Yesterday, I flew from New York City to Los Angeles after attending a travel conference. On my journey home, a few things happened.
First, it cost me almost more to take a standard Uber from Manhattan to JFK (15 miles) than my plane ticket to fly 2,500 miles across the country. My Uber cost $153 and my plane ticket cost $174.
Secondly, behavior in the airport lounges has really gone downhill and it was really prevalent last night in the American Airlines Greenwich Lounge at JFK. There were multiple people watching videos or talking on FaceTime without headphones. This drives me nuts and I really wish AA would enforce the common courtesy rules to avoid potential conflicts.
Another example, which some travelers would find deplorable but surprisingly doesn’t bother me, was a lady sitting across from me with her bare feet up on her bags.
However, the third thing that happened is that right after takeoff, there was a really loud and steady noise. I’ve heard this noise before but it has always gone away after a couple of minutes. This time, the noise didn’t stop and I didn’t realize until we were at a cruising altitude that neither the flight attendants nor the other passengers could hear it.
The noise was coming from below the plane between rows 9 and 10 on the A321T aircraft. This was in the Business Class cabin (I was fortunate to have been upgraded) with four lie-flat seats per row (2×2).
Once we passed 10,00 feet and the flight attendants got up to start their service, the passenger in front of me asked the flight attendant walking by what was up with the noise. I was about to ask the same question but she beat me to it.
The flight attendant didn’t know and that’s when I started to get a little worried. I heard her call the purser (the lead flight attendant) and the purser briskly but calmly walked by our section, trying to listen. Then she walked back up to the front of the aircraft.
A short time later, the flight attendants call phone rang behind me and she stretched the wire in between rows 9 and 10 so she could let the pilot hear the sound himself. See video embedded below.
I bet my really cool seatmate that the pilot would be coming out in a minute to listen for himself and said that there was a good chance we would be turning back to JFK. My seatmate was subtly freaking out but I assured him we were safe but that there’s a good chance we were either going to be severely delayed or our flight would get canceled since we were on the last flight out to LAX at 9pm.
I was bummed because after spending a couple of days in freezing cold New York City and completing dozens of meetings, I was spent. I just wanted to get home to my family, my own bed and not lose the upgrade since flying five and a half hours after a long day of meetings sucks in economy.
Sure enough, the captain came out. I think he said to the flight attendant that it sounded like the hydraulics and returned to the cockpit. I asked one of the flight attendants who came from the front if we would be turning around and she said that the pilot is going to try and fix it in the next five minutes and if he can’t, we will turn back. She also said the captain told the crew there would be a sound right after takeoff as it was reported on the incoming flight that had landed an hour earlier but it wasn’t supposed to last so long.
Thankfully, a few minutes later, the sound went away, and I breathed a huge sigh of relief. According to one of the flight attendants, the captain tried multiple things but what I believed worked was moving fuel between tanks (it’s stored in the wings).
So, the first 25 minutes or so of the flight were a little nerve racking but I’m happy to report that we made it to L.A. safely and 45 minutes early. What’s also remarkable is that I don’t think anyone else on the packed plane knew what was going on or how close we came to returning to JFK. A huge shoutout to the flight crew and flight attendants.
The fourth thing is how I saved some serious money getting home. You can read about it here.
KEEP READING
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–How to get the best coach seat on the plane
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