Wednesday, June 20, 2007 (SF Chronicle)
SFO nightmare -- travelers sit at gate 7 hours
John Cote and Carl T. Hall, Chronicle Staff Writers
Nearly 400 passengers were stranded aboard a Cathay Pacific Airways jet
for more than seven hours Tuesday at San Francisco International Airport,
adding yet another planeload of angry consumers to a growing industry
backlash.
Passengers boarded Flight CX873 to Hong Kong just after midnight Tuesday
for a 1:20 a.m. departure. But the Boeing 747 never left the gate.
"We sat there three hours before they said anything," said Mark Valenta, a
newlywed for whom the flight was to have been the start of a dream
honeymoon to Asia. "Then the PA system went down, the lights were going on
and off, babies were crying, it was a nightmare."
And it lasted the entire night.
It wasn't until 7:30 a.m. that the flight finally was canceled due to
equipment problems and passengers disembarked.
Airline officials and the passengers told markedly different accounts of
how the hours were passed.
The passengers, for instance, said they weren't offered food or
refreshments, except perhaps in business class, and they complained that
they were not regularly informed about the cause or expected length of the
delay.
The airline, in a written statement, described the evening as something
akin to a well-stocked slumber party while the crew scurried to find a
part to fix a mechanical problem.
"While still on board, our cabin crew worked to ensure the comfort of
passengers providing snacks, beverage refreshments and a hot meal. Many
passengers were asleep on board as we provided refreshments and updates on
the delay," the airline said.
Airlines have been struggling to keep consumers from open rebellion
against extended airport delays and diverted flights.
A consumer group has been started by a Napa real estate broker, Kate
Hanni, who was trapped on an airplane with her husband while trying to
reach Alabama and has been pushing Congress to force airlines to take
better care of stranded passengers. Hanni said she keeps getting caught at
more airports while flying to New York or Washington, D.C., as head of the
Coalition for an Airline Passengers' Bill of Rights.
The group's hot line -- (877) 359-3776 -- lit up with the latest outrage
at SFO starting Tuesday morning.
Passengers said they were upset not so much because they were stuck in
their seats but by a pronounced lack of concern communicated by the
airline.
"It's like the lights are on but nobody's home," Valenta said.
The 35-year-old corporate communications writer for a software company was
married Sunday at Fort Mason to Noy Phengrasamy, 33, an environmental
health and safety manager. The couple planned to honeymoon in Asia.
Instead, they found themselves cozying up with 379 other Cathay Pacific
passengers in a marooned cabin, where the mood in the wee hours was
anything but romantic.
"They finally said there was some kind of technical issue, but they were
not sure what it was, and were trying to resolve it," Valenta said. "But
the pilot was so nonchalant about it. There were no snacks, no drinks,
nothing."
While stuck on board, the passengers were free to use the restrooms and
the flight crew was polite and apologetic, but otherwise there were few
attempts by airline staff to make for a reasonably pleasant wait,
passengers said.
They didn't even get to watch a movie.
Eventually, passengers were given the option of exiting about 4 a.m. for
juice in the terminal, he said, and about 50 people got off at that point.
The crew finally did tell passengers there was a problem with a hydraulic
pump and said a spare had to be flown in from the East Coast.
But it wasn't until 7:30 a.m. -- more than seven hours after passengers
had boarded -- that the airline finally announced the flight was scrapped.
When they finally disem- barked, the scene was pandemonium, with no
airline staff there to direct passengers or indicate how or when their
flight would be rebooked, passengers said.
"The real problem was the chaotic customer service," said passenger Aron
Starratt, 49, a Silicon Valley building contractor. "Nobody knows what's
going on."
Eventually, the passengers were given vouchers for free hotel rooms and
invited to return Tuesday night for the next flight.
Starratt and the other passengers spoke Tuesday afternoon as they stood
before an empty bank of Cathay Pacific check-in counters at the San
Francisco airport, having just spent the day in a Burlingame hotel
awaiting another flight to Hong Kong.
Valenta and Phengrasamy had planned to spend four days in Thailand before
visiting Phengrasamy's native Laos at the outset of a 2 1/2-week tour of
Southeast Asia. The Thailand part of the trip was down to two days because
of the delay, Valenta said. But that was before he found out their Tuesday
night flight also had been delayed by at least an hour and a half.
Most of the passengers found out about the departure delay only by
checking monitors.
After one Cathay Pacific staff person appeared behind an airline counter,
he declined to talk on the record and directed annoyed customers back to
the main check-in line.
"I've been flying Cathay for 15 years," said another stranded passenger,
Maria Yee, 44, a businesswoman based in Manila, Philippines. "They are
really a very, very efficient airline. Nothing like this has happened to
me ever."
That was little comfort for the newlyweds, who found themselves worrying
about missed connections, paid-for hotel nights and lost quality time on a
Thai beach as they waited at the head of a snaking line of anxious
travelers.
They kept smiling though, and sounded philosophical. They credited the
airline for keeping safety foremost.
"In the grand scheme of things, we're going to get on our honeymoon later
than we would have liked. That sucks, but as long as we get there safely,
that's important too," Valenta said.
It would take more than a mere airport delay to kill the honeymoon spirit.
"It's not going to take any sizzle out of it," Valenta said.
SFO nightmare -- travelers sit at gate 7 hours
John Cote and Carl T. Hall, Chronicle Staff Writers
Nearly 400 passengers were stranded aboard a Cathay Pacific Airways jet
for more than seven hours Tuesday at San Francisco International Airport,
adding yet another planeload of angry consumers to a growing industry
backlash.
Passengers boarded Flight CX873 to Hong Kong just after midnight Tuesday
for a 1:20 a.m. departure. But the Boeing 747 never left the gate.
"We sat there three hours before they said anything," said Mark Valenta, a
newlywed for whom the flight was to have been the start of a dream
honeymoon to Asia. "Then the PA system went down, the lights were going on
and off, babies were crying, it was a nightmare."
And it lasted the entire night.
It wasn't until 7:30 a.m. that the flight finally was canceled due to
equipment problems and passengers disembarked.
Airline officials and the passengers told markedly different accounts of
how the hours were passed.
The passengers, for instance, said they weren't offered food or
refreshments, except perhaps in business class, and they complained that
they were not regularly informed about the cause or expected length of the
delay.
The airline, in a written statement, described the evening as something
akin to a well-stocked slumber party while the crew scurried to find a
part to fix a mechanical problem.
"While still on board, our cabin crew worked to ensure the comfort of
passengers providing snacks, beverage refreshments and a hot meal. Many
passengers were asleep on board as we provided refreshments and updates on
the delay," the airline said.
Airlines have been struggling to keep consumers from open rebellion
against extended airport delays and diverted flights.
A consumer group has been started by a Napa real estate broker, Kate
Hanni, who was trapped on an airplane with her husband while trying to
reach Alabama and has been pushing Congress to force airlines to take
better care of stranded passengers. Hanni said she keeps getting caught at
more airports while flying to New York or Washington, D.C., as head of the
Coalition for an Airline Passengers' Bill of Rights.
The group's hot line -- (877) 359-3776 -- lit up with the latest outrage
at SFO starting Tuesday morning.
Passengers said they were upset not so much because they were stuck in
their seats but by a pronounced lack of concern communicated by the
airline.
"It's like the lights are on but nobody's home," Valenta said.
The 35-year-old corporate communications writer for a software company was
married Sunday at Fort Mason to Noy Phengrasamy, 33, an environmental
health and safety manager. The couple planned to honeymoon in Asia.
Instead, they found themselves cozying up with 379 other Cathay Pacific
passengers in a marooned cabin, where the mood in the wee hours was
anything but romantic.
"They finally said there was some kind of technical issue, but they were
not sure what it was, and were trying to resolve it," Valenta said. "But
the pilot was so nonchalant about it. There were no snacks, no drinks,
nothing."
While stuck on board, the passengers were free to use the restrooms and
the flight crew was polite and apologetic, but otherwise there were few
attempts by airline staff to make for a reasonably pleasant wait,
passengers said.
They didn't even get to watch a movie.
Eventually, passengers were given the option of exiting about 4 a.m. for
juice in the terminal, he said, and about 50 people got off at that point.
The crew finally did tell passengers there was a problem with a hydraulic
pump and said a spare had to be flown in from the East Coast.
But it wasn't until 7:30 a.m. -- more than seven hours after passengers
had boarded -- that the airline finally announced the flight was scrapped.
When they finally disem- barked, the scene was pandemonium, with no
airline staff there to direct passengers or indicate how or when their
flight would be rebooked, passengers said.
"The real problem was the chaotic customer service," said passenger Aron
Starratt, 49, a Silicon Valley building contractor. "Nobody knows what's
going on."
Eventually, the passengers were given vouchers for free hotel rooms and
invited to return Tuesday night for the next flight.
Starratt and the other passengers spoke Tuesday afternoon as they stood
before an empty bank of Cathay Pacific check-in counters at the San
Francisco airport, having just spent the day in a Burlingame hotel
awaiting another flight to Hong Kong.
Valenta and Phengrasamy had planned to spend four days in Thailand before
visiting Phengrasamy's native Laos at the outset of a 2 1/2-week tour of
Southeast Asia. The Thailand part of the trip was down to two days because
of the delay, Valenta said. But that was before he found out their Tuesday
night flight also had been delayed by at least an hour and a half.
Most of the passengers found out about the departure delay only by
checking monitors.
After one Cathay Pacific staff person appeared behind an airline counter,
he declined to talk on the record and directed annoyed customers back to
the main check-in line.
"I've been flying Cathay for 15 years," said another stranded passenger,
Maria Yee, 44, a businesswoman based in Manila, Philippines. "They are
really a very, very efficient airline. Nothing like this has happened to
me ever."
That was little comfort for the newlyweds, who found themselves worrying
about missed connections, paid-for hotel nights and lost quality time on a
Thai beach as they waited at the head of a snaking line of anxious
travelers.
They kept smiling though, and sounded philosophical. They credited the
airline for keeping safety foremost.
"In the grand scheme of things, we're going to get on our honeymoon later
than we would have liked. That sucks, but as long as we get there safely,
that's important too," Valenta said.
It would take more than a mere airport delay to kill the honeymoon spirit.
"It's not going to take any sizzle out of it," Valenta said.
