Grounded in Zurich

01 Jun
DL   90 dep BOS 1650 arr JFK 1810  767-300  22F&G 
DL  140 dep JFK 1855 arr BRU 0825  767-300  21F&G 
DL 2933 dep BRU 0930 arr ZRH 1045  A32?     27B&C 

06 Jun
DL 2656 dep ZRH 1020 arr BOS 1240  MD11     36A&C

My Auntie and Uncle were visiting us from the UK (via Ireland on EI, actually), and were due to fly back to the UK (via DUB) on the same day as us. For a total change, Christopher and I both finished work at noon on 01 Jun, and had a chance to leisurely finish preparation for the trip. We didn't pack much, just one rolling duffle (SLIGHTLY outside the carryon limit), and one carryon (backpack).

The four of us shared a taxi, and we landed at Terminal C at Logan at about 1430. Christopher and I checked in, and then my Auntie and Uncle piled their bags on a cart and we walked over to Terminal E where they soon checked in. Then we all walked back to Terminal C and Christopher and I grabbed a snack. After that, the four of us cleared security, and when boarding was called, Christopher and I got on the plane, while we sent my Auntie and Uncle back towards Terminal E.

DL 90 sch dep BOS 1650, actual 1658. sch arr JFK 1810, actual 1829
767-300, N196DN, 8 FA's (4C, 4Y), seats 22F&G.

We boarded at 1627, and soon settled into the ~60% load factor coach cabin. Before takeoff, I visited the mid-cabin lav immediately adjacent to row 21 (the seats we were in from JFK-BRU). Wow it was CAVERNOUS. After coming out I realized why: it was marked handicapped accessible. The first officer made the obligatory preflight announcements, and she was a she first officer.

The door was closed for the first time at 1645, but it was reopened and reclosed and we didn't actually push until 1658. We had a nice long taxi to the active runway, passing a Mexican Air Force Gulfstream 4 (TP-06), a Swissair MD-11 (HB-IWT), and an AMR ERJ-135 (N709GE). During taxi I watched Airshow, and Christopher noted that the projector was single lens (rather than RGB).

We took off, and the seatbelt light was off for a grand total of eleven minutes. There was no cabin service and no announcement saying anything about it (the last time I took this flight the FAs passed out bottles of water). There was barely any time at all before the seatbelt light was lit at 1735. Final at 1744, and we touched down at 1757.

We started to taxi towards the terminal, and then wound around to another taxiway. Turns out another plane was at our gate. Ung. To pass the time, we spotted Northwest's Tokyo plane, Air India 747-400, Bangladesh DC-10, Alitalia 747-200, El Al 747-200, Egyptair 777, Saudi MD-11, and a World Airways MD-11 with the #2 engine cowling open. I love JFK, if only for the variety of types visible. We didn't make it to the gate until 1829, gate 14 (I saw our connecting plane at gate 10, thank goodness the same terminal at JFK). Our original gate was gate 27, which would have been a miserable run (gate 27 is at the other DL terminal).

A hitch. We docked, no problem. But there was no agent to meet the flight!! The door didn't open until 1836, less than 20 minutes before our connecting flight was due to leave. ARGH! We didn't get out of the plane until five minutes later, and we immediately started walking towards gate 10. After passing the Chili's, I saw on the monitor that our flight number was listed as "flight closed", so I started to run. Christopher followed. We gasped and made it on board.

DL 140 sch dep JFK 1855, actual 1922. sch arr BRU 0825, actual 0819
767-300, N1602, 8 FA's (4C, 4Y), seats 21F&G.

I don't know what time they called boarding, all I know is that we got on board at 1840. We sat for a while at the gate, and the captain came on the PA to say, just as I expected, that we were holding for connecting bags. Since I had one bag checked, I was quite glad of this. He said that it was 6hr 29min en route, so we were still expected to be on time. Assisting the captain were two first officers on this flight. There was an Air Jamaica A310 at the next gate over, interestingly enough it had no bird on the tail.

We pushed back at 1922, and taxied out. En route, I noticed the World Airways MD-11 that we saw before, STILL with its #2 cowling open. We taxied to runway 13R and took off at 1941.

Our original seats on this flight were 22C&E, the outboard pair in the middle three on this 767. My Delta Guardian Angel (aka "GA") suggested that we take the exit row (21A&B or 21F&G) instead. I am so glad we did. Two other people (not travelling together) were sitting in 22C&E (a bulkhead row, so no underseat storage), and while we were waiting to push back, one of the FAs came around and asked them if they would move so a family could sit together. So they ended up back around row 35, and a mother with an infant-in-arms and two under-6s came and sat in row 22.

The menus had been placed in the seatback pockets before we boarded, and after takeoff I took time to peruse. On the lefthand side, drinks were listed, started with Champagne ("Sparkling Wine") and Wines, followed by Spirits and Liqueurs, and ending with Beers and Other Beverages.

On the righthand side:

Delta AIr Lines welcomes you aboard

Salad: Spring Salad served with French Dressing

Entrees: Please choose one of the following Entrees

Steakhouse Selection
The following Entree features a recipe specially designed for Delta Air Lines.
Omaha Steaks grilled Tenderloin accented by Provencale Sauce, served with Broccoli, Carrots and a Baked Potato with Cheese.

Southwest Chicken
Cajun Chicken Breast enhanced by Red Bell Pepper Sauce, offered with a Southwest Vegetable Mix and a Tomato Risotto topped with Mozzarella Cheese

Roll and Butter
Cheese and Crackers (Tillamook Gouda cheese)

Dessert
Mocha Madness Cake
Chocolate

Good Morning
Orange Juice
Fruit (banana)
Cereal Bar (Quaker Oats Strawberry)
Egg, Turkey-Ham and Cheese served on a Biscuit

There was a pre-dinner drinks service (which I've discovered is about a 50-50 hit rate on flights to Europe from the east coast). I asked for water. There were no DL mini water bottles! "We don't have those on International Flights", said the FA (I later learned he was lying, or at least misleading, as C class had them available).

As usual, I put on my eyeshades and tried to get straight to sleep after the drinks service (note, however, that DL did not provide an amenity kit for economy class pax). Christopher chose to have the Southwest Chicken and said it was "really good". I got about three hours sleep, the best you can hope for from the east coast to Europe. Unsurprisingly, Christopher got none (although he did try). Row 21 is just perfect. There was cavernous legroom, and we actually each had TWO traytables: one in the armrest, and one on the seatback in front of us. I left my seat-in-front-of-me tray down with some water on it while I snoozed, and it did not restrict my space one bit. When both trays were deployed, they didn't even touch. I wished I'd brought a tapemeasure to see what the seat pitch in this row was.

Breakfast was served precisely at 0655, which was exactly 90 minutes before scheduled arrival. DL had announced that as of 01Jun, they would be serving "enhanced breakfasts" on International routes. "New hot breakfast sandwiches, Quaker Oats cereal bars and fresh fruits". Well, that's exactly the breakfast. I was starving (of course), and soon ate my sandwich and banana down (saving the cereal bar for later). Coffee and tea were offered for drinks. I asked for milk, which they didn't have on the cart but they did get for me.

[Note that while writing this trip report after returning from Europe I went and dug out the exact press release, which said that DL would be adding "bottled water" to European services. The breakfast made it, the water didn't].

Christopher said there had been nearly nonstop videos during the flight and hardly any Airshow (except during ascent and descent). That's one thing I like about flying with inseat video: I can leave Airshow on all night and ignore "The Straight Story", which was the movie on this flight. Bleah. I skipped it en route to PHX and I skipped it again en route to Switzerland!

Breakfast was cleared away, many people streamed past en route to the lav, and the captain lit the seatbelt sign at 0746. Thirteen minutes later, he rang final (0757) and announced over the PA that we were "ten minutes out". We touched down at 0808, and after hanging out on the taxiway (due to another plane being in our way), we pulled into gate B04 at 0819. B04 is almost at the very top of the B concourse, close to security.

We came in to Brussels Zaventem at the arrivals level and proceeded up to the departures level. Rather than going straight through security and onward to our SR flight, we chose to stroll around the shopping area. There wasn't much to speak of, even figuring in the weak Euro. Prices were listed in two formats: with VAT, and without VAT (obviously it would depend where you were departing to).

After visiting several shops (and the lav), we went back to security and cleared through. We arrived at the gate to find SEVEN agents. This plane was listed to be an A321, but SR dispatches planes based on load factor, and when the inbound plane arrived it was actually an A320. The plane actually arrived quite late due to "ATC restrictions" at ZRH (at least somewhat due to one runway at Kloten being closed).

The boarding area became quite full, and when the inbound plane finally arrived, passengers started to swarm the gate (even after an announcement telling people to be patient). We stood and chatted with a guy who came on our flight JFK-BRU (who had originated in SLC).

DL2933* sch dep BRU 0930, actual 0952. sch arr ZRH 1045, actual 1100
A320, HB-IJK, 6 FA's (2C, 4Y), seats 27B&C
*opb SR as SR 883

Boarding was called at 0930 and while I would have been patient to wait (well, perhaps :-), since everybody else was swarming onto the plane, Christopher and I swarmed too. We settled into 27B&C which were about five rows from the back of the plane. Business Class had convertible 2-3 seats, but all seats on the plane were leather. I don't know about Business Class, but coach class load factor was over 95%, and it wouldn't surprise me to know that the flight went out completely full.

Captain came on the PA to announce (in four languages, German, French, English, and Italian) that we were delayed for a few minutes due to ATC restrictions, but that we were "taking on extra fuel" and that once we were released we would "make maximum speed" for Zurich. This didn't make sense to me. I mean, wouldn't speed be regulated by ATC as well?

We pushed back at 0952 and took off at 1005. Time en route was listed as 50 minutes (not bad for a 75 minute block time). The FAs started cabin service immediately. I could not get over the number of flight attendants on this flight: SIX flight attendants for a 150 seat plane. OH MY GOD. They were everywhere. Passing out croissants and pulling carts down the aisle, etc. I thought the DL Shuttle was overstaffed with 4 FAs for 150 pax, but this was insane.

As this flight was late morning, we were offered a choice of croissants (which kept getting replenished from the rear galley) or a cheese sandwich on crusty bread. No plates were passed out, only paper napkins. Drinks followed, along with offerings of seconds. Then the FAs came along the cabin twice to collect rubbish. During the whole flight, the woman sitting in 27A was yapping along loudly to her friends about three rows behind us in the cabin. It's a shame the FA couldn't have collected her off with the rubbish too. ;-)

The seatbelt sign was lit at 1032, and final was rung at 1049, followed by touchdown at 1052 (three minutes from final to touchdown, now that's final!). We taxied past all of the gates to a hardstand, where we pulled in at 1100. The airstairs were pulled up, and we went down and onto a (full) bus. This must have been the second bus, as there certainly weren't many people on it by the time we got on.

One of the many FAs brought out an UM (unaccopanied minor), who got to sit next to the driver (lucky guy) rather than stand with the rest of us in the back. Once the UM was settled, the bus pulled off and we took a nice tour around Zurich airport, and were dropped at the Terminal door.

I was a bit afraid of the immigration lines, but it turned out that most people on our flight were actually transit passengers rather than O+D passengers. Seemingly 80% of the people on the bus with us followed the sign to transit, rather than going with us to "Exit Zurich". The immigration line was quick, and neither of us got a stamp in our passports.

The bags started arriving almost immediately (amazing, considering how far out on the hardstand we'd been), and we claimed our sole bag (yay, it DID make it at JFK), and went through the green channel of customs. There were two Swiss police officers but they didn't stop anybody.

Our first task after arriving at Kloten was visiting the observation deck. It is reputed to be one of the best in the world (not to mention having a Buchair Shop. Buchair is an airline & airplane book publisher, see http://www.buchair.ch :). We arrived at Terminal B, but the observation deck was at Terminal A, so we dragged our bags over there. We got rather lost (but lost is a GOOD thing!), and finally found the viewing area, only to discover that they charge 2SFr/person entry. That meant finding an ATM, plus going to the bank next to the ATM and getting some coins (as the entry was via turnstile, like a T station). While we were at it, we used the lockers to store our bags, saving us from hauling them to the observation deck.

The obsy deck was COOL. Well, ok, it was HOT (as the sun was beating down). For those of you who haven't been to ZRH, the obsy deck is open air, on top of Terminal A. There are kiddie exhibits and pay-for binoculars. There were lots of plane geeks in attendance snapping photos and listening to scanners. Honestly, I haven't seen this many plane geeks in one place since we went to the BHX observation deck two years ago. Highly recommended, even for the 2SFr/person cost. The only minus is that Buchair was closed (only open on weekends). We did take the time to note down the location of their shop in nearby Glattbrug [aside from r.t.a report, yes, we did go, and yes, it was awesome We spent lots of money and were happy about it. :-].

After visiting the observation deck, we got our bags back and walked through the exhibition on the expansion of ZRH. The exhibits were mostly trilingual (German/ French/English), but the video (which looked cool) was only in German. So after about ten minutes, we hauled our bags down to the Train concourse to purchase our Swiss Passes for transport around Switzerland.

Note for r.t.a readers: I won't mention it here except in passing (check out my travel report on rec.travel.europe or see my website, http://www.ckdhr.com/rec.travel.air.html ), but the Swiss Museum of Transport & Communication in Luzern was INCREDIBLE. We've seen many transport museums, and STILL managed to spend 7.5 hours there.

05Jun
The night before we were to leave back for the US, it was raining quite heavily, enough so that wandering around Zurich (what we'd intended to do our last night in town) was really impractical, even with Gore-Tex jackets. We had planned to get up early on Tuesday 06Jun and go to the rail station to check our suitcase. Instead, we chose to go on Monday night and check our suitcase. It meant that we didn't have to get up as early on Tuesday, and that we could take our time getting ready instead of scrambling. In addition, we could avoid the crazy nutso check-in line that we had experienced when flying AF CDG-BOS in March.

The train check-in is really neat. You show up during the prescribed hours (0630-1945 at Zurich Hauptbahnhof), present your rail tickets and your flight tickets (which must be marked with "OK" status), and pay 20SFr/bag. The agent will check you in, assign seats (if necessary), encase your bag in plastic, and send it on its merry way to the airport, where it will meet your plane.

06Jun
Even though we didn't have to arrive at ZRH as early as we might have if we hadn't checked in at Zurich HBF the night before, we still managed to get to Kloten by 0840. The check-in line was not too insane (there was a seperate check-in line for families travelling with kids, in fact). But still, the peace of mind was worth the 20SFr. When we left ZRH on Friday 02Jun, we had gone to the DL desk and asked about Medallion check-in. We were told that the only DL group which had special check-in privileges were Million Milers.

We had checked out the pre-security shops already, so after a quick wander outside (we considered going back to the observation deck, but it was raining), we cleared through passport control. The officers scrutinized our passports very closely (this is important later).

There didn't seem to be many shops, until I realized that there were more shops downstairs. Still, it didn't seem to me like there was a great selection. Copenhagen-Kastrup is a good example of an airport with a good amount of Duty Free with a large selection. Brussels Zaventem is also adequate. At least ZRH wasn't as bad as Manchester (MAN), which had almost nothing.

We had about 30SFr remaining, so we went into the duty free store and bought some chocolate (20SFr worth), and held on to the last 10SFr "just in case". Christopher also ended up buying me a Victorinox CyberTool Swiss Army Knife. The price was incredible - 76SFr (about USD46), much cheaper than the CyberTool I'd bought for Christopher in Boston a few months previously.

After strolling around the duty free zone, we waited by the big rattle board (instead of monitors, a large board on a wall with individual spaces for each letter than actually flip. The last time I saw one before arriving in Zurich was at London Heathrow eons ago) for our flight to show up. It seemed an interminable wait, but finally the flight was called to gate A75. The walk to the gate was VERY neat. You go down a moving walkway-ramp, and walk along a flat area. Then, each segment of gates has a different ramp back up to the departures level. It keeps the gates segregated and fewer extraneous people in each zone. There is security before each zone, but you can go between the zones in a secure area.

We proceeded straight to the gate and got in the line for passport check. They made my husband fill out a US Citizens emergency contact card before they would stamp his boarding pass as approved for boarding. I was very impressed by the scrutiny of the passport check.

By this point, the flight was called for boarding (0947) and people were thronging forward, so we thronged with them. After giving up our boarding passes to the gate agent, we saw a rack of various language newspapers and magazines. We grabbed an International Herald-Tribune (snore), a Financial Times (MUCH more my style), and a Newsweek (yawn). It later proved important that we picked up these reading materials.

DL 2656* sch dep BOS 1020, actual 1455. sch arr BOS 1240, actual 1804
MD-11 HB-IWR, 12 FA's (4F, 4C, 4Y), seats 36B&C (was 36A&C) *opb SR as SR126

We settled into our seats (36A&C), with a hope that the middle (36B) would remain empty. As it turned out, it didn't. A youngish looking guy (I later found out he was 20) had accidentally sat in 37B, when he was supposed to be in 36B. The coach section was 100% full, so we had no chance of an empty seat anyways. Too bad.

Each seatback pocket contained a bottle of Evian water (.5L) and an amenity kit containing a paper moist towelette, and a pair of eyeshades. There was no menu distributed. The plane had no big movie screens, just as on AF there were just TV style screens. Airshow was available (which later proved interesting), but there were NO AIR VENTS. ARGHH. The plane ended up becoming VERY stuffy later and there was no way to get "personal air".

At approximately 1055 the captain came on the PA to say that there was a small problem. A passenger presented themselves for boarding with a fake passport, and was of course disallowed. But the baggage area had to be searched for this passenger's baggage, so there would be a "slight delay".

One hour later, we were still on the ground. I got up and started chatting with the flight attendants, and some of the other passengers. It was quite amusing. The FAs were adamant that I myself must be a flight attendant because I knew so much about flying. They kept telling ME what was going on without telling anybody else. Perhaps it helps to be young, female, and supposedly cute?

I asked if the FAs were going to do a drinks service, but they said that the senior purser wouldn't let them. Instead, they took out chocolate bars (mini ones) and passed them out to the passengers. At this point, I scammed a bottle of water from them (even though other passengers were being told that there was nothing available), and a packet of (really good) crackers, too.

More time goes by, and the FAs *do* do a drinks service. That's a really bad sign. Sure enough, while the FAs were stocking their carts, the captain came on to say that the bag had not been found, and that all of the bags must be unloaded from the hold to do a more extensive search. He said that if that search did not result in the bag being found, we would all have to go and claim our bags on the ramp so we could eliminate our bags from suspicion. US Immigration had been asked if they would accept the passenger with the fake passport (which would have negated our need for a ramp claim), but they (unsurprisingly) would not.

The only drink on the service was Orange Juice (which they had in large amounts), plus the FAs passed out more of the yummy cheese crackers which I had earlier. After cleanup, sure enough, the captain came on the PA to say that we *would* be doing a ramp bag claim. This was at 1227, but it was 1327 before the coach section was allowed to get off (first class went first, followed by business class, and then economy - all in sets of ten, although they later disregarded the limit).

In the meantime, I had a chat with the FAs. They were on the verge of going illegal (over the duty time). They went on duty at 0900 for the flight briefing, and if they didn't take off by 1400 they would be outside the legal time limit for the flight. I was rather concerned, because even though ZRH is a hub for SR, reserve crews aren't always plentiful. Also, I had grown to like the cabin crew we had and I was reluctant to give them up (especially since I knew them all!). I also had an interesting chat with them about seniority and route assignments. It seems that SR assigns routes less based on seniority than US airlines.

Since we were at almost the very back of the cabin, we were almost the very last allowed out on the ramp. The path was through economy, business, and first, up the jetway, and down the stairs that were part of the jetway, and out onto the ramp, across the ramp, and up the airstairs attached to the 4R door (just six rows behind our seat) We went and found our bag, encased in plastic, and pointed to it (we had to pull another bag from on top of it first). The ramp agent nodded and said "danke" (thank you). We then proceeded back to the plane.

We took our time going back to the plane as we'd been sitting down for so long. Before climbing the stairs, I noted that our bag was still sitting on the cart and had not been moved back to the bags for reloading. After conversing, we went back to the cart and made the ramp agent move the bag. Christopher figured that in moving the other bag from being on top of our bag, he thought we were just looking at the bag and deciding it was not ours. Oh well, bag saved. Seeing our bag on the ramp did guarantee that it made it from Zurich Hbf, however.

Christopher went back to the seat while I hung out on the back airstairs with the flight attendants and some other knowledgable passengers. I got the full story of the passenger. She checked in at a remote airport (not in Switzerland), and came to transit Zurich en route to Boston. She spoke no English, German, or French (in fact, spoke no language that the staff could translate), so it wasn't known if had checked a bag or not. The computer records were fuzzy (at least one FA surmised this was because she came from a third world nation). After I got back to the seat I dumped our jackets back in the overhead (I had taken them out because it was dripping). The overheads were pretty darned empty, obviously thanks to SR's draconian carryon restrictions.

At 1426, the captain came on the PA - but it was a new captain! Turns out the old cockpit crew was long gone. He said that the bag had not been found, so it must not exist, and we were ready for departure. Oh, but one hitch. Eurocontrol was holding us due to traffic. Honestly, Brussels is a nice airport and I'm sure it's a nice place, but some days I want to really make rude noises at whomever runs Eurocontrol. While we were waiting for Eurocontrol, a catering truck pulled up to the back door and brought more drinks.

We FINALLY pushed at 1455 (while some passengers were still standing!), and we took off from Zurich's only working runway at 1510. Our long ordeal in Zurich was over. Eight hours and we'd be in Boston, right?

I had chatted with the FAs before pushback and suggested that they do a lunch service straight away, rather than doing a traditional pre-lunch drinks service. They agreed completely, but said they would have to check with the chief purser. The senior purser must have given the OK, as I heard the rumble of meal carts down the aisle not long after the seatbelt lights were off.

When we flew AF JFK-CDG-JFK I felt like I had been on the "slow meal" side both times (where the other side of the plane got meals quicker than the side I was on). This SR flight was no different. I later realized it was because the plane was set up 3-4-2, and the meal cart on the 4-2 side only had to hand out 4 meals, while the cart on my side had to hand out five. Plus, it seemed like my side had an inordinate amount of special meals.

During the time on the ground in Zurich, a cute couple of kids, aged 2 & 4 (later discovered to be girls, but who can tell when their hair is short?) had been flirting with Christopher and I. Honestly, I didn't expect the kids to be so well behaved, four hours on the ground followed by another eight in the air. But they were content to play peekaboo and drop items down the side of the seat (we rescued socks, plastic screwdrivers, and other things).

The meals arrived, and the two choices were veal and pasta. Many German and French speaking people chose veal while almost all Americans chose pasta. Christopher and I both had pasta. The pasta was veggie (predominantly broccoli) with cheese. It was accompanied by a salad (which was gross), salad dressing (which was OK), a bread roll (decent), and a mini-Toblerone bar.

There were two movies. I didn't watch either of them, instead choosing to do puzzles and read. During the break between the movies, the FAs passed out water, Movenpick ice cream (chocolate chip, yum!), immigration forms, and showed a silly immigration video. The video was very ambiguous, saying that if you didn't have a visa in your passport you must fill out the white I-94 card. Which is true - IF you are not a US citizen or permanent resident. Later, in Boston, I saw many people with US passports carrying white I-94 cards with them (in addition to the customs declaration forms).

The second movie came along, and the duty free cart came along with it. Not long after the end of the second movie (1500 EDT), the FAs came around with the snack: ham sandwich, 3 bean salad (at altitude? are they NUTS?), and a small piece of carrot cake, along with a drinks service. At this point, we were still hoping to land at BOS at 1700. The chief purser came around to pass out index cards asking for contact information for each family unit. He said it was so SR could write us an apology letter (!). I filled it out, noting our DL frequent flyer numbers on it (yeah, I know DL/SR are breaking up, but it doesn't hurt to remind SR what they are missing).

After the snack, the captain came on the PA to announce that due to weather in Boston, our approach would be slowed. We were experiencing not insignificant turbulence, even at 34000. I didn't realize how bad the weather was (and wouldn't, until we landed), but at the time I hypothesized that it was northwest winds restricting landings to just one runway. Turns out I was wrong, but it allowed me some time to lecture to the 20 year old next to me about the idiot NIMBYs. He escaped for a few minutes to the lav, and returned smelling like 3 bottles of cologne. Sure enough, he said that his girlfriend was picking him up at the airport. I hope she was wearing noseplugs...

The movies were all over, so we watched Airshow interminably as the altitude clicked by. We were obviously dropping by 1000 ft increments. We crossed the 10000 ft mark at 1732, and the 5000ft mark at 1741, after circling Eastern Massachusetts several times. The seatbelt sign had been on for a while (due to turbulence), but the equivalent of final was rung at 1750, and we touched down on runway 4R at 1758. An Alitalia 767 was right behind us, and I was hoping we'd make it to immigration before that plane did. We pulled up to gate 7B (NOT the usual gate for this flight) at 1804, some 14.5 hours after boarding at ZRH.

Deplaning took a while, but we did manage to angle past the crowds and make it to immigration, only to find we'd gotten in a bum line. Two people in front of us in line were pulled over for secondary inspection. As a consequence, I went to a different line while Christopher stayed in the first line, and we were cleared back into the country with the usual "how long have you been out of the country?" question ("we left on Thursday").

Baggage claim was worse. I can't wait until they build the new FIS facility at BOS. They need to model it after Terminal 1 at JFK, including the number one invention: cart barriers! Don't let people bring their carts all the way up to the belt, it just clogs the belt area. With SR on one claim, and Alitalia on the next claim, the claim area was very very clogged!

Christopher was standing waiting for the bag while I stood at the back with the cart. He saw our bag arrive ... but by the time the belt got around to him, the bag was gone! He quickly walked around the claim and found that somebody else was inspecting the bag to see if it was theirs! Christopher told them that it was his bag, as it had (1) his (neon) green lock on it, and (2) his frequent flyer card on it. Luckily, they gave the bag up.

Onward to customs, and although we'd checked the "yes we have food items" box, we weren't selected for secondary inspection, and were off on our way. Rather than fight with the taxi lines at Terminal E, we pushed the cart to Terminal C and caught a cab there in minutes. Unfortunately, even at 1900 there was traffic in the Sumner, so it was quite late before we made it home.

Delta international coach service was quite good, and Swissair's was good given the circumstances. I honestly don't see what they have to apologize for, as it wasn't their fault that the passenger had a fake passport. Heck, their agents CAUGHT the fake passport. IF that passenger had a bag, and IF something (the "b" word), I wouldn't be writing this trip report today. But perhaps for some of you, that would be a relief. :-)

Next trip report: San Diego, later in June This and all of my other trip reports are on the web at http://www.ckdhr.com/hrose/rec.travel.air.html

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