Jetway Behaving Badly in Chicago

My journey to India was scheduled as follows: SLC to Chicago, Chicago to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to Hyderabad. The basic plan was to leave SLC at around 11:00 AM (MDT) Sunday and arrive in Hyderabad Tuesday morning at 12:30 AM (IST).

When I arrived in Chicago, the pilot was very please to annouce he had gotten us to the airport 20 minutes early. Little did he know we were in for a front row seat to a jetway melt down.

I don't know if you have ever peaked inside the controls of the jetway, but there are a few buttons and a joy stick looking controller that is used to guide the jetway to the door of the airplane. It looks simple enough, but apparently guiding the jetway to the airplane exit door is not as easy as it appears. Our operator's first attempt failed by more than 2 feet to the right of the exit door! The best part is that each time the jetway is moved there is a constant bell ringing sound to alert everyone that it is moving. No big deal everyone misses once in while.

Attempt number two (which takes 7 minutes to fully execute) is markedly closer, but has indeed missed mark by about 1 foot to the left and the elevations is off by about two inches. More bell ringing, and since the airplane door is open, a good deal of yelling and swearing can be heard outside as the operator argues with her supervisor (in a thick southern accent). Inside the pilots start debating whether they should jump across the gap and take over this #@!% operation! The flight attendant actually snorted with laughter, just before announcing in her most professional voice, "we regret the delay, but we are experiencing some issues with the jetway."

More ringing bells as the jetway is repositioned for attempt number three. There's an even 50/50 split between passengers and crew members who are either cursing or praying with equal intensity. We are all cut-off, when a loud southern female voice hollers, "Well excuse me! I'm doin' the best I can now." More ringing bells. More praying and cursing as the jetway inches toward the plane. Bingo! Welcome to Chicago-O'Hare.