On the way to a conference in Phoenix, Arizona, on 18th May 2010 I flew with US Airways. Owing to a volcanic ash cloud from Iceland, the departure of my outgoing first-stage flight, Dublin to Philadelphia, was delayed by three hours. This would have made it impossible to make my original connecting flight from Philadelphia to Phoenix, but I was efficiently provided with a boarding pass for a later flight to Phoenix. However, while the first flight arrived in good time, at Phoenix there was a waiting period of more than an hour for checked baggage to arrive at the baggage hall. Many of my co-passengers had been transferring to connecting flights and a number, like me, missed them because of the excessive wait in the baggage hall. I was sorry that I had not compressed my baggage into one carry-on case. For the return trip I did so.
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