Posted on Jun 16, 2015
"United Airlines Customers Outraged After Being Put Up in Military Barracks"
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Originally published on nbcnews.com:
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United Airlines passengers expressed frustration on social media Saturday after their flight to London was diverted to Canada — and they were put up in army barracks for more than 20 hours.
According to outraged passengers, their flight from Chicago to London was diverted to Goose Bay, in Newfoundland, Canada, where they were put up overnight at a military base, while the flight staff stayed in hotels and was nowhere to be found.
"Once we landed there was nobody at all from United Airlines to be seen anywhere," passenger Lisa Wan told NBC News once she landed in London, 48 hours after her trip began. "No United representative ever reached out to anybody — no phone calls, no human beings, nothing. Nobody had any idea what was going on," she said.
"The crew must rest in order to continue the flight. You can rest on board the aircraft knowing that they are in charge," United wrote in a tweet to one disgruntled passenger.
Bob Chappell, who was also on the flight, said the lack of communication was especially infuriating because the accommodations were uncomfortable, and no one knew when they would be able to leave.
He said he and his wife shared a single bed, the couple shared a bathroom with the room next door and they "froze through the night because there wasn't any heat."
The average low temperature in the area has been 32 degrees this month, according to Weather.com.
United said in a statement that the flight had been diverted due to a "maintenance issue." The passengers were placed in the barracks because "hotel space was not available," according to the statement. United said they gave the travelers meals.
The customers were eventually flown to Newark, New Jersey, and departed for London from there on Sunday afternoon. The flight left Chicago at 5:26 p.m. (6:26 p.m. ET) Friday and landed in Goose Bay around 11:30 p.m. local time (10:30 p.m. ET), according to FlightAware.com.
The flight left Goose Bay for Newark at about 10 p.m. (9:00 p.m. ET) Saturday, and from there, flew to London where they arrived Saturday afternoon ET. The cost of their tickets will be refunded, the airline said.
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/united-airlines-customers-outraged-after-they-are-put-military-barracks-n375131
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United Airlines passengers expressed frustration on social media Saturday after their flight to London was diverted to Canada — and they were put up in army barracks for more than 20 hours.
According to outraged passengers, their flight from Chicago to London was diverted to Goose Bay, in Newfoundland, Canada, where they were put up overnight at a military base, while the flight staff stayed in hotels and was nowhere to be found.
"Once we landed there was nobody at all from United Airlines to be seen anywhere," passenger Lisa Wan told NBC News once she landed in London, 48 hours after her trip began. "No United representative ever reached out to anybody — no phone calls, no human beings, nothing. Nobody had any idea what was going on," she said.
"The crew must rest in order to continue the flight. You can rest on board the aircraft knowing that they are in charge," United wrote in a tweet to one disgruntled passenger.
Bob Chappell, who was also on the flight, said the lack of communication was especially infuriating because the accommodations were uncomfortable, and no one knew when they would be able to leave.
He said he and his wife shared a single bed, the couple shared a bathroom with the room next door and they "froze through the night because there wasn't any heat."
The average low temperature in the area has been 32 degrees this month, according to Weather.com.
United said in a statement that the flight had been diverted due to a "maintenance issue." The passengers were placed in the barracks because "hotel space was not available," according to the statement. United said they gave the travelers meals.
The customers were eventually flown to Newark, New Jersey, and departed for London from there on Sunday afternoon. The flight left Chicago at 5:26 p.m. (6:26 p.m. ET) Friday and landed in Goose Bay around 11:30 p.m. local time (10:30 p.m. ET), according to FlightAware.com.
The flight left Goose Bay for Newark at about 10 p.m. (9:00 p.m. ET) Saturday, and from there, flew to London where they arrived Saturday afternoon ET. The cost of their tickets will be refunded, the airline said.
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/united-airlines-customers-outraged-after-they-are-put-military-barracks-n375131
Posted in these groups: United Airlines
Barracks
Barracks
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 13
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Airlines have a responsibility for the safety of their passengers and their crew. Double standards regarding service and accommodations do not help already strained customer relations. While I am certain that the barracks were not as austere as sleeping in a hanger, putting the crew up elsewhere seems to create a privileged class. United should have put courtesy staff on the ground to help diffuse the situation. This is certainly a bad PR decision on united's part.
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What are the civilians complaining about? It was just one day in the barracks, which sounded kind of nice compared to some I have seen, military stay in those for months or even years.
Big babies!!!
Big babies!!!
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SGT Kristin Wiley
Even if the barracks did not have heat, I have no doubt military members would still be forced to occupy them for much longer than one night.
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CW3 (Join to see)
One they are civilians being thrust into an environment they are not used too not seek.
Two, there is some legal issues here the airline will have to answer for because the "carriage contract" (the ticket envelopes they give you have it on them)
Two, there is some legal issues here the airline will have to answer for because the "carriage contract" (the ticket envelopes they give you have it on them)
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SSG (ret) William Martin
CW3 (Join to see) - Perhaps the airline should give them all a prepaid debit card for one nights stay in a hotel room.
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COL Jeff Williams
They did not have the expectation to spend the night in the cold barracks. That is not what they paid for
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Goose Bay is a NATO base used for military transient aircraft flying to or from Europe. I will say that the barracks are not the newest but are clean and well maintained. The dining halls are very good, but there is little to do there. No TV channels have you at your own devices. I agree they needed to move the crew so they were not always being bothered and able to comply with crew rest regulations. I would have been helpful for a rep to deal with the passengers but it sounds like there was not much information to give out. People have to understand things happen, and not everywhere has places to pamper them at. It could have been a hanger and cots also.
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Reminds me of a story my brother told me when he was in Iraq in about 2004. they were billeted in a damaged Iraqi barracks and were co located with US Air Force airmen. He was told by one of them that they received extra pay because they were in what was considered substandard housing, something those in the Army did not receive.
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Maybe I'm way off base here, but I have no problem with the crew getting hotels. Especially the front end. Ultimately the crew is responsible for the safety of the plane, so if they aren't well rested it could create a safety problem. The biggest problem I have with what happened is that there was no liaison or something to help coordinate the passengers. United should have provide someone to fill that role.
As far as the passengers go, they need to chill. If hotels weren't available for all of the passengers this seemed like a decent alternative.
As far as the passengers go, they need to chill. If hotels weren't available for all of the passengers this seemed like a decent alternative.
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MSgt Gerald Bowden
The pictures of the barracks I saw looked just like the one I stayed in for 5 months while I was stationed at Goose Bay. I was there from March to the end of August and they were not all bad. Having to share the bathroom with just one other room was better than with the whole floor. There should have been a representative from the airline there. Considering the locationlocation, I think it could have been worse.
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Poor babies ! Get over it !
They can see what the troops deal with
24/7/365(6)
They can see what the troops deal with
24/7/365(6)
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No reason to bitch for sleeping in barracks. The crew sleeping elsewhere is a reason to bitch.
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The flight attendants should have stayed in the barracks with the customers. Maybe the pilots can get away with needing higher end establishments. No one with UA there to deal with issues was just wrong.
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