I would like to describe my experience on Midwest Express on 6/6/08. I traveled with my wife to Las Vegas on flight 815. At about 6:30 am, I check the flight status and found the flight that was scheduled to depart at 9:30 a.m. was delayed until 3:45. I called to see what I was suppose to do and after being on hold for 10 minutes a representative answered and confirmed that the flight was delayed and since it was such a long delay, she would put me back on hold and find out what was causing the delay. When she returned, she said she had called the airport and the delay was due a mechanical problem with the plane. She suggested I call back in a while to make sure the flight doesnt get re-scheduled to leave earlier.

When I called back at 8:30 the representative said they were waiting for a part to fix the plane. She told me that the flight was still scheduled to depart at 3:45, but she said she couldnt tell me for sure when the flight would depart and I was expected to be at the airport at the regular scheduled departure time. She said a replacement plane might be brought in from somewhere else.

I ended up going to the airport at 9:00. When I went to the desk to inquire about the flight, I was surprised to find out that the representatives were telling people the delay was due to weather conditions from the previous day. Not only was I already told that the delay was due to mechanical problems, but it didnt make any sense that weather from the previous day was delaying a 9:30 flight by more than 6 hours when most other flights were on time. The earlier flight to Vegas left on time and so did the 4:15 flight, which left before our 9:30 am flight. It also does not make sense to me that supposedly we had to wait for the 7:30 a.m. plane to fly to Vegas and return to get us because the original plane was not available.

By the time the plane arrived, around 3:30 we were having weather problems in Milwaukee, so the plane was delayed further and finally departed about 5:00 p.m. We arrived in Vegas around 7:00 p.m.

The biggest problem for me is that I am on my way to Vegas a couple days in advance of a business meeting and rented a car to drive to the Grand Canyon today and booked a room at the Grand Canyon Lodge. The room can only be canceled 48 hours in advance, so it is too late for that. If I try to drive there tonight, by time I get the rental car and get on the road, I will be driving through the desert until probably 1:00 a.m. Needless to say, I had to cancel our plans to see the Grand Canyon and book a different room in Vegas. Luckily I did find a room in Vegas. I will go get the rental car, although I dont need it on Friday, because I pre-paid for it. We dropped our dog off at a kennel on Thursday night because of our morning flight, so we paid for an extra day, which turned out to be a waste of money.