In spite of HP’s extremely stringent controls on the travel budget, I managed to visit London just before the holiday. It was snowing, so I was astonished to see “On-Time” displayed in the departure screen. I was dumbfounded when Swiss actually finished boarding On-Time. Amazement drained away as I waited (and waited and waited) at the gate – in silence. Eventually, the pilot made an announcement. He started in German:
“Wir sind gescrewed. Der dummkoft von Flughaven hat die de-icing machine gebroken. Nur ein von die drei machinen bin gewerked.”
He repeated or, more accurately, made a different, announcement in English.
“Because of the heavy snow, there is a backlog at the de-icing stand. We should be able to push back in about 90 minutes.”
There are almost three de-icing stations at the Zürich airport. (I say "almost" because one of the three is very remotely located - in the suburbs of Bucharest.) Two of the 'three' were broken. In the end, we spent 3 hours in a cramped commuter airplane, waiting to take-off for a 75 minute flight. And it happened because the airport authorities in Zürich, SWITZERLAND were surprised (!) by snow(!) in December!
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