Part 1: Hot flight
I had a two-part flight to Salt Lake City; the first leg of the journey was rough. It was five hours in a hot plane with a manspreading beside me. The flight should have left around 4:00 PM, but it sat in 100F weather for an hour, fully loaded with people, and the window shades up. The plan never really cooled off. As for the Manspreader, he sat next to me with his leg in my limited legroom. I then had to calculate: is it worth saying something and spending 5 hours next to a disgruntled passenger? Given the many stories I’ve read about unruly passengers losing their minds and causing plane delays, I figured it wasn’t worth it.
The delay of the hot flight decreased the layover time from over an hour to less than 45 minutes. The cabin crew asked everyone with non-connecting flights to let the others go first; it is no surprise that no one listened, and it somehow took longer to deplane than average. A few of us then had to make a 20-minute dash from one end of the airport to another, which included a 5 min train ride to reach terminal C. I made it in time and was given a great view of my troubles.
Sunset from Denver Airport, the pink clouds reflected in the wing, was a great detail I noticed after taking the photos. The golden hour light stayed with us the entire flight; the Rocky Mountains looked like pitched playdough from our view in the sky.
Travel Tip: Try to fly out in the morning; delays can stack up as the day goes on