SAN ANTONIO, Texas – I’ve always wanted to visit San Antonio. But not like this.

I was stuck on the airfield of Texas’ second-largest city earlier this month, on a flight diverted from Dallas due to severe storms.

Overall, it was a pretty miserable experience – trapped inside a long metal tube with a couple hundred strangers, with scarce food and scarcer answers.

There were a few highlights, however, including an American Airlines crew that did its best to keep a pack of impatient passengers (myself included) from losing our cool, and fresh pizza delivered at 30,000 feet.

The U.S. Department of Transportation reports that there were more than 12,000 diversions in 2024 – that’s more than 30 every day.

Most are due to unpredictable weather, although on-board medical emergencies and mech

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