Airline Horror Stories

Just got back from Vegas today, was supposed to fly in last night but due to a mechanical issue with plane it was canceled which left the wife and I scrambling to find a hotel. Luckily we did, the south point which to my surprise is a decent hotel 15 minutes from the airport. Got up at 4 am to make it through security to board the plane at 630am to which we are told there are too many passengers for the next flight and they need 6 passengers to give up their seats or the plane wasn’t going to take off. Their offer was a 400 dollar voucher for a flight on a later date which no one took. Made its way all the way up to 1000$ with no takers. Then they decided to roll out the larger plan and fly us out 2 hours after our original departure time after the threat of not letting anyone fly out didn’t work and after being canceled on the night before. Our fault I know for traveling on a holiday but it was a surprise bday trip for me which I knew nothing about and my wife goes back to school this week so only time for her to go. Doubt I’ll fly again… maybe ever.

Not surprising and it wasn’t the holiday weekend that caused the problems. It’s a lack of pilots. I’m guessing there were no mechanical issues but rather it was lack of pilots. As a passenger what would anger you LESS, for safety reasons you were delayed, or they didn’t have pilots?

Dutchboy wrote:

Not surprising and it wasn’t the holiday weekend that caused the problems. It’s a lack of pilots. I’m guessing there were no mechanical issues but rather it was lack of pilots. As a passenger what would anger you LESS, for safety reasons you were delayed, or they didn’t have pilots?

they had pilots they waited on plane last night til they timed out. Watched them walk off plane. Allegiant airlines. What pisses me off was the “ planes not leaving til 6 people forfeit flight” bs that went on for 2 hours this morning. Felt held hostage for not our problem.

Fly the friendly sky’s.

Why do they schedule flights when no pilots are available? They have to be able to plan better than they are. B’stards.

that sucks. i remember the last time i had to fly was to Jamaica like 20 years ago. never have i been more uncomfortable sweat dripping from my head down my entire body in a seat big enough for a small child.

i told the wife that if i was ever to fly again, it would be in first class or i am not going. not my thing then and now

eyeguy507 wrote:

that sucks. i remember the last time i had to fly was to Jamaica like 20 years ago. never have i been more uncomfortable sweat dripping from my head down my entire body in a seat big enough for a small child.

i told the wife that if i was ever to fly again, it would be in first class or i am not going. not my thing then and now

yep I’m done lol, I can say I saw vegas for what it’s worth but I told wife for her 40th she getting a cabin up north.

Nothing like having the taxpayers bail out airlines only to have them urine on your shoes. Sorry, that sucks.

The author Jim Harrison once said “The only way flying could be any worse would be if they towed you behind the plane in a gunny sack full of guts”.

It looks like the situation has gotten even worse.

SR

Netguy wrote:

Why do they schedule flights when no pilots are available?

This is the part that kind of lacks common sense to me too. If there aren’t enough bodies, simmer down on the number of flights being scheduled. I think a lot of flights are scheduled months in advance but I’m sure the situation isn’t going to get any better in the near future.

If you’re flying around a major holiday, expect delays. That’s the reality right now. Sort of like trying to take a flight in or out of O’Hare in Chicago. The norm is not on time.

Did you hear the rumors there was a delta over book flight that was offering 10K for staying back. Yeah I would defiantly do that one lol.

Pitter patter wrote:

Their offer was a 400 dollar voucher for a flight on a later date which no one took.

$400, I’ll pass. I want $10k!

http://www.fox29.com/news/delta-reportedly-paid-passengers-10k-to-leave-oversold-flight

-J.

Last fall we got in 3 hours early for our flight. By the time we got the rental car checked back in and thru the line we were only 1 hour and 45 min early at the check in talking to the lady. Was told we were too late to make the flight since there was not enough staff to get us thru everything in that amount of time. Had to stay the night.

Pitter patter wrote:

Allegiant airlines

This is like buying a Tracker from BPS and saying all boats suck

Glad we did our traveling during our younger years. No longer have a desire to get on a plane and go somewhere. Sitting in an airport and then sitting on a plane for hours and hours is about the worst thing I can imagine…

Our son was married on June 18, honeymoon plans were a trip to Italy and Croatia. Kids made it from Minneapolis to Boston as planned on June 29. While in the air Delta cancelled their flight from Boston to Rome, scheduled them to leave from Boston June 29 at 6 p.m. That flight was also cancelled. Delta put them up in a hotel near Boston harbor. First flight on June 30 cancelled, they caught a later flight. Missed their prepaid tours of the Coliseum and the Vatican. They are taking the train to Florence, driving around Tuscany. Hopefully their commuter flights to and from Split work out, especially uncertain about their flight back from Rome on Delta. Worst part about it is that the kid works for Delta. They are flying on tickets, not passes or it would be even worse.

I was a Guardian on an Honor Flight in April. We were delayed over an hour on departure and return. Keep in mind this was a chartered flight, with little TSA screening for the most part. Caused the Vets to miss one stop in DC. And made for a 20+ hour day for a bunch of 80-year-old veterans. If they can’t get their sh&t together for a plane load of veterans. We shouldn’t expect much different.
Most times I’d stand down for $1,000 or $1,500. If they would cover layover expenses. {Not sleeping in the airport.} Especially now that I’m retired.

This one really burned me… we took off late from Maui to Seattle, because we had to “wait” for a couple passengers that were coming on the plane. We waited over 20 minutes… I had a connecting in Seattle that we had 30 minutes to catch… the pilot said he would “make up” the 20 minutes in flight. We got to Seattle, about 10 minutes late… then waited for a gate for 10 minutes. My wife and I ran to our next gate, arriving with 5 minutes to spare… to watch the plane pushing off early !!! I don’t get triggered easily, but when we went to the counter and asked what was going on with the door closed and plane pushing back, she said, you are late… I pointed at the big clock behind her and it was still 3 minutes to departure. She then said… well the plane was already full, there were no empty seats !!!

Airlines credo is “if you don’t like it, walk.”

bigfatcroixbaby wrote:

I just don’t get it. We hear these horror stories every single night on the news; we all know there’s a pilot shortage; we’ve seen people standing in long lines since 9-11; it’s no secret the airline industry is one of the worst service industries when it comes to comfort and overall satisfaction, and YET you still see millions of people buy a ticket KNOWING FULL WELL they could be subjected to some or all of the above. I understand HAVING to go someplace, but why shoot yourself in the foot if you don’t have to?!? Stay home, starve the airlines back into treating you right, and fly when times get better. Otherwise STFU about your horrible airline story because I will never feel sorry for you. You’re dumb, you know better, and yet you still flew..

Good grief calm down dude.

Count me in the large majority of flyers who’ve had relatively lil issues.

Taking those chances are well worth it.

She then said… well the plane was already full, there were no empty seats !!

I have only flown a few times in my life but this is what I don’t understand. How the hell can the plane be full if you are not on it and have your tickets in hand.
The whole point of making a reservation (buying tickets) is to reserve your spot on the plane. How do they fill your spot (early no less) without some sort of compensation?

Knock on wood, haven’t had any major issues. Luggage lost on 2 occasions, both times had it delivered to my door within 24 hours.

I don’t fly a lot. Prepare for the worst when I do. If you can’t handle being inconvenienced then you pretty much can’t handle flying these days. The inconveniences are worth it when you’re going to experience a new place that isn’t feasible to drive.

The world is a big place. I love calling MN home and there’s a lot to enjoy here, but I’m not going to live my life inside a bubble just because there’s a chance I’ll be inconvenienced.

Just flew back from New York with Delta. No problems either way. Way back even got to go stand by on a 3 hour earlier flight that I got on.

I flew first class bthe only 2 times I’ve flown and I thought it was pretty neat. Both times to Vegas. We had a blast watched movies on the plane rides, they were smooth sailing. We got on right away and had no issues.
I choose not to fly 99 percent of the time. We like road trips, you get to see the country for what it is and all the beauty you wouldn’t see otherwise.

I only have the one horror story, the other couple dozen times I have flown, have been good, I mean hiccups here and there but overall good. I would say I have more horror stories from traveling by vehicle than by Airplane, its all relative.

gimruis wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Netguy wrote:</div>
Why do they schedule flights when no pilots are available?

This is the part that kind of lacks common sense to me too. If there aren’t enough bodies, simmer down on the number of flights being scheduled. I think a lot of flights are scheduled months in advance but I’m sure the situation isn’t going to get any better in the near future.

If you’re flying around a major holiday, expect delays. That’s the reality right now. Sort of like trying to take a flight in or out of O’Hare in Chicago. The norm is not on time.

I think a lot of the problems come from scheduling flights, sometimes over a year ahead of time.
I think pilot flight time includes their delayed time. Which cannot be planned for.

So last winter we were headed to Nashville for a quick weekend trip. So we get to MNSP plenty early flight I think was supposed take off at 1:20 I think. All good boarded the plane. Snow just started to fall. We are sitting there and there is one passenger who didn’t have a seat. Flight wasn’t overbooked but someone on the plane wasn’t supposed to on it. So it took them 2 hours to figure out who this person was. So it just keeps getting better. Now we deice. So we are 3 hours in sitting on the tarmac. Waiting and waiting not moving. Snow is starting to pile up. Now some electronics issue they are looking into. Finally we are cleared to take the runway. We now have to deice again. We are at about 5 hours now. So we had out to the runway, Captain comes on the line and sorry folks we are unable to take we do not have enough fuel. WTF. We have to go back to the terminal. As we are heading back to the terminal we get stuck on the snow and cannot move. I am not making this up. They now need a dolly to come get us and pull us in. As we were waiting I told my wife I am booking a hotel before this flight gets cancelled and the snow was bad. Sure enough I just finished booking the hotel and the Captain comes on and says all flights cancelled. Awesome. So after sitting on a plane with pissed off Steelers fans after the Thursday night loss for 7 hours we were allowed to deplane. So we got another flight booked early the next morning. One last little tid bit it is now about 1100 PM and not food anywhere. We waited over and 1 1/2 for our driver from the hotel. I guess he crashed his van and got stuck in the snow so he had to wait for someone to pull him out.

Needless to say it was not all the airlines fault but really 7 hours on a plane and not taking off. WTF. Told my wife and I am not travelling with her again anytime soon.

Thanks,
RVRDUX

Coming back from Los Angeles (LAX) to MN after a convention. Flight was supposed to leave about 8:00 pm and was cancelled. I let the rush of people trying to reschedule go first. By the time I was at the desk, the attendant said look at your phone. A handful of seats just opened up on a flight leaving at 5 am. Everything else was for later the next day. She said she didn’t want to verbally tell me so she wouldn’t set off a rush.

Another time my wife and I were flying to Europe for a Mediterranean cruise she earned for being a top performer. Our plane was next in line for take off. Pilot says they are having an equipment problem, the compass. Tried to fix it on the runway, no luck, back to the gate. They wouldn’t let us off the plane. Took a a few hours to fix. By the time we got to London, we had been on the plane for ~11 hours. Good thing our connecting flight to Lisbon was much later the next day.

bigfatcroixbaby wrote:

I just don’t get it. We hear these horror stories every single night on the news; we all know there’s a pilot shortage; we’ve seen people standing in long lines since 9-11; it’s no secret the airline industry is one of the worst service industries when it comes to comfort and overall satisfaction, and YET you still see millions of people buy a ticket KNOWING FULL WELL they could be subjected to some or all of the above. I understand HAVING to go someplace, but why shoot yourself in the foot if you don’t have to?!? Stay home, starve the airlines back into treating you right, and fly when times get better. Otherwise STFU about your horrible airline story because I will never feel sorry for you. You’re dumb, you know better, and yet you still flew..

username checks out

I like road trips too, but if you only have a week off that really limits a person. No way I am spending half of my vacation in the car.