United Tells WW2 Zero Killer to Take an 8 hr Nap at LAX

pressclick

Well-Known Member
http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/...t-allegedly-bumped-from-honolulu-bound-flight

So I'm guessing everything is planned fuel-wise for the exact legal minimum of the alternate plus 45 minutes and 41 paying customers get left in the lurch if the slightest real chance of a hold, missed approach, or usage of an alternate arises?

Would using wide bodies on the route increase planning flexibility without sending PAX to the bar for eight hours where they inevitably get insanely drunk and end up canceling flights by fighting with flight attendants, getting arrested for doing obscene things with their sear partner, or simply passing out and snoring like a freight train and/or peeing on themselves?


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There's more to the story.

A domestic release and a transoceanic release differ greatly.

Granted, I haven't flown to Hawaii nor know what rules they operate under flying mainland to the island, but… How did they file? Straight ETOPS? One of the "exemptions"? Re-dispatch? Those all affect your fuel loads.


What was the weather at the alternates and destination airports? Did they need more fuel?

There's no roll call at the gate when they need to bump passengers or anything specifically 'special'. There's no, "We need to bump 40 single men that aren't also veterans. All of the single mothers traveling with children, war veterans, sweet old grandparents, cancer patients, journalists and people who will write angry letters to the DOT and such, go on about your business please!" :)
 
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There's more to the story.

A domestic release and a transoceanic release differ greatly.

Granted, I haven't flown to Hawaii nor know what rules they operate under flying mainland to the island, but… How did they file? Straight ETOPS? One of the "exemptions"? Re-dispatch? Those all affect your fuel loads.


What was the weather at the alternates and destination airports? Did they need more fuel?

There's no roll call at the gate when they need to bump passengers or anything specifically 'special'. There's no, "We need to bump 40 single men that aren't also veterans. All of the single mothers traveling with children, war veterans, sweet old grandparents, cancer patients, journalists and people who will write angry letters to the DOT and such, go on about your business please!" :)

As with the. Continental M.O. for that last several years, they put a 737 on this route. On another forum, they were talking about a MX issue the plane had that caused such a high restriction.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
There's more to the story.

A domestic release and a transoceanic release differ greatly.

Granted, I haven't flown to Hawaii nor know what rules they operate under flying mainland to the island, but… How did they file? Straight ETOPS? One of the "exemptions"? Re-dispatch? Those all affect your fuel loads.


What was the weather at the alternates and destination airports? Did they need more fuel?

There's no roll call at the gate when they need to bump passengers or anything specifically 'special'. There's no, "We need to bump 40 single men that aren't also veterans. All of the single mothers traveling with children, war veterans, sweet old grandparents, cancer patients, journalists and people who will write angry letters to the DOT and such, go on about your business please!" :)

Yeah. The only thing that matters in news today is click count and headlines like that one are sure to grab it. I've always maintained that being a vet is not an entitlement to special treatment. In my case, the government fulfilled their end of the contract, and I fulfilled mine. It's done.

More to the point, you just hear a lot about pressure to keep fuel load to a minimum to cut cost, and I wondered if this was an implicit indication of that. It seems to me that fully booking an airplane for a transoceanic flight knowing that any kind of weather concern is going to cause a significant # of PAX (41 out of approximately 150) to get bumped is starting to get pretty extreme.

I understand your point about the bump list being random, but veteran or not, stranding a 90 year old with diminished vision in a major airline terminal for 8 hours is strong medicine. There may be a broader point here about customer service in any industry over the last 50 years - tech support, emergency rooms, etc
 
It seems to me that fully booking an airplane for a transoceanic flight knowing that any kind of weather concern is going to cause a significant # of PAX (41 out of approximately 150) to get bumped is starting to get pretty extreme.

The weather out here that day was atrocious. I don't know what guys coming across the tracks were using for alternates, but everybody was getting beat up pretty badly on the way in.
 
Yeah. The only thing that matters in news today is click count and headlines like that one are sure to grab it. I've always maintained that being a vet is not an entitlement to special treatment. In my case, the government fulfilled their end of the contract, and I fulfilled mine. It's done.

More to the point, you just hear a lot about pressure to keep fuel load to a minimum to cut cost, and I wondered if this was an implicit indication of that. It seems to me that fully booking an airplane for a transoceanic flight knowing that any kind of weather concern is going to cause a significant # of PAX (41 out of approximately 150) to get bumped is starting to get pretty extreme.

I understand your point about the bump list being random, but veteran or not, stranding a 90 year old with diminished vision in a major airline terminal for 8 hours is strong medicine. There may be a broader point here about customer service in any industry over the last 50 years - tech support, emergency rooms, etc

It "depends"

I flew an aircraft from ABQ to ATL once that had a AC pack that was out and we were restricted to FL250. At FL250, we were going to burn a ridiculous amount of fuel so the decision was made (by people that wear ties to work that sit behind mahogany desks) to send the flight out, without some passengers and enough fuel to get back to ATL.

To the people inconvenienced, it must have seemed like the end of the world, but they weren't left along the bus stop in a dusty two-horse town in the middle of Oklahoma at 2am in a driving rain storm, they were in the terminal being re-booked on other flights to get them to their destination.

I don't know the ages of the people who were re-accomodated, but they were re-accomodated for sure. There were probably some elderly people, vets, children, etc.

Slicing through the sensational terms like "Zero Killer" and "8 hour nap", it seems like he was able to get re-accomodated the same day. Chances are, especially in LAX, there was a USO lounge and was most likely given a meal voucher or two or perhaps even the option to take a hotel voucher as a distressed passenger and try it again in the morning.

Social media is the devil in these circumstances because "United breaks guitars", "Delta kicked 50 passengers off a jet for a football team", "American kicked off blind man and his dog", "Air Tran booted school children off a jet", etc.

Half-told stories for maximum SEO.
 
I don't understand why United didn't ask for a volunteer to wait. I'm sure they would have got one person to give up their seat. United could have done better. It should have been resolved better.
 
How is this news?

Because of social media and the ability for "Generation Facebook" to opine from the comfort of their couches.

Click "like" if you support vets and think airlines are evil:
Screen Shot 2013-12-08 at 4.14.24 PM.png
 
I clicked like but it didn't do anything.
I want my money back.

Send me your credit card number and the three digital security code on the back and I'll re-credit your account…

HONEST!
 
There's more to the story.

A domestic release and a transoceanic release differ greatly.

Granted, I haven't flown to Hawaii nor know what rules they operate under flying mainland to the island, but… How did they file? Straight ETOPS? One of the "exemptions"? Re-dispatch? Those all affect your fuel loads.


What was the weather at the alternates and destination airports? Did they need more fuel?

There's no roll call at the gate when they need to bump passengers or anything specifically 'special'. There's no, "We need to bump 40 single men that aren't also veterans. All of the single mothers traveling with children, war veterans, sweet old grandparents, cancer patients, journalists and people who will write angry letters to the DOT and such, go on about your business please!" :)
I love this show:

http://vimeo.com/m/80115694
 
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