767 stuck in RIO for Carnaval?

[sbtinme]

My brother flew US800 down to GIG for Carnaval and burned miles to sit up front. He sent me an e-mail upon landing that advised that it was, hands down, the worst in-flight service he'd ever encountered on a long haul flight going anywhere. The crew was super duper senior and he said everything was a complete cluster -- disorganized, uncoordinated at all levels. Frantic FAs, etc. Not at all what he wanted for a 9 hour flight. He was on one of the non-converted 767s, so they had the handheld monitors for movies -- the first THREE they brought him were busted. Good Lord.

Anyway, I digress.

The real reason for my post is that later that evening, apparently, this same aircraft had an engine fire on takeoff and returned to the airport for an emergency landing. It was all over the news and, according to my brother, the news was still covering the event on TONIGHT'S news -- a full 24 hours later .... and the plane is still in GIG.

Just curious if anyone has further details. I can't find anything about the incident on line, but I can confirm via usair.com and flightstats, etc., that the flight did indeed cancel. It also looks like US flew a different 767 down today as US800, so I presume that there are currently two 767s in US colors in GIG.

Just curious if anyone has details.

 

[PHL]

Will be interesting to hear someone chime in about the mx issue.

But I can tell you all the 767's were converted, and the personal entertainment devices are the norm. There are no permanent displays as on the A330-300 and A330-200, or like there used to be on the 767 before the conversion.

 

[sbtinme]

or like there used to be on the 767 before the conversion.

That's mindblowing to me. So the old, ancient Envoy seats (which I actually liked!) that had their own monitor were replaced with seats that have no personal monitors.... I did not know that. Is there any other airline out there retrofitting their current fleet with seats in J that do not have modern touchscreens for IFE?

 

[sbtinme]

Just to add a little more commentary about the inflight service: he told me that all of the FAs appeared to be miserable. After a few hours, he went to stretch his legs and get a drink at the galley.... chatted up some of the FAs and told them he was former PI -- and, at that point, they all LIT UP with huge smiles and hugs ... turns out they were all old PI, too. Everyone had 38 years+ with the company, they told him. They told him that they "liked him, but hoped that everyone else on the plane got mugged in RIO." He was stunned.

As a former PI employee myself, it really makes me sad to know that some of our longest serving frontline employees out there can't remember that -- whatever ills may have befallen them in the past 15 years -- the pax are still paying the bills and are not asking for much more than the minimum expected these days. Service with a frown and attitude makes everyone miserable.

 

[700UW]

Is this a trip report or a flight experience thread?

 

[NAPAUS]

🙄 🙄 This is NOT a surprise. They are still fighting the civil war and will NEVER get over the Yankees and Westerners takin over PI. I could ramble the stories from my PI days and after the merger. Plane and simple, they despise people of Color, Yankees, Gays Liberals...u name it - they HATE um! And i MEAN HATE um... if you aint Southern Baptist they have no time for ya'll.
Give the trip to Philly and Service will improve. Ex- PSA and Happier Northern F/a's. Too bad for US, Most people I know avoid Ya'll like the plague. SO GLAD TO be the hell outta there!!!

 

[autofixer]

Flt 801 left early on the 9th and arrived early in CLT. I talked to the Captain of 801 on the 9th today in CLT and he did not say anything about an engine fire. 801 on the 8th arrived on time and on the 10th departed on time and was about an hour late in CLT.

Flt 800 has 2 legs: PHL-CLT and CLT-GIG. The PHL-CLT leg has cancelled several times over the last few days as a result of the snow storm in PHL. The CLT-GIG leg appears to be operating fairly normally.

 

[gabby]

Just to add a little more commentary about the inflight service: he told me that all of the FAs appeared to be miserable. After a few hours, he went to stretch his legs and get a drink at the galley.... chatted up some of the FAs and told them he was former PI -- and, at that point, they all LIT UP with huge smiles and hugs ... turns out they were all old PI, too. Everyone had 38 years+ with the company, they told him. They told him that they "liked him, but hoped that everyone else on the plane got mugged in RIO." He was stunned.

As a former PI employee myself, it really makes me sad to know that some of our longest serving frontline employees out there can't remember that -- whatever ills may have befallen them in the past 15 years -- the pax are still paying the bills and are not asking for much more than the minimum expected these days. Service with a frown and attitude makes everyone miserable.

The old school F/A's are convinced that the customers are on the airplane for their benefit only.
I wish 80% of them would quit today. Hire some 25-35 year olds that are excited about the job. Get rid of the 50 year old who just hates the public. Problem is that they can't do anything else in life. Who would hire them when all they can put on their resume is that they are good at bitching and moaning and harrassing the customers. Can't even get a cup of coffee right. 🙁

 

[sbtinme]

The CLT-GIG leg appears to be operating fairly normally.

Sorry. Even the USAIR.COM site shows that 801 cancelled on the Wed Feb 9 departure from GIG at 10:55pm. I am aware that there are 2 legs to this flight. The domestic leg operated as scheduled.

Check for yourself on the website -- but do so before midnight or you'll lose visibility to the data.

This info is also easily confirmed on flightstats.com.

Add to that that I have a familly member who tells me he's seen the 767 on the local news broadcasts down there with translation via a local friend advising that there was an engine fire, an emergency return landing and a grounded aircraft.

I don't post often here on USAv, but I'm not an idiot. This happened.

 

[boeingplt]

T Get rid of the 50 year old who just hates the public.

Forget getting rid of the young ones ; o ) We need to target the Jurassic Park based mommas first.