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Old Jun 13, 2007, 6:13 pm
  #16  
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Originally Posted by rkkwan
Each get a pint of Guinness. Free vacation in Ireland. What else do you want?

Seriously, they'll all get free hotel rooms and meal vouchers. But not much else. Perhaps some Onepass miles, that's it.
Depending on how many miles, that wouldnt make me Whole. Thats why I'd Love it if the US adapts the EU Bill of Rights

Last edited by craz; Jun 13, 2007 at 7:01 pm
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Old Jun 13, 2007, 6:56 pm
  #17  
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Originally Posted by RNE
Ummm, a beer run?
Can you buy Duvels in Ireland...........I love me some Duvels
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Old Jun 14, 2007, 9:46 pm
  #18  
 
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I was on the flight...

The flight wheeled off AMS around 2:16pm on 6/13 and we were told that with favorable winds, we would have arrived EWR 30 minutes ahead of schedule. Twenty minutes after wheeled off, ISM informed the passengers that there were problems with all the lavs onboard and they were trying everything they could to fix it. About an hour later, the captain decided to landed at SNN to have the lavs fixed on the ground.

After landing at SNN for about an hour, everyone was given a voucher of 10 Euro for a snack and a sheet stating the EU passenger rights and a customer comment card. We were informed that it might take another hour or two to have the problem fixed. At around 7 or 8 pm local time (we landed around 3pm local time), we were told to go through immigration and go to baggage claim to get our bags as we would stay overnight. About an hour later, the bags finally came out. Some people didn't get their bags as the access to that part of the cargo hold on the plane was blocked by the effort to fix the lavs...

Finally, we all got on buses to hotels. It was after 10pm. Some people (strangers) had to share rooms as there were not enough rooms. I overheard on the next day that a few people were driven around on a bus to three different places and finally got rooms. I think two buses came to the hotel I stayed at. Dinner was served between 10:30pm and 11pm. Announcement (NOT by Continental staff) was made at dinner that wakeup call at 6:45am, continental breakfast at 7:15am and leaving for the airport at 7:45am. BTW, I didn't see any Contitnenal people at the hotel. Room sharing was done through a good fellow passenger annoucing at dinner that some people didn't get rooms and asking for volunteers to share. I am pretty sure BF/Elite passengers didn't get different treatments for hotel accommodations and meals (lining up with everyone for checking into the same hotel).

Got to the airport around 8am (6/14) and we were told 4 out of 6 lavs were fixed and they were trying to get the 2 done. The schedule departure time was set at 12 noon. Everyone lined up for security measure and checking in (BF and Elite did get a different line AFTER the security line and seats were reassigned - not the same seat as yesterday). Some people did get another 10 Euro Voucher here again but I didn't get it. The waiting started. Around 10am, announcement were made that our flight would not went through US immigration ("regular" SNN to US flights clear immigration and custom at SNN) and would be boarded at gate 14 around 11:30am. People started to make the long track towards gate 14 but the area was not accessible as it's not "secure". We were told to go back to the duty free area (more shopping) to wait for another announcement. Finally, we were told to proceed to the gate and went through another security (they just set it up near gate 14). Boarding started around 12noon and we were told that the lavs were not fixed at all (different from what we were told in the early morning). They still didn't work. It will only be 6 hours and 8 minutes after taking off for the flight. But we should go to the loo on the ground before we boarded and did the best we could on board (still allow to go but keep it at minimum as they didn't flush). Everyone got on and sat down. Around 1:30pm, the plane was still not moving. The captain announced that they had some problems with some instruments in the cockpit and the technicians were trying to fix it. We were let out to use the rest room again at this time. around 2pm, they were getting people going to the rest room onboard and we were told wheels up would be at 2:25pm. This time, we did take off at 2:25pm :-)

The service on the flight was as usual (one meal and one snack before landing) but everyone obviously restrained from taking in too much liquid. We landed at EWR around 3:35pm this afternoon. And we were given a "customer care kit" as we got off the plane.

The crew did there best and tried to be as accommodating as possible. But the passengers on the flight were great as well. We did make the best of the situation and I am sure some people did make some friends. The atomsphere onboard was pretty relaxed but at the end some people did get a bit tense (especially when they found another problem in the cockpit).

I am puzzled by one thing though. Some people got upgraded to BF (onboard, not at check in) on SNN-EWR flight and I am not sure on what ground. There's were empty seats in coach and the flight is obviously not full. I just thought it was a bit unusual (BTW, I am a PE).

Well, that's about it. I was doing my best to report the trip. I may have made some mistake regarding the time but they should not be off too much. I am sure other FT'er on the flight will post more if there are any other than myself.

CJ
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Old Jun 14, 2007, 10:22 pm
  #19  
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Originally Posted by doobierw
Hey, it's the daily "I was trolling over at a.net and noticed this flight diverted" thread......
this truly was a LOL (laugh out loud).

thank you.
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Old Jun 14, 2007, 10:24 pm
  #20  
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Originally Posted by rkkwan
I wonder if that will affect tonite's 764 departures. MAD, AMS, MXP, FCO all seem normal, but GVA is showing 2 hours "maintenance" delay. Wonder if they can find a 764 for this flight tonite or will they send a 752 or something.
yawn.

Last edited by fly co to see the yanks; Jun 14, 2007 at 10:29 pm
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Old Jun 14, 2007, 10:48 pm
  #21  
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Originally Posted by cj0119
The flight wheeled off AMS around 2:16pm on 6/13 and we were told that with favorable winds, we would have arrived EWR 30 minutes ahead of schedule. . .

CJ
Hey there, thanks for this report. Sounds like a rough time. I am glad everything worked out in the end.
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Old Jun 14, 2007, 11:02 pm
  #22  
 
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Originally Posted by doobierw
Hey, it's the daily "I was trolling over at a.net and noticed this flight diverted" thread......
Whats wrong with that? The OP started a thread that led to someone posting a fantastic 1st hand account of what actually happened in SNN that I thought was extremely interesting. Funnily enough, the only troll here is you.

Last edited by BigPoppaCO; Jun 15, 2007 at 8:48 am
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Old Jun 20, 2007, 8:36 am
  #23  
 
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Originally Posted by cj0119

Well, that's about it. I was doing my best to report the trip. I may have made some mistake regarding the time but they should not be off too much. I am sure other FT'er on the flight will post more if there are any other than myself.

CJ
What about the sewage spilling down the aisle that is being reported? I can't even imagine that scenario....
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Old Jun 20, 2007, 8:48 am
  #24  
 
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It's on the Drudge Report

This link is now on the Drudge Report.

http://www.king5.com/topstories/stor....1cc511cf.html
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Old Jun 20, 2007, 10:09 am
  #25  
 
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What craft was it

It's not clear from the many posts as to what aircraft
made up the flight 73 75 or 76 ?
All of these were mentioned in different posts

Thanks
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Old Jun 20, 2007, 10:17 am
  #26  
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Originally Posted by CHIC SILBER
It's not clear from the many posts as to what aircraft
made up the flight 73 75 or 76 ?
All of these were mentioned in different posts

Thanks
767-400
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Old Jun 20, 2007, 7:01 pm
  #27  
 
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Made Fare Compare Email News Letter - CO Looks Like Cheap Corp Bean Counters

It sounds like CO botched this:
1. The customers were left waiting. Its ok to strand people overnight, but just call it off sooner. Don't make people wait for hours in the airport before you offer hotels. At least offer a choice, you can hang out in the terminal and maybe get out or maybe not, or you can go directly to a hotel now. Airlines all screw this up;
2. The airlines don't appear to have solid contingency plans for arranging for unexpected pax overnight accommodations. Thankfully it was only 1 flight, but imagine the disaster if say 10 flights divertted? What kind of contingency and disaster planning do the airlines do to sneure pax comfort and accommodations? One idea for instance might be to set up contracts with colleges or other facilities who have extensive transient housing;
3. The airlines all don't get new media. They have these unauthentic sounding spokespeople making comments to the media (see below). They should have done a bit more right, and then blogged about it right at the get go. That way CO could have taken the lead in the coverage rather than letting other outlets take the lead.

I agree with the article its not really bashing CO, but bashing the overall ssort of old line thinking at the major carriers. (A) They don't appear to plan for these things. You can have a disaster happen, and execute properly and keep the customers happy to an extent. And (B) The carriers don't get blogging, podcasts, new media, etc. And don't let stiff suited unauthentic PR people run the blog necessarily. A blog isn't an electronic brochure. I think WN does an ok job with its blog, certainly leaps and bounds ahead of any of its competition. The WN blog doesn't sound like a phoney press release meant to appease things, or it doesn't read like it was written by the legal or PR department.
http://www.blogsouthwest.com/
The WN web site and blog make the company seem much more genuine than most if not all other US airlines. The impression of a typical airline corporate type is they are kind of out to squeeze as much money from pax and employees while cutting costs which result in the pax and employees being less happy and comfortable.

Its also bezarre they did not offer more compensation. If they gave each pax say $1,500 vouchers plus some other goodies they might have looked like "good guys," instead of cheap corporate bean counters.

email newsletter
another iwitness account
"Continental Horror Flight"
6-20-07 . . . . . . .
http://www.farecompare.com

A few weeks ago I chatted a bit about Frustration and asked
everyone to send me some ideas and let us be a sounding board.
My goal was simple, to begin to evolve FareCompare.com to more
fit our internal ethos of helping air travelers.

To that end we received a note yesterday from one of our
subscribers that caught my attention. I asked our new Editor
to help me look into this and here is the story.

We hope to be bringing you more original reporting based on
YOUR experiences, good and bad!

Please keep your comments coming, we are listening:

. . mailto:
[email protected]

**********

EDITOR'S NOTE: .NOT .FOR THE SQUEAMISH!

FareCompare.com subscriber Catherine Carlozzi enjoyed a perfectly
lovely vacation in Amsterdam earlier this month, and, expected a
perfectly uneventful flight home. .Unfortunately, Continental
flight 71 to Newark was all too eventful: .It was dirty, and
it was disgusting.

And it smelled like hell, too.

The problem? .Well, for starters, all the lavatories quit
working. .So the jet was diverted to Ireland's Shannon for
repairs. .The passengers sat in the plane, and waited. .And
waited and waited. .Hours later, it was decided everyone would
overnight there, while those malfunctioning toilets were taken care of.

But the next day (June 14), the sun was shining again: .the toilets
were fine, the passengers cheered, and the jet took off. .But the
cheering didn't last long! .As soon as the plane got airborne, some
of the toilets...overflowed. .And they overflowed right out the
lavatory doors and into the aisles. .We are talking raw sewage
here. .Stinking, liquid sewage. .One woman had the misfortune of
seeing this mess ooze right up to her sandal clad feet. .Ultimately,
only two of the toilets could still be used, and they had to be used
VERY gently. .Let's put it this way: .passengers told us they were
asked not to use any toilet paper.

Meanwhile, some of the flight attendants did what they could to
contain the seepage, but nothing seemed to work. .Some of these flight
attendants, by the way, wore plastic head coverings, gloves, and
masks. .Were the passengers offered any such protection? .No, they
were not.

Did the passengers mutiny? .Did they scream and moan and threaten
the crew? .Absolutely not. .According to Catherine, folks on the
plane rose to the occasion: .they bonded with each other, and
were "kind" to each other. .And Catherine. for one, was never
happier to see Newark: ."We had to hold it for most of the flight;
thought I'd die getting to a john when we landed!"

So did the survivors get a refund? .Did they get any money back
on this trip to hell? .Well, no. .But they did got a voucher,
worth $115 toward a future Continental flight, a voucher
Catherine isn't sure she'll ever use: ."The thought of getting
on a plane fills me with revulsion." .Something else that fills
her with revulsion is her failure to hear a direct apology from
Continental.

We at FareCompare.com contacted Continental, asking for their
side of the story, and public affairs spokesperson Mary Clark
emailed us the following statement:

"Flight 71 from Amsterdam to Newark on June 13, 2007 developed
an unusual problem shortly after departure that caused the
lavatories on the aircraft to become inoperative. .Despite a
diversion to Shannon for repairs which ultimately necessitated
an overnight stay, the problem recurred the following day while
the aircraft was airborne over the Atlantic. .Upon arrival in
Newark, the problem was eventually traced to a foreign object
clogging the system.

Continental has apologized to passengers for the inconvenience
and discomfort caused by this unfortunate incident. .Following
the flight, Continental's corporate staff contacted many of the
passengers to discuss the incident and the airline's response.
The airline has presented travel certificates to all the
passengers on the flight as a gesture of our appreciation
for their goodwill and patience."

The gesture's not good enough for Catherine, or for Laurie
Grossman who's feet touched the sewage. .Grossman's proximity
to the mess may explain why she was offered a $500 voucher;
the amount of the vouchers seems to vary from passenger to
passenger. .Why that was, Continental won't say.

Oh, and they finally figured out what the "foreign object"
was, that clogged the system: .latex gloves. .Huh?

Meanwhile, a visit to Continental's website brought us to
a section called "Customer First" which spokesperson Clark
characterized as the airline's commitment to its passengers.
Nothing in it deals precisely with the matter at hand but
there is a paragraph that reads,

. . "Continental will make every reasonable effort
. . .to provide food, water, restroom facilities...onboard
. . .an aircraft that is on the ground for an extended
. . .period of time..."

There's also a section that begins, "Our goal is to make
every flight a safe and pleasant experience..."

Look, we don't think Continental is a terrible airline; after
all, this year, Continental won headlines for having .the most
satisfied customers among U.S. network carriers, according
to the latest J.D. Power and Associates .North America
Airline Satisfaction Study.

But, every now and then, even a good airline, can do
really stupid things. .Just ask Catherine Carlozzi and
the others who took the horror flight.

mailto:
[email protected]

*************

Sincerely,

Rick Seaney,
CEO, FareCompare.com

Copyright 2007 FareCompare LP"
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Old Jun 20, 2007, 10:37 pm
  #28  
 
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This is What happened.

Obstruction disrupts flight

Reports of a faulty lavatory on flight 71 from Amsterdam (AMS) to EWR have been in the media. The June 13 flight was diverted to Shannon, Ireland (SNN), and repairs were made. The lavatory repair work in SNN indicated good flow in the lavatory system. During the flight from SNN to EWR, the problem developed again. Upon landing in EWR, it was determined that someone had flushed latex gloves into the lavatory system, which caused the obstruction. There is signage posted in the onboard restrooms advising that foreign objects are not to be discarded in the lavatory system. Occasionally, these instructions are overlooked.

CO deeply regrets the serious inconvenience to its customers and is apologizing to them and compensating them for the poor conditions on the flight as well as the diversion and delay.
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Old Jun 21, 2007, 1:13 am
  #29  
 
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Originally Posted by coairtul
CO deeply regrets the serious inconvenience to its customers and is apologizing to them and compensating them for the poor conditions on the flight as well as the diversion and delay.
Yup, 115 bucks seems about right. Who comes up with these figures??

CO seems to have trouble keeping its lavatories working. The May 25th CO 62 and May 26th CO 63 operated with all of the lavs on the left side of the aircraft closed and inoperable. That is, the flight took off from EWR although half the aircraft's the lavs were down. Of course these could not be fixed during the 2.5 hour turnaround in Madrid. Inconvenience was minor. The queues were longer, and Y passengers were permitted to use BF lavs, but no sewage down the aisles.

The AMS - SNN - EWR saga reminds me of a PIA flight I took many years ago, LHR to JFK. About 3 hours into the flight most (or all? can't remember) of the lavs were backed up and very nasty. The lavs stopped working but digestive systems didn't, if you see what I mean. It got worse and worse until about an hour out of JFK the cabin staff just locked all the lavs and we all had to hold our papadams.

Last edited by spainflyer; Jun 21, 2007 at 1:27 am
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Old Jun 21, 2007, 4:36 am
  #30  
 
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Why So Low Compensation

I never understood why the airlines provide such stingy compensation to disserviced pax, while comparatively they provide very generous compensation for VDB. For instance in LAX recently on UA I got $600 in travel vouchers plus hotel for a voluntary bump. I was not upset or disserviced. But look at a situation like this, $115. So why are they so much more generous with VDB and so cheap with any kind of situation that relly might cause some anxiety, inconvenience, and distress?
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