Who does not remember the times when many airlines traveled with colossal delays.

Faded images of a very distant past.

Now there is a race to ensure punctuality and compliance with the schedules, as they say in the jargon, "scheduled".

For many years, especially with the advent of low-cost carriers, it often happens that the flight arrives even earlier, an aspect that is not secondary and much appreciated by travelers.

This phenomenon also happened on Wednesday night to the aircraft coming from Fiumicino , which landed at the Olbia airport 15 minutes before the scheduled time , according to the story of Angela Asara, mother of two children (8 and 12 years old) who were supposed to travel on that one. airplane.

Angela's children were part of a group of 27 little tennis players with three chaperones, who left for Rome to attend the International Tennis Championships taking place in the capital.

The return from the wonderful experience had been organized for 11 May with Volotea 's Fiumicino-Olbia flight at 20.50 .

Unfortunately the inconveniences of the traffic of the big cities force the Gallura group to a daring arrival at Leonardo Da Vinci Airport.

I have boarding passes, no baggage to stow and a lot of anguish for the passing of the minutes. The rules are clear: the boarding gate closes 15 minutes before take-off .

A first part of the group manages to arrive a few seconds before the gate closes to check the boarding passes, the others follow after a few minutes, they are a bit behind because of the security checks .

There is bewilderment because the climate at the gate is not the best: the doors are closing and the party risks being divided.

The first arrivals decide to carry out the check to report the situation to the crew. Upon entering the aircraft, they inform the hostesses that the rest of the party is arriving within a few minutes.

Commander Enrico Marion is inflexible : the plane is closing the doors and the regulation is clear, the decision to disembark or leave for passengers.

One of the companions and the first seven children who arrived on time just have to leave the plane and have the door of the plane barred in front of their eyes. Soon the others arrive but the disaster is complete.

The night is spent on the Peninsula: bitterness, bewilderment and anger prevail, but the Commander's decision seems unable to be opposed.

It was the penultimate flight of the day to the Costa Smeralda, no connection to guarantee on arrival nor inconvenience for other passengers since the real travel time is usually less than what is indicated in the ticket: because all this rush to close the doors , the parents wondered incredulously, because, in their opinion, it was a matter of no more than 300 seconds .

Mamma Angela, a former employee of Air Italy, tried them all: she went to Olbia at the airport and Geasar, the management company of the Gallura airport , followed the story step by step.

Many went out of their way to try to resolve the situation, but the crew applied the rules to the letter .

The Volotea operational team found a hotel near the Eternal City for the unfortunate patrol of small sportsmen, which was sold out in all the structures, and the relative transfer for the night and the following day for the return to the airport, all at cargo of the company of Carlos Munoz.

Not only that, the group was forced to travel to Alghero as the flights to Olbia the next day were complete. Another unexpected trip to the Catalan port that the group would have gladly avoided.

And the Spanish company has also taken on the transfer from Alghero to Olbia in order to alleviate the discomfort of these very young passengers who will remember for a long time a bad experience on the routes of territorial continuity .

Some parents have hired a lawyer to report the incident and the behavior of Commander Marion to the Procuratorate of Tempio and there could be developments.

This time the early arrival in Olbia was not as welcome as usual.

Was it really worth it?

LP

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