplace.
Unless Delta management approved extended hours for the flight crew.
In any event, we were told the Israeli government would not allow a take-off at 4 a.m. due to noise ordinances.
In the end, Delta management approved the extra hours and someone agreed to a 4 a.m. take-off.
An aside. We were told on the Delta flight to Rome not to be surprised to see members of the flight crew snoozing; the plane still would be safely staffed. And that was just JFK to FCO, a shorter trip than TLV to JFK! It would seem that the objection to extended hours was more a matter of overtime pay than time without a break.
By the time the plane landed at JFK - around 10 a.m. - many of us had missed our connecting flights; mine left, assuming it was on time, at 8:10 a.m.
We cleared passport control and Customs - both well managed - and headed to the Delta "connections" counter. A l-o-n-g line to an understaffed counter where some were given directions to new gates and others given "Seat Request" forms for a new flight.
When my turn came, the woman gave me the option of taking a 1:29 p.m. flight out of LaGuardia or a 3:45 flight out of JFK. I opted for JFK and was given a form and a travel document for LaGuardia. When I reminded the woman I requested the flight from JFK she said it could not be changed back - LaGuardia or nothing.
I - along with several others on the Lod-JFK flight - was told to go outside and find a Delta agent who would get us to the shuttle service vehicle. Delta was paying for the ride and we had chits for the trip.
Got outside - no Delta agent. Someone did point me in the direction of a pick-up area. When I got there the only person was a security lady - no Delta agent.
Being the sweet guy that I am - that's what I told the security lady; she's probably still laughing - I asked her where I was supposed to be for the shuttle to LaGuardia.
Right here - I could wait under the benchless shelter. So I did, along with a couple and their baby headed for RDU and a gentleman going "someplace."
The shuttle turned out to be a Honda SUV . The driver, a native of someplace else, got all of us and our luggage - including the baby's stroller - into the vehicle and off we went.
Compared to Rehovot, traffic was a snap and the driver never lost his cool. (Could he survive in Rehovot or Tel Aviv without blood pressure meds? Good question.)
We arrived safely at LaGuardia's Delta terminal where we checked in with Special Services, thanks to directions from a Skycap at curbside check-in. Special Services took my stowed luggage and gave me a Seat Request pseudo-boarding pass.
From Special Services it was down a switchback ramp to a bus for Terminal D where I got to ride an escalator to the Departures floor. All the while dragging my carry on and computer case. Let's hear if for wheeled luggage.
I eventually arrived at my gate and presented the Seat Request to a Delta agent.
"I can't help you; wait until another agent comes on at 12:30."
At about 12:20 a new Delta agent appeared and issued me a real, albeit flimsy paper, boarding pass. Flimsy or not, it got me on board.
That plane did push back on time and arrived on time at FLL.
Total door-to-door time: about 27 hours.
This is not the first time one of my Delta flights was delayed due to mechanical problems. The first time was a commuter flight from CVG to CRW with a delay of about 3 hours. Delta, to its credit, wheeled out a snacks-and-drinks cart and made it available to us on Delta's tab. This time Delta didn't even offer a chit for a soft drink. (Are you reading this, Delta Customer "Service"?)
I have been a fan of Delta's for many years, mostly because of its personnel on the ground and in the air. This trip brought Delta back down to the realm of "just like the other airlines." The one exception was a delightful FA on the flight from LaGuardia to FLL.
In the end, I managed to sleep in my own bed for the first time in about 2 weeks.
