your worst airline delay experience

DINO · 05-27-2009, 12:59 PM

So what is your worst experience with a delay in flight?

As a teenager, I flew often, with my parents, from Detroit to Rome, using "charter' flights. During the summer of 1980, we were returning from Rome. Having taken off from Rome with a scheduled stop in Venice, we approached the runway in Venice, only to lift back up prior to touchdown. Circling around, we then landed, a very rough landing, very bumpy. Turns out that the airplane had a "bad' tire, so we were told. Sitting on the plane waiting for a replacement, we sat for hours. Long story short, we were scheduled to arrive in Detroit on a Tuesday evening. We arrived Thursday morning, a 1 and 1/2 day delay! Story has it that an incorrect tire had been sent, another was trucked in from Germany, and so on...... By the time the problem was taken care of, it was many provided meals later, a beautiful hotel in Venice, drinking red wine with a school teacher from Ohio; I was 18 years old, just having graduated high school. At the tail end of this delay, people were frustrated to say the least; phone calls were being made to the Detroit local media to put out the word that were being held in Venice, with no hope of getting out.

These are the highlights. I won't bore you with other details, other than to say that I believe that it was either Capital Airways or American Trans Air. I really don't recall, having flown both, probably more than one time each.

RandySF · 05-27-2009, 01:09 PM

Atlanta to San Francisco on Continental. Horrible thunder/lightning storm in Atlanta delayed departure by over two hours. Missed the connection in Houston, but thankfully was able to get on the last departure from Houston to San Francisco that evening. Was to arrive at 7:30 but arrived at 12:30 a.m.

DINO · 05-27-2009, 01:09 PM

...btw, is there a website or a data base of some sort where I can access any information about this experience? I'd love to be able to read about it if this is at all possible.

BoeingFlyer11 · 05-27-2009, 03:51 PM

I have a couple with DELTA, I am getting agitated by Delta going from Miami to Newark, Miami to Detroit, and San Francisco to Detroit. I was delayed because there was something wrong with the plane which is hard to believe the plane had something wrong with it everytime I have flown Delta. All 3 times I had to get a hotel overnight and fly in the afternoon the next day. Stand by never worked. I recomend Continental or NWA instead. Continental is a great airline, never had any trouble with them. Too bad NWA is merging with Delta.

ccs757 · 05-27-2009, 04:06 PM

8 hours delay with Aeropostal on 2006....

Benzyk · 05-27-2009, 04:08 PM

Airline:Northwest Airlines

Departure Airport: Orlando International Airport
Arrival Airport:Indianapolis International Airport
Departure Time: 8:30pm "ish"
Aircraft: DC-9-30

It all started with this announcement from the flight deck:

Ladies and gentlemen this is your captain speaking. Right now we are waiting for the ground crew to come fuel the plan. We should be rolling in about 25 minutes.

---1 hour later---(and after the safety announcement)

Ladies and gentlemen this is you captain again. It seems that most of the ground crew has left for the night and no one down there knows how to fuel this aircraft type.

(I AM NOT JOKING...THAT IS WHAT HE SAID!...HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF YOU WERE ON THAT PLANE)

---About another hour after that announcment---

Engines start up and we push back.

A Tupolev · 05-27-2009, 04:12 PM

There are two that are memorial to me.

9-11 was the ultimate in a delay experience. I was in Colorado Springs, CO at a Holiday Inn Express when 9-11 happen. I was in the breakfast room that was full with Delta fight crews as we all watched the twin towers collapse on the TV. It is through the flight crews talking to their operations center in Atlanta, I was informed that all airlines had been grounded. So I ended up driving my Hertz rental car all the way back to Los Angeles.

The next worst was at Moscow SVO 1 when the ground crews fueling our Aeroflot Tu-154 spilled jet fuel all around the plane. It took almost three hours to clean up the mess. We had already spent 6 hours at SVO 1 between flights going from St. Petersburg to Omsk. The additional 3 hours at SVO 1, felt more like 6 hours. At that time in Russia, people could smoke in the terminal, so it was very unpleasant.

NWAmn · 05-27-2009, 04:23 PM

I have not been flying much but last summer going to Vancouver from Minneapolis, It was very windy in Minneapolis so there was an hour and 30 minute delay before I got on board to going my stop in Chicago. Once I reached Chicago, our plane got delayed because the captain hasn't arrived yet from another flight and one of the flight attendants was still in Indiana and his plane was delayed too. Eventually I left Chicago to Vancouver with a 5 hour delay.

CcrlR737pilot · 05-27-2009, 04:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Benzyk

Airline:Northwest Airlines

Ladies and gentlemen this is you captain again. It seems that most of the ground crew has left for the night and no one down there knows how to fuel this aircraft type.

Too bad there was no other Fixed Base Operator who could refuel a DC-9 from the top of the wings like on small aircraft

. But you have to make sure that there is jet fuel in the truck!

Santos · 05-27-2009, 04:39 PM

Two episodes of CAT turbulence on a LH 747 last year over the atlantic flying with the wife and both kids. It was scaring when the plane fall down suddenly, twice. The kids didn´t sleep for the remaining 5 hours of flight and no announcement was done by the crew.

C-FITL · 05-27-2009, 05:12 PM

Three hour delay at YUL or AMS (can't remember) on KLM 744 before takeoff.

DeltaT7LR · 05-27-2009, 05:19 PM

Got bumped off a CO flight from EWR to San Juan....6 hrs in the airport, and a 4 hr flight

Parminder27 · 05-27-2009, 06:58 PM

AC flight from YYZ-YVR got delayed for 3+ hours at YYZ due to thunderstorms so we missed our connection to SFO and had to stay overnight at YVR and were put on the next flight to SFO the next morning.

UA flight from SFO-DEN overbooked and of course we are the ones that get bumped off

but we got $1200 US compensation from UA and F class seats on a flight the next day, and plus we got to stay in California for one extra day!

BTW my first time travelling in F class! And then the UA flight from ORD-YYZ gets cancelled and we have to stay at ORD for 5 hours waiting for the next flight!

Plus I got to eat this very delicious "Double Filet-O-Fish" at a McDonald's at ORD:

(Not my pic BTW)

StarAllianceFlyer · 05-27-2009, 07:13 PM

About a 3-4 hour delay at Chicago O'Hare back in October '06. We were told there were some mechanical issues, but later found out all flights were canceled/delayed due to the arrival of Air Force One.

Also had a 10+ hr delay on a Singapore Airlines flight scheduled to depart at midnight from Shanghai to Singapore last October. The SQ Shanghai manager told us they found some leakage while in flight and it needed to be repaired. By 3am the manager said they found more leakage and those had to be repaired. I was re-booked onto the 8am flight, and found out later on my original flight arrived about 2 hrs after the 8am flight landed.

gospodin · 05-27-2009, 07:40 PM

Returning from a trip to San Diego in '94 with my family, we landed in DFW at 1:30pm. Our flight to SHV was two hours later on a Continental Connections flight (forgot the aircraft), but thunderstorms kept popping up all around us. We didn't depart until 1:45am...as the captain said, we could have taxied to Shreveport. My wife hates flying because of that episode.

Horizon CRJ700 · 05-28-2009, 01:33 AM

Two pretty bad ones, otherwise it has pretty much been smooth sailing with the airlines (30 minutes here, 10 minutes there).

Flight: DEN-PDX
Airline: United
Aircraft: 757-200

This was back in April 2001, I think. We were coming back from IAD, and had planned on a 2.5 hour layover in Denver, enough time to see friends, as they could come behind security then. We were delayed in IAD, and arrived at the gate a little late, and thought that we would miss the flight. Turns out we were late, but the flight was delayed due to "weather" in BOS, later found out that this was MX. First 1 hour, then 3, then 5, finally 7 hours. Pure torture, especially when you are only 8 or so. Just absolutely sucked. This was the first time that I genuinely slept on an aircraft, as we departed at 11:00, and arrived at PDX at around 11:30.

Second one:

Flight: DFW-PDX
Airline: American
Aircraft: MD-80

Coming back from Costa Rica, we arrived at the gate, and the flight was delayed for an hour and a half due to headwinds en route. Turns out that the MD-80 cannot make it fully loaded from DFW to PDX with head winds. We boarded the aircraft, and sat for an hour while the flight deck waited for the winds to abate. Turns out that we had to make a stop in SLC to refuel, fortunately we didn't have to exit the plane (against the rules, but whatever...) we were refueled in half an hour, and got into PDX 3 hours late. This was at a time when American could have put a 737-800 on the route, but they didn't. To this day, I avoid flying American because of their choice of aircraft.

dboyd001 · 05-28-2009, 10:49 AM

My worst delay was not really a delay, but turned into a good experience.
..... I was flying stand-by to Boston form LAX back when the airlines had that. I was the very last to be boarded of the stand-bys. I get all comfortable and next thing I know the stewardess (that's what they were then) informed me that I was being bumped. As a stand-by that could happen and since I was the last boarded, it was me. Some Navy officer got my seat on some priority orders.
..... My luck on stand-by was bad from then on. Time after time I didn't make the cut and about 12 hours later finally got a red-eye to Boston. Next day I turned on the news and what do you know. Some stupid #@$&*! highjacked that flight I was bumped from to freakin' Cuba (that happened back then)! So that officer with his priority orders and the seat that should have been mine spent a day and a half in the people's paradise of Cuba.
Dave

dylan · 05-28-2009, 12:42 PM

I'm gonna throw some words out. Those in the know will be able to do the math!

NonRev. L-1011. Hawaii.

'nuff said!