T'was the evening of June 16th. It was one of those evening when you are trying to catch a flight, when there is something telling you, you should simply cancel and return home. I started the evening, trying to take a flight, UA6432 to San Francisco, with a connection (UA5359) to Monterey CA. My friend in Monterey told me not to eat as she had prepared a special dinner for me… The time was about 4:30 pm, and the evening started by my going to the wrong terminal to pick up my flight. After having to catch a ride to the correct terminal and getting through security, I asked the gate agent if there is anyway one can tell which terminal a "United Express" flight would leave or arrive from… His answer was anything but reassuring - "If it goes through San Francisco, it leaves terminal 1, if it goes through LA it goes through the commuter terminal" he responded - until they change it.. Funny, I noticed the flight after mine was listed in the commuter terminal going to San Francisco - It must be anyone's guess - and the info does not appear to be anywhere online.
Once I get to Terminal 1, the Ticketing personnel tells me that the flight is delayed inbound as the plane coming in is late.. Ok, I have time, I thought - I was scheduled for a layover in San Francisco anyway - for about an hour and a half. I peered over at the departures listing - there was no delay listed. I looked at the Gate agent pointing that out - and he told me the departure/arrivals displays were not updating properly.. Instead, I queried my iPhone periodically to check the status of the flight. The plane finally arrived, in time to hopefully make my connection. We boarded the plane; I took my seat in the back alongside the flight attendant - Anna I believe her name was. I asked her what the issue was with the plane - and she said that it was held up for mechanical problems, but the "starter" (I don't remember the technical name of the component) finally got the engine going and they were able to get to San Diego. Turned out Ann was actually a licensed pilot so she knew more about planes than your typical flight attendant. We all got settled in our seats, and the plane backed out of the gate onto the tarmac - only making it a few hundred feet before the pilot realizes he can't get the number two engine started. He tries and tries… no luck. His voice echos over the speaker, telling us that he has a problem, and that he has called maintenance, and that hopefully they can get this engine started, and we can get on our way. Minutes later, his voice, in an un-encouraging tone, discusses the fact that they may have to make a decision to tow us back to the gate, and deplane.. About another 30 minutes pass before we are told that we will have to deplane and arrange for booking another flight.
The first people off the plane, lined up at the gate to work with gate agents who more than had their hands filled. They told those of us towards the back of the plane to go out to the main ticket windows in the "Departures" area (back through security) to work with the agents there to get re-booked. There were probably 20 or so people in front of me in the ticket line - when one of the representatives told us, if we had a cell phone, to try to rebook are flights by calling 1-800-UNITED1. I dialed the number on my cell - to get a representative probably from India. I tried to explain my predicament to him, and gave him my confirmation number for my current aborted flight.
UA Agent: You want to cancel this flight?
me: No - the flight never took off - I need to re-book the flight -
I will take any flights that will get me to Monterey tonight
UA Agent: You want to cancel this flight?
me: No - The flight never took off- I need to re-book the flight
UA Agent: I see you have a connection leaving San Francisco in 30 minutes..
Do you want to cancel it?
me: How in the world do you think I can get to San Francisco to make the connection?
My first flight was aborted.. cancelled - never flew.
UA Agent: Do you want to cancel the connection?
me: YES
UA Agent: Now how else may I help you
me: I need to rebook the entire flight from San Diego to Monterey
UA Agent: One moment,…. Please hang on - I will be back with you in a minute
Twenty minutes pass by - and finally a dial tone. By this time I finally was at the front of the line of people waiting to get their flights re-booked. I walked up to the agent and explained I would take any flights through any city to get to Monterey tonight. The agent answers the phone ringing in front of him… and turns to me..
UA Desk Agent: You're in luck - the plane you were on originally apparently has been repaired and
will be leaving tonight… shortly after the next normally scheduled flight. Would you
like me to reserve a seat on it?
me: Can I make the connection to Monterey - the last flight of the night there; Is there room?
He checks with the computer - to see about the seat availability and to see if I can make the connection.
UA Desk Agent: Yes there is room on it.. and you should be able to make the connection if
the flight leaves on time.
me: Go ahead and book me on it..
The agent returns with a series of tickets.
UA Desk Agent: Here is your ticket to Monterey at 10:20pm, and a stand-by ticket for the next flight.
The original flight/plane kept its flight number, and the seat assignments had not been changed
for those of us who had decided to stay and try to fly on it, so it was assumed that its boarding
pass would be accepted (the people who rebooked inside the gate - never were given new boarding
passes). I then headed to the security area. I show the security person the boarding pass - and they
notice that the time of the flight was earlier this evening and told me that the boarding pass was invalid.
I then showed him the stand by ticket and they let me through.
When I arrived at the gate (which was essentially the same gate as before) I saw the list of Stand-by's - Some of those who were sitting more closely to the front of the plane managed to actually get on the next scheduled flight - but there were 17 of us on stand by…
8:30 came and went - as the next scheduled flight now as showing as delayed with regard it its arrival. My previously scheduled "plane" was still visible in front of the gate awaiting the next arrival which was to be parked in the immediately adjacent gate. Now both the next scheduled flight, and my flight showed on the display as being delayed.
I watched the clock tick off the minutes, and started to realize that I didn't think I would make
my last connection to Monterey. I waited in line, to talk to the gate agent about canceling all together,
going home, and coming back tomorrow. When I finally got to talk with him, he assured me, as he did
many other's there that if we didn't make our connecting flights, that United would put us up in a
hotel in San Francisco. I talked to the person next to me… well - if we go tonight, we only will have to make the last leg of our journey in the morning instead of risking problems of the entire flight tomorrow… I ran over to the terminal's sandwich shop, to grab a quick sandwich, in that I didn't see
any hope in getting my special dinner and didn't know when next I would have an opportunity to get something to eat...
I think it was about 9:30 when the scheduled 8:30 flight boarded and took off. Shortly afterwords, after having a bunch of Delta mechanics re-inspect our plane - called for the boarding of the plane originally scheduled for 5:30pm. As I attempted to board,I showed the agent my paperwork - which was missing the boarding pass I had originally - as it had been taken by Security as the time on the pass read 5:30. I had to step aside - and have another boarding pass printed - and re-boarded the plane to find the same crew onboard.
Nice meeting you again - I said to Anna, as I took my familiar seat in the back of the plane. The plane backed away from the gate, and started to roll towards the runway when it stopped again. The speaker, worn out from use, vibrated with the voice of the frustrated pilot - well we have two engines working - but we have red light on the panel. We will have to call the mechanics back to clear this red light before we can take off. The mechanics come to our plane, check it out, one last time, and we finally are given the go for takeoff. Finally we take to the air..
The flight went pretty smoothly - nothing out of the ordinary… although by this time, everybody on the flight almost knew one another. The lights of San Francisco were coming into view.. It was almost midnight when we landed. The plane rolled to the gate, and upon connecting to the gate, alarms rang off and the lights in the cabin flashed on and off, at about 1 second intervals. Thank god no one had epilepsy… It never stopped even as we got off the plane. Smoke could be seen from the side of the plane- apparently something about the connector from the gate to the plane had malfunctioned - at least we were told it wasn't the plane that was on fire.
We walked into the vacant terminal as there were no more scheduled flights that evening. Those of us who had connections that we missed were told to go to the customer service area in the terminal to speak to the United Agents there. The agent stood up in front of all of us to tell us that there were no more rooms to be found in San Francisco, and that United would be providing us a form, to reimburse us for up to $65 for a room for the night, but that they could not find us rooms; they had problems even the flight crew rooms, as they weren't expecting the flight crew to require rooms in San Francisco (they were supposed to stay at where their connecting flights would have taken them). One lady, was so peeve'd as to say that they were asking for a class action suit in that we were promised that United would put us up at a hotel - otherwise we would have stayed in San Diego. All I could think of was Jack Lemon, from the Out of Towner's movie asking for their employee ID, and telling them to his attorney would be contacting them.
I ran down the terminal, with my blank form in hand, and caught up with the flight crew who by this time I knew really well. I asked Ann what hotel United had put them up at… It turns out she was already on the phone with them, awaiting confirmation… She asked the hotel desk clerk if there were any rooms left - he replied - only one. She told him to expect a call from me as soon as she hung up. I took out my phone, and dialed the number… as the rest of the flight crew continued their journey out of the terminal… After what seemed an eternity - must of let the phone ring 20 times.. the hotel desk finally answered… I asked about the room. He said that it cost me $100 plus tax, whether or not I was single. I'll take it I thought.. again images of the Out of Towner's came to mind… and quickly thumbed through my wallet for my credit card.
After I gave the desk my credit card number - he said - you need to hurry - the last hotel shuttle leaves
the terminal at exactly midnight. "Where do I go?" I asked - I am not familiar with San Francisco Airport. I just was so so lucky - since the hotel shuttle buses didn't leave from the Ground Transportation area - They were actually on a different floor, and I got to the shuttle just as it was closing its doors.. Heaven knows what the other people ended up doing. Inside the shuttle were the entire flight crew.
The shuttle headed out to the hotel. It must have taken at least 15 minutes to drive there - and the flight crew (and I) were concerned as to how quickly we could get back to catch our flights in the AM. United Airlines had booked me on their first flight to Monterey which required me to catch the 6am shuttle (it is now 12:30am) to get to the airport in time. The flight crew talked with the desk clerk and United Staffing to work out when they had to leave.. The desk clerk appeared to be more than abiding to the crew as he looked at it as an opportunity of getting the airline to use the hotel more regularly - and offered them a free taxi, so to not have to depend upon the hourly shuttle.. United's management negotiated with the staff- a departure of 7am or so… since they couldn't work by law… but they really wouldn't get much sleep… instead of working, they were told they would simply have to be passengers upon a plane to their next destination where they would have to work - I guess so to meet with the letter of the law - but I don't think the were really rested- nor do I think the law meant for the staff to be awake during their "rest period". The crew headed to their rooms… and I to mine…
The next morning, I awoke early to blaring cell phone alarm, and I quickly turned off the ringer to hopefully spare anyone else from waking up. I showered and ran downstairs to hopefully get some coffee and a danish (continental breakfast was supposed to be included).. The hotel clerk told me coffee wasn't ready yet - when the shuttle arrived at the door early. I couldn't wait for breakfast since the shuttle ran hourly and waiting for the next one might result in my missing my flight. The trip to the airport went faster than the trip to the hotel. Once at the airport, the auto check-in machines failed to process my ticket so I was forced to speak to the ticketing staff with regard to the fact that I was not originally booked on the flight. They finally issued me a ticket... Security inspection thankfully went smoothly. At last I thought I was on my way to Monterey... I went to go pull out my cell phone to contact my friend and tell her I was on my way - when I discovered my Cell phone (my iPhone) was missing… What else could go wrong I thought.. I went through everything - couldn't find it.. Wondered if I left it at security… I ran in the "Wireless Shop" and asked about whether someone turned it in- and then asked about whether there was a Wireless network accessible anywhere (I knew calling the phone wouldn't work because I had turned off the ringer - my luck!). She told me about the Free WiFi in the airport, so I took out my computer- and ran the Find My iPhone program - and thankfully it indicated that indeed my phone was in my terminal… turned out my phone was hidden in a bathroom kit. Thankfully Apple's Find My iPhone override's the mute setting on the phone, alerting to me as to where the phone actually was. Yes I finally made it to Monterey.
I will be sending in my form for my reimbursement for my hotel room tomorrow. I am praying that United Airlines reimburses me for the full amount of my room - especially since the room I had was just like those rooms given to the flight crew. I had also been delayed more than once by mechanical issues which resulted in this whole fiasco. I will be updating my blog as to what happened with United, in terms of how long they take to respond, how much they reimbursed me for, if anything.. I can't help but wonder what happened to all the other people who missed their connection... United Airlines certainly wasn't going to help them out - and I caught the last hotel shuttle - what a mess.
In conclusion, When flying in the Third World - ie with United Airlines - keep in mind the following:
1) When making a flight that makes a connection - book a seat closer to the front of the
plane so you are first off when it fails to take off.
2) NEVER believe a gate or ticket agent who tells you the airline will put you up in a hotel if your flight has mechanical problems.
3) Check the fine print in the "Carriage Contract" - it appears as if United Airlines lists a whole bunch of cities (probably every city they fly connections thru) as a city that they will not be responsible for putting people in hotels if the passenger has to stay there due to rescheduling.
4) When it comes to meeting with FAA compliance, United Airlines plays it to a fine line... Section 2-6-6, paragraph 4 (updated Jan 11th, 2011) of the FAA guidelines (publication JO 7210.3W CHG 2) , requires that at least an 8-hour break be taken between the time work ends, to the start of any subsequent shift be it operational or non-operational. It appears as if United Airlines is requiring their staff to be on a plane for another assignment (as a passenger) without the 8 hour minimum. I Don't know about you - but I don't sleep real well when flying as a passenger.