Land of broken planes

So here I am for the second day in a row in Miami airport trying desperately to get to Cozumel. Today I've made it further than yesterday, getting past check in and actually boarding the plane, only to find myself back in the airport awaiting the most interesting of updates. But before I get into that, there's the matter of the flight to Miami. 

First flight, Qantas to LA, uneventful, very comfortable, all on time and in working order. Looking forward to a very short layover of 2 hours which should be just enough to clear customs, collect and recheck bags and board the American Airlines flight to Miami. All on track, until we find ourselves sitting on the plane for an inordinate length of time. The Captain comes over the PA - we've got a hydraulic leak. They're looking into it, will let us know if we're good to go. 

Now while I'm not one for hoping my plane won't take off, it makes me a tad nervous once they've told us the plane could be broken but we might fly it anyway. As it turns out, it's broken. So we deplane, rush over to another terminal, check in for a flight that will leave in another 3 hours...

3 hours later, we're sitting on the plane on the ground for 1.25 hours because we've apparently lost a passenger. Luckily for me, just being stoked to have made it to the US at all AND with luggage, I am friendly and sympathetic with the AA staff throughout, and they show their appreciation by moving me to a seat in a quiet little nook with loads of leg room, good recline and a leg rest. I sleep through the remaining drama and the flight, and alight from the plane a bit after 8pm. Overnight in Miami and back to the airport yesterday to move on to Cozumel.

I try to check in at the kiosk, which tells me I'm more than 24 hours too early for my flight. I double check my itinerary and the kiosk is downright lying! Except, as it turns out, there's a bit of a tropical storm, you know the kind that gets a name. And so the flight has been cancelled and I've been booked onto the next day's flight. Back to the hotel to try to shift all my tour bookings and the like back a day. Overnight again in Miami and things are looking good to go this morning.

I get to the airport 3.5 hours before my flight just in case and breeze through check in. I'm starting to have to fight through the jet lag which has messed around with my sleeping and had me up at 3.30 this morning, but really I'm just happy to be on my way.

I board the flight. What do you know, it's déjà vu all over again, as some people say.  We seem to be sitting on the ground for an inordinately long time. The Captain comes over the PA. something's gone wrong with the engine, we're just going to get towed to some other spot and the engineer will come out and have a look. We wait another 15 minutes. Ladies and gentlemen, get the hell off the plane. (He didn't really say that but you get the picture). A shortish walk to the terminal and as I'm walking in I hear this:

"Passengers to Cozumel on flight 4375, this is an update on your plane. We still don't know anything and have nothing to tell you but we'll be sure to let you know when there's an update on the status of your plane."

Seriously folks, I'm not kidding. Perhaps a touch over enthusiastic.

Next update - surprise! The plane is broken. We're getting a new one. On the plus side, at least AA is good at spotting a broken plane before it takes off. As far as we know...

PS. Arrived!! View from my balcony in my quaint little hotel.