The Flight that Never Landed

This is a view of Alaska, taken from the window of a 747 on our flight for the summer trip to China and Japan- our flight actually stretched from June 28 to June 29 (crossing the international dateline) to June 30. Read on to find out why!



This past summer, from June 28 to July 10, three North Central people (Jack Shindler, Kimberly Larsson, and I) and 20 K-12 faculty traveled on a two-week trip to China and Japan. (The photo above is of my intrepid travel rooomate, Noor, who is a fifth-grade teacher.) I was lucky enough to be in the group and get a preview of the countries and schools we’ll be attached to in Asia. The short trip was exhilarating and action-packed; to begin with, we flew, just like the group I’m with now, to Tokyo-Narita airport, had a layover, and boarded another Japan Airlines flight to Beijing. But that flight in June never landed in Beijing; when we reached airspace over the capital, thunderstorms had closed the airport and we circled for about forty-five minutes. When that time was up, the pilot announced that Beijing Airport was still closed, so we were flying to ---- Osaka-Kansai! Since we had already been up for more than 24 hours, and our itinerary was jam-packed with activities, we weren’t sure what this meant. In fact, a week later we were supposed to go to Osaka, but arriving a week early wouldn’t help. But we were about to get the Japan Airlines treatment.

When we landed in Kansai, they had air-conditioned buses ready for us, and uniformed JAL staffers bowed to us in apology for the inconvenience. The buses delivered us to the Swisshotel in Osaka, fifty minutes away. Swisshotel or JAL must have called in extra staff to handle the busloads of people who arrived. We were quickly assigned rooms that turned out to be luxurious, way more expensive than the kind we expected to stay in for the rest of the trip. There were bathrobes and slippers and the famous Toto Japanese toilets with heated seats and mysterious water sprays. We were also given coupons for breakfast. Grateful for the comfortable beds, we were sorry we had only four hours to sleep before breakfast and a bus back to the airport. Breakfast was just as luxurious – it included Japanese and western-style food, and we wolfed down smoked salmon, fresh fruit, eggs, croissants, and wonderful coffee. Then it was onto the bus, and to the airport, where we were met by more Japan Airlines staff that guided us through the airport, carrying signs on sticks and handing us off in relays until we got to the right spot. By that afternoon we were touring the Forbidden City in Beijing. I was almost sorry that our flight on this trip actually landed in Beijing on time. Moral: if you’re diverted, make sure you’re flying an airline like JAL. But this trip, with 12 students, was uneventful and we landed just when we were supposed to. Anyone else have good rerouting stories?