Canceled Flight

     I constantly read in the news about poor passengers who sit around and wait at the airport for flights that never leave the gate.
    Today was one of those for me.
    It was supposed to be an easy two day trip for my crew and I. I was supposed to end up and layover in Pittsburgh for the night. When I got the airport and saw my flight was already delayed, I should have known I was in for trouble.
    Nonetheless, I checked in at the flight attendant lounge, briefed with my crew members, then headed for the gate. Not knowing the reason for the delay, I figured since we were flying from Los Angeles to San Francisco, it could possibly be an air traffic delay. Many times those delays are lifted and we end up leaving earlier than the posted delay.
    But that wasn't the case today. Our plane was not even at the gate. And from what we were told, by our pilots, is that the plane was coming in with some type of mechanical problem that they were not willing to oversee.
    So a 1:30 p.m. departure  now became a 3:15 p.m.  departure. Our plane finally arrived. We boarded and began our safety checks, only to be told my our captain that he was not going to fly the plane unless it was completely fixed.
    The problem surrounded an air conditioning pact. The plane was flyable, but not at top notch as it was designed for. And thankfully our captain said he wasn't about to fly it. If we had taken it, it would have meant we would have had to fly at lower altitudes. Not a good thing if you have to fly over thunder cloud systems or climb out of emergency situation.
     At one point, our airline management got involved and tried to persuade our captain to fly the plane as is. He again, declined.
     Because our pilots had flown already for three hours earlier in the day, their duty time was reaching its maximum and our captain indicated he was going to walk. A term used in the business meaning they were going to abide by the contract and not fly any more than they are required to.
     Eventually, by 5 p.m., our flight was canceled because of the broken plane, and there were no pilots sitting around to fly it in the event it was fixed.
     So my cell phone starts ringing and its our crew scheduler telling me that I can go home and report to work the following day for a one day trip. She said I was guaranteed my flight pay for the canceled first day. Thank goodness for a contract!