The Storm that Shut Down a City

This flight was a test… I was breaking my “always fly direct for business” rule. The purpose… to get off United. I was flying Air Canada (AC) and doing part of a route that I know well: Calgary to Vancouver. From here it would be Vancouver to San Francisco.

If any day was going to be a true test of this flight path, it was today (March 3). A major snowstorm hit Calgary and by noon it looked as though nothing could move in the city. I kept checking AC Flight Status and yyc.com to see how the airport was fairing. By 1pm it looked bleak. Most flights were cancelled. For a period the airport was shut down.

Still, my flight was listed as on-time, and I asked dP to drive me to the airport. By this point, he (and his 4×4 Wrangler with extreme winter tires) was the only person I trusted to make the drive. As we set out, we saw abandoned cars everywhere: on curbs, in ditches, some backwards, some nose down, some smashed up… one semi had lost control on the Deerfoot to John Laurie ramp and lay sideways with its load in the ditch but nose folded backwards upon itself like a giant checkmark.

As we got closer to the airport the number of cars in the ditch increased.

But the YYC airport is a well-oiled machine when it comes to snow. Industrial ploughs and snow brushers were out in force… heavy-duty tractors were hauling planes around… AC customer service representatives were manning the gates and HELPING people. No one was crying, yelling or freaking out because AC was communicating and people understood that the weather was shitty and things were going to take time… and some flights were getting out.

My goal was to get to Vancouver. I figured that if today was a mess in Calgary… then tomorrow would be a gong show as snow turned to ice and flights tried to catch up. Besides, there are worse places in the world to spend the night than Vancouver. We were an hour and a half late getting into Vancouver… but the flight going out to San Francisco was late because of fog. So, in the end, it equalized itself and I made it to SF.

I have to admit: after arriving in Vancouver, it was very surreal walking down the long strip of Alberta destination gates on my way to customs. Crowds of people were sitting on the floor looking tired and pissed off because they wanted to get to Alberta but the flights from Vancouver to Alberta stopped around noon. I felt like saying: It’s a mess in that part of the world. You’re in the better city right now.

In the end, I made it to my destination, I met some nice people along the way, I read a couple of books, and the righteous part of me felt justified because United cancelled all of their Calgary flights to San Francisco.