Greetings From the SHOT Show

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By John Gilstrap

Happy Wednesday, everyone. Spoiler alert: I won’t have a useful post for you today, but it’s not for lack of good intentions.

As I write this, I am in Las Vegas at the annual SHOT Show–Shooting Hunting and Outdoor Technology–doing research for my novels and touching base with my technical consultants. My travel plans have been in place for months. I would fly out of Washington Dulles on a direct flight on Sunday afternoon which would deliver me to LAS with plenty of time to pick up my badge and meet some friends for dinner. On Monday, I would go to Range Day in the morning, get back to my hotel in the early afternoon and get this blog post written before the main part of the show started on Tuesday morning. The show, after all, is what this trip is all about.

That long-lasting plan had me returning home on Friday night, and all would be well.

Then reality hit. All of my flights were scheduled on Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft owned by United Airlines. You might have heard about the little problem of 737-9 exit doors exiting unexpectedly last week on an Alaska Air flight. So, wait for it . . . All 737-9s in the United States have been grounded pending FAA inspections.

Now, I’m the first to agree that flight complications are way better than flights falling out of the sky, and my heart goes out to whoever is responsible for rescheduling the thousands of passengers on hundreds of grounded flights. But this is about me. After FIVE iterations of flights being canceled and rebooked only to have the rebooked flights also canceled, my non-stop trip to LAS turned into a two-stop trip that got me to the hotel after the restaurants had closed.

Yesterday, as I was leaving Range Day, United Airlines texted me with the news that all of my rescheduled return flights had been canceled, and that no seats–NO SEATS–were available to get me home before 11pm on SUNDAY night. And that solution came only after 90 minutes of sitting on hold and another 30 minutes of haggling with the UAL customer service people.

Now, I’m not a bitter or vindictive guy. I understand that stuff happens. But can we all agree that the CEOs of Boeing and United should be sent to prison to pay for the thousands of hours of inconvenience thrust upon travelers because of their cutting corners on quality control that could have gotten people killed? At the very least, isn’t it reasonable for the law to require that they must travel exclusively in the last middle seat at the rear of standard aircraft?

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About John Gilstrap

John Gilstrap is the New York Times bestselling author of Lethal Game, Blue Fire, Stealth Attack, Crimson Phoenix, Hellfire, Total Mayhem, Scorpion Strike, Final Target, Friendly Fire, Nick of Time, Against All Enemies, End Game, Soft Targets, High Treason, Damage Control, Threat Warning, Hostage Zero, No Mercy, Nathan’s Run, At All Costs, Even Steven, Scott Free and Six Minutes to Freedom. Four of his books have been purchased or optioned for the Big Screen. In addition, John has written four screenplays for Hollywood, adapting the works of Nelson DeMille, Norman McLean and Thomas Harris. A frequent speaker at literary events, John also teaches seminars on suspense writing techniques at a wide variety of venues, from local libraries to The Smithsonian Institution. Outside of his writing life, John is a renowned safety expert with extensive knowledge of explosives, weapons systems, hazardous materials, and fire behavior. John lives in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia.

11 thoughts on “Greetings From the SHOT Show”

  3. So sorry this happened to you. I was recently scheduled with United on a max 9 to fly to LA right after the Alaska Airlines debaucle. I was on pins and needles watching to see what would happen with my flight. By some miracle they were able to get another plane but it was smaller and I know we had people bumped from the flight. Watching the continuing cancellations, I realize how lucky I was my flight to LA happened at all.

  5. I don’t know about prison, but I like the idea that the CEOs of all airlines and airplane manufacturers should have to travel in the middle seat, back row for at least one year of travel. And their baggage should be put on another flight, never to be seen again. (Am I overreacting? 🙂 )

    I’m truly sorry for your travel problems, John, but you’ve given me an idea for a future post. Thank you, and have a safe trip home.

  6. Absolutely safety first, but this still stinks. I’m sorry you’ve had things upended like this, John. There needs to be consequences for these safety failures.

  9. Not to make light of your traveling travails, Mr. G, but my pop, who flew for Eastern Air Lines for nearly 35 years, always said, “Time to spare? Go by air…”

    And back when I smashed suitcases for EAL while in college, the late Frank Borman was President at the time. He (almost) always flew standby… sometimes it was first class, sometime it was steerage, er, coach… of course, he was a fighter pilot and astronaut, so cramped spaces were second nature for him I s’pose…

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