United Airlines Apologizes To Passengers Who Slept In Canadian Military Barracks

[jnelsoninjax]

United Airlines has apologized and refunded fares to customers whose flight from Chicago to London was grounded on Friday due to a maintenance issue, forcing them to spend the night in Canadian military barracks.

People aboard the flight say the company put its 11 crew members up in a hotel after an emergency landing in Goose Bay, Canada, while the 176 passengers were bused to the Goose Bay Air Base. There, they say, they spent the night in cold military barracks and weren't updated on their flight status.

"Once we landed there was nobody at all from United Airlines to be seen anywhere," Lisa Wan, a passenger aboard Flight 958, told NBC News. "No United representative ever reached out to anybody -- no phone calls, no human beings, nothing. Nobody had any idea what was going on."

Another passenger, Lois Harper, confirmed to CNN they weren't adequately informed of what was happening, and that the accommodations were sparse.

"While there was a bed, there were no blankets ... and there was no heating in the particular barracks building I was assigned to," Harper said, adding there also weren't any towels. Per CNN, the overnight low was in the 30s and passengers weren't allowed access to their checked bags. The passengers spent about 22 hours on the ground.

In a tweet that has since been deleted, United told passengers its crew members were put up in a hotel because "the crew must rest in order to continue the flight. You can rest on board the aircraft knowing that they are in charge," according to Canada's National Post.

The next day, United provided breakfast for the passengers, who were flown to Newark, New Jersey. The passengers then boarded a new flight for London Heathrow Airport that arrived on Sunday.

There weren't enough hotel rooms in Goose Bay for passengers, so the company turned to the local military base instead, a United spokeswoman said in an email to The Huffington Post.

"We apologize to our customers for the disruption, and we recognize this was a considerable inconvenience, so we will be refunding their tickets to London and providing additional compensation," she wrote.

Following the outcry from passengers, Jamie Snook, mayor of Happy Valley-Goose Bay, has defended the base and its accommodations, noting the town took in quite a few people who were stranded after Sept. 11.

[Dinggus]

Barracks aren't bad, I agree with the mayor. But, I'd be pretty upset about not having any information provided.

[Intersect]

Wow thats crappy customer service, 1st they duck out on the bug bounty with an issue that they were told about (see here)

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/06/10/united_airlines_accounts_open_to_mass_lockouts/%C2"'> and now this, what will they do next.?

 

and as for the final quote WTF, you cannot expect customer to "put up" with that when your staff are sleeping in a nice warm hotel for the night,

it wouldn't have broken the bank accounts of united to accommodate the customers in a hotel

[Mr. Gibs]

Wow thats crappy customer service, 1st they duck out on the bug bounty with an issue that they were told about (see here)

and now this, what will they do next.?

 

and as for the final quote WTF, you cannot expect customer to "put up" with that when your staff are sleeping in a nice warm hotel for the night,

it wouldn't have broken the bank accounts of united to accommodate the customers in a hotel

1. There weren't enough hotel rooms in the city. Goose Bay isn't some huge metropolitan city, it's a tiny town way up north. It says it right there in the article.

2. To be honest, I'd rather the pilots and staff sleep better. They're the ones that will be doing all the work the next day and it's not like it was their fault. Considering how much crap they have to put up with on a daily basis, I'd be happy to let them stay in a hotel.

3. The final quote wasn't from the airline, it was from the mayor of the city.

[Draggendrop Veteran]

The Military base is kind of a "last chance to land" before crossing the "pond"....and the local people there are super friendly.....and barracks being barracks when no training is going on at that time....I think the airline should have had a rep to round up supplies....they would have been there....miss-communication maybe...

 

 

 

5 Wing Goose Bay (IATA: YYR, ICAO: CYYR) (also known as Canadian Forces Base Goose Bay or CFB Goose Bay), is a Royal Canadian Air Force base located within the municipality of Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador. 5 Wing Goose Bay's mission is to support the Canadian Forces and allies in training and defence of North American airspace.[2] 5 Wing Goose Bay's airfield is also used by civilian aircraft, with civilian operations at the base referring to the facility as Goose Bay Airport. The airport is classified as an airport of entry by NAV CANADA and is staffed by the Canada Border Services Agency. CBSA officers at this airport currently can handle general aviation aircraft only, with no more than 15 passengers. The base is the home of 444 Combat Support Squadron and also serves as a forward operating location for RCAF CF-18 Hornet interceptors when on alert.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CFB_Goose_Bay

 

[Brian M. Veteran]

That's what airlines do in these situations. I was stranded in Chicago last year for 26 hours and not once did an AA rep actually try to help - the moment a flight was cancelled they all walked away from the gate!

[Tomoko]

What a Canadian military barracks might look like

[Draggendrop Veteran]

What a Canadian military barracks might look like

/s............Ahhhh!........   You've been there.........Cheers.........

 

We only have 1.5 planes and here is our pilot.......Bubbles.....

 

 

His cousins live down the road from the ice hanger....

 

[FloatingFatMan]

"While there was a bed, there were no blankets ... and there was no heating in the particular barracks building I was assigned to," Harper said, adding there also weren't any towels. Per CNN, the overnight low was in the 30s and passengers weren't allowed access to their checked bags. The passengers spent about 22 hours on the ground.

 

We all understand that sometimes, stuff just happens, but there's no excuse at all for not providing blankets, towels and turning the heating on... These weren't soldiers, they were paying passengers.  I know it's common for folks to get treated like cattle, but even cattle get better accommodation than troops!

[vanx]

Based on an account by a person who was actually on this flight, there are several things that do not sit well with me:

 

1. Captain and crew did not notify all pax about the replacement plane being delayed due to maintenance (you would think that they would pick a plane that works!).

 

2. Pax had to be flown to Newark (yes, back in the US) instead of continuing on from Goose Bay. Apparently, nobody told them why.

 

3. A flight from Newark to Heathrow -- a totally separate flight with its own lot of pax -- was cancelled to make room for the flight of people who flew back from Goose Bay.

 

4. On arrival into Newark, things were a mess operationally: ticketing and bag re-check.

 

5. Some people from that cancelled flight were rebooked on the special flight of people who came over from Goose Bay. Naturally, this caused a havoc.

 

Anyone for a holiday in Goose Bay? I hear that the beer is good there