Football Fan

So MH 20 (A 380) was initially delayed by about one hour. Boarding started. We got on the plane (booked in paid business, we had a separate ticket booked from CDG to the US roundtrip in (non-refundable) business class, IB issued, AA operated.

After getting on the plane, we were kept in the plane for 3 more hours. Some reason was given that something was worked on, but I found it very hard to understand the pilot. Eventually, I fell asleep. At about 4 a.m., we were told that there is a leak in the fuel tank and were told the flight was canceled and we would have to de-board. The flight would take place at around the same time roughly 24 hours later. No more explanation was given.

Everyone got off the plane and there were about 3 completely clueless people at the transfer counter who were totally overwhelmed. Keep in mind that the flight was completely full, nobody had been told anything and everyone was coming to that transfer counter to find out what's next - at 4 a.m. in the morning. Everything else in the airport was closed. We tried to go to the "Golden Lounge", which is supposedly open 24 hours, but - closed.

It was impossible to even get to the transfer counter people, but I stood behind them and took pictures (and videos) - they were just helplessly staring at their screens, with people getting more and more annoyed. No distinction was made between First, Business class and Economy passengers, the queue disintegrated into just a messy blob of people standing around this transfer counter.

Eventually, we saw some people following someone from Malaysian Airlines, we tried to follow and ask what was going on and were told that they were business class passengers (as were we). As we got to that Aerotrain, it just took off with them.

We were unable to get a hold of anyone from Malaysian Airlines. Some very junior person told us that he thought that some people had been taken to a hotel.

Our question what would happen with our luggage was unanswered, it seems that they are just holding the checked luggage and expecting everyone to take that flight the next evening.

Obviously, we had no opportunity to talk to anyone about anything, let alone discuss any kind of compensation or perhaps at least help.

We ended up just taking a taxi to the Hilton in the city, where we are now.

I find MH's handling of the situation absolutely appalling.

I understand that there is no recourse under EU law because MH is not an EU carrier and the flight is not from, but to Europe.

But I am really annoyed that they would first get people on the plane when it was already clear there was a problem, then keep everyone there for four hours (almost no drinks were offered during that time, and no real explanation) and then just get everyone off the plane like cattle, without ANY steps having been taken to manage the situation at all, other than to put three helpless junior people behind computers there, to talk to 500+ passengers.

When googling, I found that this kind of situation is not that uncommon apparently with MH? There are quite a few reports of significant delays.

This would have been my first long-haul flight with MH, at least in recent years.

I called their hotline - first person hung up during the conversation (I was polite and friendly, seemed to be a technical issue) and the second person told me I should talk to the "duty manager in charge" at the airport - which almost seemed like a mockery, after there was nobody there earlier who identified himself or herself as "in charge" at all.

Does anyone have experience with the airline's handling of such situations after the fact? Should they not at the very least pay the hotel and taxi cost?

I understand that we probably have no recourse with regard to the separate flights to the USA - but it's really annoying nonetheless.

This was my worst (non-)flight experience in many years, and I do fly a lot.

Guy Betsy

I'll leave the comments for RA-wannabe and mario33 !

Football Fan

I'm sorry if I'm missing the joke...have been up for I don't know how many hours, we are missing business meetings in California (although I planned time for possible delays - would have been 6 hours in CDG - but not for 24 hours!), and trying to reach someone from MH is a nightmare. To change our flights from CDG to SFO will cost several thousand Euros, which obviously we will have to pay. Please excuse me if I don't find it just as funny as you do.

ashkale

Mate, did you try the MH KL Sentral ticketing office, it seems slightly better organized and they might be able to see what they could do with your ticket- given they have 2 flights to London and 1 to frankfurt too..

Football Fan

Thank you, this sounds like good advice. I will go there in about an hour and try talking to them and then report back - although I am not very hopeful they can do much. As of right now, MH still has our luggage and I haven't been able to talk to anyone helpful. So we are almost held hostage to take that same flight tonight. Who knows if it will leave on time or at all.

ashkale

You are welcome- I feel for you and hope it gets all sorted, there is something about the KUL station that when things go wrong..and it not only applies to MH..

http://www.flightstats.com/go/Flight...lightNumber=20

Football Fan

So I tried to talk to them at the KL Sentral office, they couldn't do anything as expected. We did get new boarding passes there for tonight's flight. They said we should talk to some duty manager in charge next to the Body Shop (?) at the airport. Not expecting much!

asheby

You could also try enquiring about your onward IB/AA flight to be rebooked by them. Based on previous experience upon missing an MH flight in Y due to a previously delayed BA flight, I was rebooked on the next available MH flight by BA. The reason given was that both airlines were oneworld airlines or something along those lines?

Hope that helps.

FlyingYan

I am not surprised... I am based in Kuala Lumpur and I have experienced multiple issues with this so called "5 star Airlines". They are completely unable to handle irregular operations and no one is empowered to do anything.... What a shame for oneworld!
Just a few weeks ago, they "accidentally changed the date" of my flight to Paris, which meant I would miss Christmas in Europe and also miss onward connections on separate tickets. All flights were full as it was the weekend before Christmas. Even as a platinum member and after hours on the phone and at the KL Sentral Office Ticket office, the only thing they would offer was economy class seats while we had a business class ticket. Eventually, after emailing the CEO and a call with the head of customer relations, we got seats on the flight the next day.... On the occasion of every disruption or incident, the only way to get help and or compensation was by escalating to the highest levels....

ashkale

Hopefully your travel insurance might cover your trip from cdg, as I see MH20 is still scheduled at 0200 All the best!

dfs24

I can fully understand your situation. Happened to me before on MH88 to NRT. Announce cancellation past departure time, transit desks is overwhelmed, buses dispatched to hotels arrive at hotels already running at full capacity. New departure time was not adhered to, and we eventually left 15 hours later, after 2 more plane swaps.

I tried, but was never compensated. All they were willing to say was safety is our utmost priority and we had to delay it. sorry and hope to see you again.

Best of luck.

Yup. Oneworld takes care of misconnects even though booked on separate tickets.

Football Fan

Ours is called MH20D - it is not on Flightstats, but on the MH website. Still scheduled for 23:15 and gate now open.

We were told by the "Duty Officer" at the airport that there was nothing they could do from here as MH Paris wanted to take care of everything. The lady said that they wanted to rebook everything from there AFTER landing, which doesn't make any sense because by then everyone will have had a no-show and the original tickets would have been voided already. Plus, nobody told us this (or anything) last night and/or when I called their hotline several times.

We were told that someone would wait at the gate in Paris (yeah, that's going to work out really well, for 100+ connecting passengers) to help us. Since I didn't get any info from MH, I had already rebooked myself, at a cost of € 1,500, and my girlfriend, whose main reason to go to California would have been on the 13th, has canceled her trip (with no refund, other than about € 100). So I don't know how they are going to treat this after the fact. I hope they will make it right, since they apparently did for other passengers (who, I think, were not in business class - we spoke to two gentlemen on the Aerotrain we recognized from the evening before and they told us that contrary to what we have been told, they had been rebooked on a new connecting flight replacing their old one, at MH's cost, despite it being a different airline.

So let's see what happens when and if we get to Paris, and afterwards, with possible reimbursements of taxi cost, hotel cost, etc.

Greetings from the Golden Lounge!

Football Fan

Well, that's not what the IB hotline told me...and they never sent me my new booking code - the old one doesn't work anymore. They did send me some refund receipt for the 100 Euro for my girlfriend.

dfs24

I think it is MH you need to talk to. They delivered you late to CDG, they should solve your issues.

louie-m

I don't think that's right. AA do, but I don't believe any of the other members do as a matter of course.