The ABIA Thread of Gross Incompetence

[Biff Tannen 46148]

Just picked up people at 10pm on a Wednesday night and the arrivals line was an absolute fuck show.  Line stretched out to the short term garage exit. People literally parked perpendicular to the curb to pick up passengers. Wtf? 
 

Security was at their wits end trying to direct these morons. 

[Paper_jam 851]

It doesn't help that (when I was picked up at ABIA two weeks ago) there were lots of cars parked along the pickup zones, clearly waiting for people in the terminal still going thru baggage claim, etc.  These idling assholes blocked the curbspace needed for people who were actually at the curb ready to get picked up.

Edited July 20, 2023 by Paper_jam

[DalTxHornFan 3130]

We picked up and dropped off a passenger at the ABIA South Terminal before and after the 4th of July holiday weekend.  Amazing how easy that was.  Kind of like olden days.

Of course, the COA fought/litigated with a client of former Mayor Adler's firm to buy out their (very recently signed) long-term lease and make that terminal part of the overall suckage that ABIA has become.

Good times.

[BrazilHorn 6817]

The new TSA setup at ABIA is a total shitshow. They’ve ruined clear and fucked that up, now TSA line is mile long. 
 

I ended up just going in through regular screening and got through in minutes vs what would have been 40 mins plus in TSA. 
 

Just so dumb. 

[dieucla98 2954]

I have had zero issues with the new setup, especially given they're working with one less checkpoint now. I don't pay for clear, just pre check, and it's always been 10 min max since the changes. 

[4th&Five 41969]

Pre took me 25 minutes a few Monday mornings ago. We flew out during spring break and it took 3 minutes. 

[4th and 5 5000]

If you’re flying out today, you better get your ass to the airport early 

[dieucla98 2954]

If you're flying out of AUS on any Monday or Thursday, you better get your ass to the airport early. And you better be wearing your corporate logo swag and bringing your two pieces of Tumi luggage, too.

[BurntEyes 6268]

43 minutes ago, dieucla98 said:

If you're flying out of AUS on any Monday or Thursday, you better get your ass to the airport early. And you better be wearing your corporate logo swag and bringing your two pieces of Tumi luggage, too.

I don't resemble this remark at ALL. Ever.. pffffft. Tumi luggage and corporate logos on shirt, backpack, jacket and hat. What kind of shit for heals person is that? He's regarding, I can tell you that fucking much.

[UpperWestside 6268]

I’m flying out of there on Wednesday morning. I don’t anticipate any issues, but it’ll be because I am there 5-6 hours before the flight leaves. 

[CooterBrown 18287]

On 12/5/2024 at 1:56 PM, dieucla98 said:

If you're flying out of AUS on any Monday or Thursday, you better get your ass to the airport early. And you better be wearing your corporate logo swag and bringing your two pieces of Tumi luggage, too.

Briggs & Riley, you savage.

 

[Blotto 24010]

those monsters  confiscated my toothpaste last time through. I realized I didnt have  any travel sizes as I was packing that morning,  but I figured no way  they flag a half full tube of regular size toothpaste. 

Narrator: they did flag a half full tube of regular toothpaste. 

So fucking stupid we are still going through with this charade. 

[dieucla98 2954]

I bring my normal toothpaste through ever time and, knock on wood, haven't been flagged yet. TSA pre check?

[MrBig 5624]

On 12/6/2024 at 8:12 PM, Blotto said:

those monsters  confiscated my toothpaste last time through. I realized I didnt have  any travel sizes as I was packing that morning,  but I figured no way  they flag a half full tube of regular size toothpaste. 

Narrator: they did flag a half full tube of regular toothpaste. 

So fucking stupid we are still going through with this charade. 

They took my Swiss Army knife because it had a corkscrew. They didn’t give a fuck about the knives part and said it would’ve been allowed without one. The more you know. 

[randomhorn 2160]

We can’t have you opening your own wine on the plane 

[Apep 645]

On 12/6/2024 at 9:44 PM, dieucla98 said:

I bring my normal toothpaste through ever time and, knock on wood, haven't been flagged yet. TSA pre check?

I take Colgate powdered toothpaste to avoid problems. (It’s imported from India and has “extra Rakshak”.) The metal container got screened at DFW once because it somewhat resembles a flask. 

[texasdago 7766]

Picked up my wife and son at ABIA last night at 9:30 PM.  So so quiet.  Love being able to get from the airport to home in an easy 18-20 minutes as opposed to the cluster I used to deal with back in Houston with IAH.

[Captainant 28504]

50 minutes ago, texasdago said:

Picked up my wife and son at ABIA last night at 9:30 PM.  So so quiet.  Love being able to get from the airport to home in an easy 18-20 minutes as opposed to the cluster I used to deal with back in Houston with IAH.

IAH is probably one of the worst airports in America right now. It's nearly a goddamn hour to get from parking to the gate sometimes, simply because they decided to fuck all the roads up again for shiggles

[Evil Bill Obrien 3510]

3 minutes ago, Captainant said:

IAH is probably one of the worst airports in America right now. It's nearly a goddamn hour to get from parking to the gate sometimes, simply because they decided to fuck all the roads up again for shiggles

Deathly afraid that I'll be forced to fly out of IAH before they get all that crap fixed. "Hobby 4 lyfe" and flying near exclusively Southwest has worked out pretty well so far during IAH construction.

[Captainant 28504]

2 minutes ago, Evil Bill Obrien said:

Deathly afraid that I'll be forced to fly out of IAH before they get all that crap fixed. "Hobby 4 lyfe" and flying near exclusively Southwest has worked out pretty well so far during IAH construction.

Man fuck Southwest. I missed a night of Dead and Co at the Sphere because those fuckers cancelled my 10A flight at 4AM and rescheduled me for the next day. Fuckers didn't even give us a refund on our tickets until we got a few steps up the escalation chain.

I unfortunately mostly fly on United because of their direct flights to where my customers are. I have come to expect the pain coming and going from IAH. Oh yeah and NEVER park at EcoPark. You'll be stuck at the shuttle pickup for an hour plus

[texasdago 7766]

25 minutes ago, Captainant said:

IAH is probably one of the worst airports in America right now. It's nearly a goddamn hour to get from parking to the gate sometimes, simply because they decided to fuck all the roads up again for shiggles

Oh man I'm saying its even terrible when everything is functioning.  I do like how they've been updating the gates but still, just getting there and in and out, even when normal, sucks.

[blacklab 12062]

Yeah fuck IAH

wife picked up me and the kids Sunday night. Two of my kids were walking slowly and they weren’t out the door so they made us move. Turn around was closed so I got stuck in the traffic clusterfuck and had to exit the airport and come back. 15 fucking minutes of my life wasted because they wouldn’t let us wait 15 seconds 

[BabaYaga 15603]

7 hours ago, MrBig said:

They took my Swiss Army knife because it had a corkscrew. They didn’t give a fuck about the knives part and said it would’ve been allowed without one. The more you know. 

They took two of my Wilson, 1911 mags.  Probably because they were still loaded and had fallen deep inside my backpack, but still.....

[Evil Bill Obrien 3510]

3 hours ago, Captainant said:

Man fuck Southwest. I missed a night of Dead and Co at the Sphere because those fuckers cancelled my 10A flight at 4AM and rescheduled me for the next day. Fuckers didn't even give us a refund on our tickets until we got a few steps up the escalation chain.

I unfortunately mostly fly on United because of their direct flights to where my customers are. I have come to expect the pain coming and going from IAH. Oh yeah and NEVER park at EcoPark. You'll be stuck at the shuttle pickup for an hour plus

Damn that blows, I need to go throw some salt over my shoulder, break out the holy water, and find the biggest piece of wood to knock on before I type this...but I've never had a single issue with Southwest. Don't fly a ton so that probably helps decrease chances of tomfoolery happening. 
 

Having typed that probably be on the look out for the next time a Southwest plane goes down, my ass will be on it...

[Deej 77785]

4 hours ago, Captainant said:

Man fuck Southwest. I missed a night of Dead and Co at the Sphere because those fuckers cancelled my 10A flight at 4AM and rescheduled me for the next day. Fuckers didn't even give us a refund on our tickets until we got a few steps up the escalation chain.

I unfortunately mostly fly on United because of their direct flights to where my customers are. I have come to expect the pain coming and going from IAH. Oh yeah and NEVER park at EcoPark. You'll be stuck at the shuttle pickup for an hour plus

I hate it when I miss a tribute band. 

[High Plains Drifter 11186]

 

My ABIA story of incompetence, although its probably more of a combination of British Airways and ABIA incompetence. 

Flew back from London to ABIA two summers ago. After boarding in London, had like an hour delay taking off because there was "a gasket hanging out of the engine, and we need to find mechanics to check it out." Landed in ABIA and had to wait for another hour because "a plane was blocking our access to the terminal." 

Then while waiting for luggage, the conveyor jams up. One bag would come down every 10 minutes or so. "Sorry for the delay, but there is a logjam in the luggage conveyor. We're working to get that cleared out for you." That took over another hour. 

Over three hours total in delays for three different reasons. 

[sidis 10011]

20 minutes ago, High Plains Drifter said:

 

My ABIA story of incompetence, although its probably more of a combination of British Airways and ABIA incompetence. 

Flew back from London to ABIA two summers ago. After boarding in London, had like an hour delay taking off because there was "a gasket hanging out of the engine, and we need to find mechanics to check it out." Landed in ABIA and had to wait for another hour because "a plane was blocking our access to the terminal." 

Then while waiting for luggage, the conveyor jams up. One bag would come down every 10 minutes or so. "Sorry for the delay, but there is a logjam in the luggage conveyor. We're working to get that cleared out for you." That took over another hour. 

Over three hours total in delays for three different reasons. 

man, no offense or anything but this post definitely recalls the old louis ck routine about flying.

you just traveled from one side of the earth to the other side of the earth safely flying through the air and hundreds of miles per hour over a gigantic ocean sitting in a chair in a third of day and had three whole hours of inconveniences.

that said, i will say that there are few things more psychologically and physiologically challenging (irrationally) to me than landing somewhere and having to just sit on the tarmac for an hour waiting to deboard...especially after a ten hour flight like that. it makes my brain start doing crazy things like imagining murdering everyone on the plane and everyone else i see for the rest of the day. so i hear you.

but we are hilariously spoiled that said homicide inducing frustration results from an hour of inconvenience when i just took a trip in ten hours sitting down watching movies that for most of humanity's existence would have taken months and would have resulted in 90% of the passengers dying for various reasons before we got there.