Airline Nightmare

[Beer Baron]

If you guessed the airline was Continental after reading the heading but before clicking on the link, you win a bucket of Abaco Sea water.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_nightmare_flight

...Though to be fair, it WAS one of their regional flight operators...:rolleyes:

[chestnc]

This is awful! It could have happened to any one of us. There absolutely needs to be a time limit for how long you sit in an airplane on a flight that has been delayed.

[BahamaAngie]

That was awful. Those vouchers would not mean anything after sitting there for six hours!!!!

[AbacoPeach]

Good Morning America aired the story this morning and interviewed one of the passengers. When they finally got to the terminal, the only thing that was offered to them was a beverage voucher!! A lot of the passengers had not eaten since approx. 14-16 hours!

[S/V Toucan Dream]

I wonder what would have happened had a diabetic gone into shock due to not eating?? There really should be a time limit set by law. They are walking a thin line, playing with people's health like that. I would have pulled out my cell phone and called 911 and told them I was being held against my will....kidnapped!!!!

[ceb123]

Happened to me 5 years ago on Continental. There was a weather delay and the plane circled Houston for an hour before they finally set us down in Lake Charles, Louisiana. By the way, there is no airport - just a strip. So we sat for 3 hours on that express jet, no food, water, etc. Bathroon smelly, kids crying, etc. One of the issues that came to light was that even though the weather delay was over, we were already a LATE arrival. So any plane that they could land ON TIME was priority. I think the only reason we finally got to Houston was that the passengers, including us, were close to mutiny. It was chaos on the plane. Not only that, but of course we missed all connecting flights, were delayed three days to get to our final destination and again - the only compensation we got - a meal voucher in Mexico City airport since it was a "weather delay."

Can you tell I'm still angry??? Have not flown Continental since.

[Patti Puzo]

We were stuck at the gate on our AA flight out of Miami for 3 hours this past June.
No explanation was given, except for a generic "equipment" comment, and then an hour later, a "luggage" comment. We kept hearing the cargo doors open and close, with items being loaded. Don't know what that was about.
Mark has had 2 back surgeries, and was cramping up, and his legs were going into spasms.
The only good that came from this incident was I hope he no longer insists on window seat. To make matters worse, they ran out of the very limited food items that they had on board, and still charged for. The flight was supposed to leave at 5:30, and we finally left just before 9pm.

[Alan Brown]

This flight was only stranded for 6 hours. I think the record may be held by some Jet Blue passengers who were stuck on a plane in for 11 hours at JFK in 2007.

Sure makes flying to Abaco look like a walk in the park.

[AbacoPeach]

GMA also said there was legislation waiting to be approved for a "Passengers' Rights" bill which limits the airlines to three hours maximum for passengers being detained on an aircraft. Sounds like common sense is definitely a thing of the past and not just in the airline industry!

[SamFamAustin]

It's tough, and sometimes not the airline's fault. A storm in Chicago or Boston can make planes wait on the ground in Houston. Many don't understand that, but clearance and flight plans are a problem and FAA's software isn't very adept to weather conditions.

I have all kinds of stories but one time we waited 2-3 hours in line to take off. We finally got traffic control to clear us. Up went the throttles, yay! Down went the throttle, boo!

"This is your captain. We burned up so much fuel taxiing and waiting we've got to go back to the terminal and get more fuel. We hope that next time the wait in line isn't so bad."

It was. :mad:
sammie

[MotuIti]

2008.........
Our flight home was one of those.. We arrived at the Continental / Gulfstream desk in Marsh Harbour and hour and a half before departure at 2:00. Nobody was in line - amazing so we promptly checked in and headed over to the airport restaurant for lunch and a last Kalik.
At 1:30 they announced that our flight was late to arrive at 2:40.
At 2:15 they said the flight would be late to arrive at 3:40.
At 3:15 they said the flight would be late to arrive at 4:40.
(at this point another Lauderdale flight arrives - and departs) At 4:15 they said the flight would be late to arrive at 5:40.
At 5:20 they said the flight HAD FINALLY TAKEN OFF and would be "late to arrive" at 6:25.
We eventually took off after 7. After clearing customs we had to take a buss to another terminal where we were booked on a 7AM flight to Tampa and issued our vouchers. We missed both Tampa Connections and were put up in a Holiday Inn along with everybody else on the 20 seater plane. Unfortunately the Holiday Inn dining room closed at 9:00 and more importantly their bar also (I really needed a Drink). Not to worry, we were told, our vouchers, also work at Denny's. I really needed a "Grand Slam".

I know, I should have rented a car and driven the 3 hours home.

-Sandy

[BahamaAngie]

Definitely would have rented the car and gone home!!! Enough was enough!!!