'Thank you for delaying my flight'

[JimNtexas]

Very interesting blog post from a United passenger who was delayed overnight due a maintence issue on United Airlines.

In my case, the flight crew of this particular United flight noticed a small hydraulic leak on the verticle stablizer. No big deal you say? Well commercial jets dont fly so hot without working hydraulic systems.

They could have ignored it, its just a small spot of fluid, they could've come from anywhere (C'mon man, we gotta get going, dont worry about that little thing...You can almost hear the thoughts run through the flight officers head cant you...). The fact is, they chose not to and I want to encourage that sort of thing. It makes me, as a frequent flyer feel much better knowing that the standard for pre flight aircraft inspection is "safety" not a whole host of passenger " I missed my connection" concerns or people calling from the home office telling the pilot to look the other way because the passengers are screaming to get the plane off the ground and "granny fatpants" is going to miss her Square Dance at the local Temperance Hall on Saturday.

[snip]

I slept like a baby at the hotel, knowing that had a man who I didnt know, a complete professional, who while inspecting the aircraft before the flight looked at a small spot of hydraulic fluid on the tarmac and them looked up to see it dripping down from the rear fuselage. He then called the mechanics, who removed an inspection plate on the stabilizer. What they found was a hydraulic actuator for the aircraft rudder that had sheared off completely from the hydraulic line, the break caused the fluid to fill the internal spaces of the stablizer. A small spot of which had fallen to the ground with a splat. In doing so, it managed to catch the attention of the anonymous flight crew, who could have looked the other way, but didn't.

Yet my fellow passengers chose instead to stand and argue insisting all the time that the airline was not helping them and that they had in fact stranded them mercilessly to the indiginty of sleeping at the airport. Yet, no such thing was true or even close to it. They had a hotel, the airline was paying for it, and that all had been prearrainged for their impromptu overnight stay. The hotel had also taken the extraordinary step of preparing meals in advance of our arrival. Yet it didnt matter to these people. Once you go to "angry mode", theres nothing an airline or anyone else can do to bring you back into the fold.

In my mind, the airline had perfomed very well. A problem occured, and they dealt with it honestly and with professionalism. The same could not be said of the passengers.

In my mind I can see that there are 300 familes of passengers and about 7 flight crew families who are not planning funerals this weekend. The fact that the alternative to this disaster was a small unplanned overnight stop in Denver, just doesnt measure up as something to complain about.

http://varifrank.com/archives/2006/07/thank_you_for_d.php

 

[Guitar rocker]

Funny....had an inflight emergency developed and the end result were the findings from the above post and it was something that should have been caught on the preflight....these same idiotic passengers would have still been up in arms over the issue.

I dont know what happens to people, but when they set foot in an airport, but a transition from normal to dumb occurs. You know, the passenger that shows up at NWA ticket counter to check in for his flight on American. People just get totally lost and cant follow signs or directions. Common sense just goes flying out the window and is left behind at home.

Above all, it sure is funny how some folks have no understanding of weather or the concept that there are mechanical issues which can break an airplane. They just have it set in their minds that...I'm here, we are going.

 

[JSky26]

I dont know what happens to people, but when they set foot in an airport, but a transition from normal to dumb occurs.

Haha...I think most are dumb from the get-go

 

[Thedude]

Dont you know, its all part of the conspriacy to delay each individual pax. And to laugh about it behind the scenes.

Remember that abortion called the Pax Bill of Rights?

 

[Pantherjon]

Haha...I think most are dumb from the get-go

haha...yeah the transition is from dumb to dumber!

 

[ReverseSensing]

JimNtexas:

Thanks for posting that. This is a subject near and dear to my heart. The most important customer service job at an airline, in my opinion, is the one done by the professional pilot who refuses an aircraft that may be unairworthy.

I apologize to all the go-getters out there with the wonderful PA's and million dollar mustachioed smiles who manage to hardly ever write anything up, because they believe they are taking good care of their customers by not causing a delay or cancellation.

Customer service, first and foremost, is getting our pax safely (without compromise) back on the ground (even if it's the wrong piece of ground sometimes).

Kudos to the passenger who blogged that and kudos to airmen who realize what their every-single-time-priority is.