274 pax forced out of airport by armed guards?

[roosterfish]

from the consumerist.com
http://consumerist.com/5037847/us-airways-...-pay-for-hotels

"Also, we were told at first it was weather related but also that the crew had burned through their hours. Flights were going in and out. Absolutely no acceptable excuse on either the airline's or the airport's part. The weather only exacerbated the logistical and human incompetence of both organizations"




...So did the flt cxl because of weather or because the crew timed out?


could the flt have been diverted to somewhere in US territory like SJU or MIA so at least the pax would be off the island?

Or could a spare have been sent down for the flt to leave early?


...but then again flights are delayed because of weather, and i've never heard of a flt leave early because of weather...

i know the consumerist.com is mostly a bunch of whiners, but this sounded pretty scary.

 

[tadjr]

I cant say 100% positive, but according to the website it appears the inbound flight diverted to SJU. They were probably waiting for the weather to clear and the crew timed out.
Of note, AA also canx their MIA and 2 SJU flights yesterday and their JFK flight appeared to divert to SDQ and spent the night. They left there this morning at 918 and arrived PUJ at 1024am (they were skd in yesterday at 135pm.) It left for JFK today at 1132am (orig skd yesterday at 255pm).
From reading some of the comments, it sounds like the site is full of a bunch of whiners. They are the same type that would complain if they DID fly and hit turbulence and got hurt.

 

[NAPAUS]

:down: :down: Why oh Why would anybody fly USAirways anymore. In the day US was close to being no 1 in the Caribbean and the highest in customer satisfaction. This is just sooo SAD! Who is running operations- high school kids from Arizona. It's time for me to use my miles on US before they permanently go out of business. Such GREAt employees and such HORRIBLE management.

 

[oldiebutgoody]

I cant say 100% positive, but according to the website it appears the inbound flight diverted to SJU. They were probably waiting for the weather to clear and the crew timed out.
Of note, AA also canx their MIA and 2 SJU flights yesterday and their JFK flight appeared to divert to SDQ and spent the night. They left there this morning at 918 and arrived PUJ at 1024am (they were skd in yesterday at 135pm.) It left for JFK today at 1132am (orig skd yesterday at 255pm).
From reading some of the comments, it sounds like the site is full of a bunch of whiners. They are the same type that would complain if they DID fly and hit turbulence and got hurt.

Crews don't "time out" because of weather once the flight leaves the gate. There is a specific exemption in the FARs for weather related delays. There may have been other crew issues, but weather wasn't one of them. They DO time out if maintenance is involved, or anything else that can be deemed an airline issue, like aircraft scheduling, etc.
The crew didn't divert because they ran out of time, but once they diverted they might have.

 

[Travel Is My Life]

:down: :down: Why oh Why would anybody fly USAirways anymore. In the day US was close to being no 1 in the Caribbean and the highest in customer satisfaction. This is just sooo SAD! Who is running operations- high school kids from Arizona. It's time for me to use my miles on US before they permanently go out of business. Such GREAt employees and such HORRIBLE management.

So lets blame US Airways for severe weather hitting the area... Since when does Tempe control mother nature? Also, how do 274 pax fit on a A319 or A320, isnt that what flies between PHL and Punta Cana? I highly doubt the 274 pax were all on US.

 

[ringmaruf]

A319 or A320, isnt that what flies between PHL and Punta Gorda?

US doesn't fly to Punta Gorda (Florida). US flies to Punta Cana (Dominican Republic), from CLT, PHL, and BOS (seasonal).

Shows how well Tempe defenders and Tempe workers understand the route system they're now running (into the ground). Sounds like how not enough Italian LODOs were scheduled this summer, because they didn't realize US serves three cities that happen to all be in Italy.

 

[Travel Is My Life]

US doesn't fly to Punta Gorda (Florida). US flies to Punta Cana (Dominican Republic), from CLT, PHL, and BOS (seasonal).

Shows how well Tempe defenders and Tempe workers understand the route system they're now running (into the ground). Sounds like how not enough Italian LODOs were scheduled this summer, because they didn't realize US serves three cities that happen to all be in Italy.

Well excuse me for making an error in my post. But I'd like everybody else to notice how you didnt respond to the actual subject of my post, instead you picked up on my error (which I have corrected) and threw around an insult. Just a suggestion, usually "insults" don't generally in anyway make your position look better.

 

[FlyUs]

It still amazes me that some passengers feel like the airline should put them up in a hotel and pay for their expenses due to a weather cancellation.

 

[Travel Is My Life]

It still amazes me that some passengers feel like the airline should put them up in a hotel and pay for their expenses due to a weather cancellation.

 

[tadjr]

Crews don't "time out" because of weather once the flight leaves the gate. There is a specific exemption in the FARs for weather related delays.
The crew didn't divert because they ran out of time, but once they diverted they might have.

:blink: Actually, I guess I didnt state it clearly, the plane diverted, the weather didnt clear, the crew was done with their FAR mandated duty day (timed out) and
the flight cancelled. Or, instead of it being crew time, maybe the weather just wasnt expected to clear and they cancelled the flight instead of having everyone wonder if they were going or not? Only, instead of sending it the next day like AA did with their JFK flight to PUJ, the plane did something else (probably ferried back to CLT or PHL)? I dont have access to the routing info though.

As far as paying for hotels....since Fay is now headed to South/West Florida I guess we better start booking rooms for everyone who is going to be on one of our flights that cancels this week? If you book online or through most agencies you are given the chance to buy travel insurance. I've seen the paperwork and even had customers ask me about reimbursement. If you are going to the Caribbean Jun-Nov, you can expect that a hurricane is a possibility and should plan accordingly. It obvious (from the diversion) that US tried to land in PUJ and was unable to (just like AA) and made an effort to get these people out. I just cant see how not being able to land in the middle of a Tropical Storm is the airlines fault? This happens every summer when a storm hits (Cancun, Montego Bay, Cayman, etc) and people never seem to get the message and its always the airlines fault for not getting them out. Perhaps a summer vacation in Erie would be better suited for many of these people? h34r:

 

[ussnark]

Since when does Tempe control mother nature?

Given that Tempe does control factors that contain for weather, and,

that Tempe has reduced margins in order to save every penny, and,

therefore, what might have been an inconvenient delay has turned into a cancelation, the result of which is, indeed, controlled by Tempe.

Running on substandard tires one might similarly excuse a blown tire with excuses that the pothole was unexpected, you didn't see the nails, etc. when, in fact, it was your cheap decisions about the tires that caused the flat. These cheap decisions have a tendency to add up and (yet another) perfect storm will be in the offing as the carrier lurches from one self-imposed crisis to another.

 

[LGA777]

Just saw this, did a little research in Sabre, and want to add a few coments. First the figure of 274 passengers does sound accurate as two flights cxld, an A-320 to CLT (150 paxs) and an A-319 to PHL (124 paxs) or 274 combined. Being a little more familar with the Dominican way of doing things than many on this board ( I am happily married to one) I am guessing it was the operator of the airport, and probably not USAirways that had these people removed from the airport. Keep in mind PUJ does not have a traditional terminal, it is open air but covered, and would not offer the same level of protection from the weather as a normal one would. For example SDQ where I normally fly out of (and spent about 8 hours in last week after getting bumped off numerous flights) is fully enclosed and could probably accomodate at least 2000 stranded passengers if needed. So the above probably contributed to the unfortunate treatment of those passengers.

Now for what happened to the flights. The CLT-PUJ flight as earlier posted diverted to SJU. It later returned to CLT with all the passengers still onboard. The next day (Saturday) another A-320 operated an Extra-section CLT-PUJ-CLT to return those passengers to PUJ and get the stranded passengers out of PUJ to CLT. The PHL-PUJ flight also diverted to SJU and like CLT those passengers returned on the same aircraft back to PHL. From what I can tell the next morning the first PHL-PUJ r/t upgraded from a 319 to a 757, an on Sat PUJ had 3 A-320's and 2 757's.

I hope this info is appreciated by some?

LGA777

 

[Travel Is My Life]

Just saw this, did a little research in Sabre, and want to add a few coments. First the figure of 274 passengers does sound accurate as two flights cxld, an A-320 to CLT (150 paxs) and an A-319 to PHL (124 paxs) or 274 combined.

Thanks for that info. The "article" made it sound as if there was only one flight that was affected. What you stated makes more sense.

 

[SegmentKing]

someone was REALLY wrong here.

Who on earth thinks USAirways would pay MORE for guards with arms?!?!

 

[tadjr]

I hope this info is appreciated by some?

LGA777

Thanks for the update. Does anyone know if we have our own agents in PUJ or are we contracted out? The original OP of the article in question has returned to the US and further clarifies some of the questions people had on the other website in regards to the situation.